Pacífico

Los Estados del Pacifico han firmado cerca de 72 acuerdos de inversión y comercio, 39 de los cuales fue Australia la que los concretó.

La mayor parte de los arreglos de comercio de Australia especifican arbitrajes entre inversionistas y Estados ISDS, incluyendo aquellos con China (como en el ChAFTA, que está en su etapa final de ratificación), India, Corea, México o Turquía.

Tras una disputa con Philip Morris por una ley anti-tabaco, Australia alegó que se restringiría de involucrarse en nuevos acuerdos de inversión que implicaran ISDS. Sin embargo Australia firmó el ChAFTA, el TLC con Indonesia, el TLC con Hong Kong y la ATP incluye un mecanismo ISDS.

El caso de Philip Morris vs. Australia es el más conocido hasta la fecha. Cuando Australia votó la ley anti-tabaco, forzando a las tabacaleras a utilizar un empaques simples, la compañía estadounidense Philip Morris inició una disputa bajo las previsiones ISDS a través de su subsidiaria con sede en Hong Kong. Invocó el TBI entre Australia y Hong Kong debido a que no había mecanismos ISDS en el TBI de Australia con EUA. En diciembre de 2015, el tribunal declaró el caso sobreseído, por razones de procedimiento. Más de 39 millones de dólares de los contribuyentes se habrían convertido en humo, tan sólo en gastos legales. Pero Philip Morris pago sólo la mitad, dejando que los contribuyentes australianos pagaran el resto.

El Pacífico es la región más sometida a demandas. Solamente los inversionistas australianos han iniciado disputas en dos ocasiones registradas, dos de ellas con el Tratado de Carta de la Energía.

Foto: Dominic Hartnett / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

(abril de 2020)

The Conversation | 21-oct-2014
The US is again driving the TPP agenda on behalf of its major export industries, but the TPP proposals are more extreme than the Australia-US FTA, writes Pat Ranald.
Wall Street Journal | 16-oct-2014
Tobacco producers Indonesia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Honduras and Ukraine are challenging Australia’s plain-packaging laws at the World Trade Organization, bolstering support for Philip Morris’ private dispute against Canberra.
World Trademark Review | 20-sep-2014
Long-running litigation between Uruguay, which has some of the toughest anti-smoking laws in the world, and cigarette giant Philip Morris could have direct consequences for plain packaging legislation globally. Could it also pave the way for legal action in Europe?
ABC | 14-sep-2014
A common provision allowing foreign investors to sue host governments has become a ticking time bomb inside trade agreements. Some countries are now refusing to agree to the provision and are questioning its legal legitimacy. Jess Hill investigates.
WA Today | 29-ago-2014
Australia risks getting swept up in a wave of litigation by foreign corporations wishing to sue over unfavourable domestic laws, experts warn, after the government rejected a bill to ban controversial trade agreements.
Computer World | 29-ago-2014
A Senate inquiry has recommended against passing a bill that would bar Australia from entering into trade agreements that include so-called ’investor-state dispute settlement’ clauses.
Kluwer Arbitration Blog | 28-ago-2014
Indonesia is not the only Asia-Pacific nation that is reassessing investment treaties containing provisions on Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS, especially arbitration).
Kluwer | 23-ago-2014
While Indonesia intends to renegotiate its BITs to provide greater capacity to regulate in the public interest, the current Australian government has indicated it will consider the inclusion of ISDS on a case-by-case basis.
AFTINET | 13-ago-2014
Australia Fair Trade and Invesment Network’s Convener, Dr Patricia Ranald, gave evidence to the Senate Committee for Foreign Affairs Defense & Trade on the 6th August 2014 about the dangers of investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) in trade agreements.
Sydney Morning Herald | 3-jul-2014
The Permanent Court of Arbitration has ordered that Australia will be allowed to challenge Philip Morris Asia’s right to contest Australia’s plain packaging laws, on the grounds that the company only bought shares in its Australian arm so that it could launch the case.