{"id":8427,"date":"2021-06-24T08:50:02","date_gmt":"2021-06-24T13:50:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cf.iisd.net\/itn\/?p=8427"},"modified":"2024-08-09T18:31:48","modified_gmt":"2024-08-09T16:31:48","slug":"progress-is-made-in-structured-discussions-on-investment-facilitation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.iisd.org\/itn\/2021\/06\/24\/progress-is-made-in-structured-discussions-on-investment-facilitation\/","title":{"rendered":"Progress Is Made in Structured Discussions on Investment Facilitation"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span class='tooltipsall tooltipsincontent classtoolTips80'>WTO<\/span> members involved in the \u201cstructured discussions\u201d on investment facilitation met on several occasions during the first quarter of 2021. These meetings culminated with the circulation of the \u201cEaster Text,\u201d an important milestone in the talks that brings together several earlier drafts and texts in one document. This text will <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wto.org\/english\/news_e\/news21_e\/infac_29jan21_e.htm\">serve as the main basis for drafting<\/a> any ultimate agreement on investment facilitation.<\/p>\n<p>At the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wto.org\/english\/news_e\/news21_e\/infac_29jan21_e.htm\">January meeting<\/a>, delegates discussed the entry and temporary stay of businesspeople in the host state of investment; proposals related to provisions regarding compliance with domestic law and international obligations; health, labour, environmental, and safety standards; and social and environmental responsibility.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wto.org\/english\/news_e\/news21_e\/infac_09mar21_e.htm\">Meetings in early March<\/a> laid further groundwork for the eventual \u201cEaster Text.\u201d In these meetings, participants discussed the possibility of a firewall that would insulate the investment facilitation agreement from IIAs. A <a href=\"https:\/\/docs.wto.org\/dol2fe\/Pages\/SS\/directdoc.aspx?filename=q:\/INF\/IFD\/R21.pdf&amp;Open=True\">summary<\/a> of the meeting discussions states that most delegates are in agreement that it is desirable to avoid situations in which a future investment facilitation agreement is invoked in the context of an investment arbitration. To this end, some members proposed the inclusion of a non-importation clause. Delegates also discussed clarifying the concept of treatment under <span class='tooltipsall tooltipsincontent classtoolTips75'>MFN<\/span> clauses. Finally, all participating members concurred that any disputes arising under agreement would be resolved under the auspices of the WTO Dispute Settlement Understanding (DSU).<\/p>\n<p>Additional subjects of discussion included a \u201cbusiness obstacle alert mechanism,\u201d issues related to responsible business conduct, corruption, proposals on general exceptions, security exceptions, and financial exceptions.<\/p>\n<p>Finally, delegations <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wto.org\/english\/news_e\/news21_e\/infac_27apr21_e.htm\">met in April<\/a> to begin working on the Easter Text and to agree on a schedule for meetings in May, June, and July leading up to the WTO\u2019s Twelfth Ministerial Conference (MC12) in November\u2013December 2021.<!--more--><\/p>\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\"> toolTips('.classtoolTips63','Bilateral investment treaty'); <\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> toolTips('.classtoolTips67','Energy Charter Treaty'); <\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> toolTips('.classtoolTips69','fair and equitable treatment'); <\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> toolTips('.classtoolTips73','international investment agreement'); <\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> toolTips('.classtoolTips75','most-favoured nation'); <\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> toolTips('.classtoolTips80','World Trade Organization'); <\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> toolTips('.classtoolTips114','Sistema de Tribunales de Inversiones'); <\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> toolTips('.classtoolTips116','European Commission'); <\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> toolTips('.classtoolTips118','Union europ\u00e9enne'); <\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> toolTips('.classtoolTips119','Uni\u00f3n Europea'); <\/script>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><span class='tooltipsall tooltipsincontent classtoolTips80'>WTO<\/span> members involved in the \u201cstructured discussions\u201d on investment facilitation met on several occasions during the first quarter of 2021. These meetings culminated with the circulation of the \u201cEaster Text,\u201d an important milestone in the talks that brings together several earlier drafts and texts in one document. This text will serve as the main basis for drafting any ultimate agreement on investment facilitation.<script type=\"text\/javascript\"> toolTips('.classtoolTips80','World Trade Organization'); <\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15869,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[397],"tags":[1917],"class_list":["post-8427","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-investment-facilitation"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iisd.org\/itn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8427","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iisd.org\/itn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iisd.org\/itn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iisd.org\/itn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iisd.org\/itn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8427"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.iisd.org\/itn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8427\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iisd.org\/itn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15869"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iisd.org\/itn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8427"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iisd.org\/itn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8427"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iisd.org\/itn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8427"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}