ISDS Case Map
bilateralism & multilateralism
how bilateral, multilateral, regional, unilateral and plurilateral approaches relate (e.g. FTAs vis-à-vis WTO)
The European Union has agreed to accept a request for exempting three Japanese railway operators from obligations under a global government procurement pact, Japan's Jiji Press news agency reports.
This short publication highlights some of the potential risks that the EU-US free trade agreement represents to the developing and emerging countries.
Far from being a means to open up the world to a further intensification of trade, TPP and TTIP will carve up the world into two or more power blocs waging economic war with one another.
The TPP is designed "to create a high-standard global trade agreement that addresses a bunch of issues that have not been addressed before in our trade agreements," US Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker said, adding, "And frankly, if we don't do it, someone else is going to set the standard."
The struggle for access to medicine presents a legal and ethical minefield for rich and poor countries alike—one that is being fought out as humanitarians challenge corporations over intellectual property rights.
Multiplicity of bilateral investment treaties (BITs) and free trade agreements (FTAs) leave room for some investors to take advantage of African resources, it has been asserted at a CUTS meeting in Geneva last week
Bilateral investment treaties (BITs) may be a threat to access to medicines as shown by a recent legal suit by a drug multinational against Canada for invalidating a patent, writes Carlos Correa
A recent UNCTAD analysis of nine selected regional negotiations has found that, were these to lead to agreements, they could replace close to 10 per cent of today's bilateral investment treaties (BITs).
So far, research on the impacts of free trade agreements in east Asia assume the full utilisation of preferences. This column argues that newer evidence suggests that this assumption is made in error: estimated uptake is particularly low in east Asia. If we assume a more realistic utilisation rate in estimating impacts, results suggest that actual utilisation rates significantly diminish the benefits from preferential liberalisation, but in a non-linear way. In the absence of Doha, the multilateralisation of preferences, even without reciprocity, is the practical route that is most likely to deliver the greatest benefits to WTO members.
Roberto Azedevo vient d'être choisi pour diriger l'institution à l'heure où les accords bilatéraux ont le vent en poupe. Ce type de contrats va pourtant à l'encontre du principe même de l'Organisation mondiale du commerce (OMC). L'institution internationale doit-elle se sentir menacée?
