Asia Pacific civil society rejects investor rights to sue governments in RCEP negotiations

As Trade Ministers, including New Zealand's Todd McClay, meet in Laos today (5th August), an unprecedented alliance of 95 civil society groups are calling for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) to exclude extreme forms of investor rights.

Civil society groups from New Zealand, Australia, ASEAN countries, India, Japan and South Korea today issued a call to Trade Ministers meeting in Laos to reject proposals for Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) provisions in the RCEP treaty being negotiated by 16 countries.

The statement, included below, urges Trade Ministers not to allow foreign investors to bypass national courts and override national laws and policies. An ISDS mechanism would allow foreign corporations to sue governments over democratically-agreed laws that are in the public interest but which adversely affect investors' interests. Some countries in the RCEP are trying to include ISDS provisions that are similar to those in the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA).

Barry Coates, spokesperson for Its Our Future commented: "ISDS has been used by the largest multinational corporations as a means to challenge the rights of governments to regulate in the public interest. Around two thirds of the 696 cases brought under ISDS have challenged environmental regulation, including a recent case that challenged the right of local government to reject a mining permit in Canada. Other cases have focused on Australia's plain packaging of cigarettes, Canada's rejection of a patent for a medicine, Egypt's increase in the minimum wage, and the President Obama's decision not to allow the Keystone XL pipeline from Canada's tar sands to increase climate emissions, a $15 billion claim."

"The ISDS is not needed to attract foreign investment and undermines government's rights to regulate. It is undemocratic and would result in an unacceptable loss of sovereignty."

"There is already strong opposition to ISDS in the TPPA. More than half the New Zealand public oppose the TPPA and it is in deep trouble in the US. ISDS provisions in a parallel US-EU agreement are opposed by France and Germany, and a growing number of developing countries are in the process of unwinding their ISDS provisions. The time for ISDS has passed. We need new treaties that reflect the challenges and realities of the 21st Century."

RCEP negotiations between Australia, New Zealand, India, Japan, Korea, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam have been conducted in secret since 2012. The It's Our Future network has reiterated its call for government accountability.

Barry Coates continued: "The Minister needs to inform Parliament and the public about our government's negotiating position. They are meant to be representing New Zealand in these negotiations, not just a narrow set of corporate interests."

"It is also unacceptable that the government is keeping the negotiating draft a secret. The draft is shared with other negotiators and there is no reason why it should not be a public document. This unwarranted secrecy in incompatible with democratic accountability," concluded Coates.
ENDS

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