4 results
Governing Digital Trade
- JOSHUA P. MELTZER
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- Journal:
- World Trade Review / Volume 18 / Issue S1 / April 2019
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 12 April 2019, pp. S23-S48
- Print publication:
- April 2019
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As global data flows and digital technologies transform international trade, governments and regulators have to determine how to benefit from these developments while maintaining the integrity of their domestic regulations. Currently, governments are increasingly restricting global data flows and requiring data localization, undermining the economic benefits of digital trade. To address this trend will require a system of digital trade governance that has two key elements. One element is new digital trade rules, some of which exist in the WTO and others which are being developed in free trade agreements. The other is international regulatory cooperation to develop standards and mutual recognition agreements in areas such as privacy and consumer protection that gives domestic regulators confidence that allowing data to leave their jurisdiction will not undermine achievement of domestic regulatory goals. In the absence of such regulatory cooperation, governments are likely to continue to restrict data flows, relying on the exceptions provisions to their digital trade commitments.
10 - Investment
- from Part IV - Legal aspects of PTAs: A comparative analysis
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- By Joshua P. Meltzer, University of Michigan
- Edited by Simon Lester, Bryan Mercurio, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Lorand Bartels, University of Cambridge
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- Book:
- Bilateral and Regional Trade Agreements
- Published online:
- 05 October 2015
- Print publication:
- 07 January 2016, pp 245-298
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Summary
I. Introduction
This chapter provides an analysis of the investment commitments in Bilateral and Regional Free Trade Agreement (FTA) investment chapters.
Part II commences with an examination of the history of treaty-based legal protections for foreign investment. This Part traces the evolution of investment provisions, from Treaties of Friendship, Navigation and Commerce (FNC), through to Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs), and their most recent incorporation into investment chapters in Free Trade Agreements (FTAs).
Part III discusses the scope of investment provisions and analyses how the different definition of phrases such as ‘investor’ and ‘investment’ determines the scope of FTA Investment Chapters. This Part therefore inquires into whom the investment chapter applies to, and what will constitute an investment for the purpose of the chapter.
Part IV continues the analysis of States’ commitments in the FTA Investment Chapter, but with a focus on their substantive commitments.
Part V focuses on investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) provisions in FTA Investment Chapters and outlines the main elements and differences between the ISDS provisions in different FTA Investment Chapters. It also explains how these ISDS provisions use, and rely on, the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Arbitration Rules and the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) Convention, Regulations and Rules (‘ICSID Convention’).
Part VI outlines the market access provisions in various FTA Investment Chapters, with a focus on whether States schedule their market access commitments in the form of either a positive or negative list. This Part looks at the differences between positive and negative lists, and considers the argument for and against each approach.
Finally, Part VII discusses the main issues likely to arise under FTA Investment Chapters and considers the implications of the proliferation of FTAs with investment chapters for progress on investment at the WTO.
II.International investment law – from FCNs to FTAs
Investment provisions in international agreements have a long history. During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, a combination of capital and expertise led to significant foreign investment from United States (US) and European investors in large infrastructure projects such as railroads and telegraph systems in areas such as Latin America. However, the perceived national interest character of these investments also caused host States, from time to time, to expropriate these investments, thereby highlighting to investors the need for mechanisms to protect their overseas investments.
Contributors
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- By Robert Acosta, Elizabeth M. Alderman, Dan Barlev, Stephen M. Blumberg, Katherine J. Chou, Anthony J. Ciorciari, Christina M. Coyle, Ellen F. Crain, Sandra J. Cunningham, Joan Di Martino-Nardi, Nancy Dougherty, Glenn Fennelly, Sheila Fallon Friedlander, Jeffrey C. Gershel, Michael H. Gewitz, Beatrice Goilav, Michael Gorn, Waseem Hafeez, Dominic Hollman, Olga Jimenez, Carl Kaplan, Jeffrey Keller, Sergey Kunkov, Carolyn Lederman, Martin Lederman, Stephanie R. Lichten, Julie Lin, Stephen Ludwig, Svetlana Lvovich, Frank A. Maffei, Soe Mar, Robert W. Marion, Morri Markowitz, Daniel Mason, Teresa McCann, Alexandra D. McCollum, Mary Mehlman, James Meltzer, Scott Miller, Kirsten Roberts, Michael Rosenberg, Joy Samanich, David P. Sole, Preeti Venkataraman, Joshua Vova, Mark Weinblatt, Paul K. Woolf, Loren Yellin
- Edited by Ellen F. Crain, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, Jeffrey C. Gershel, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York
- Edited in association with Sandra J. Cunningham
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- Book:
- Clinical Manual of Emergency Pediatrics
- Published online:
- 10 January 2011
- Print publication:
- 02 December 2010, pp x-xiv
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9 - Investment
- Edited by Simon Lester, Bryan Mercurio, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
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- Book:
- Bilateral and Regional Trade Agreements
- Published online:
- 16 December 2009
- Print publication:
- 22 January 2009, pp 215-273
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Summary
Introduction
This chapter addresses the legal and policy issues arising out of Bilateral and Regional Free Trade Agreement (FTA) Investment Chapters.
Part II commences with an examination of the history of treaty-based legal protections for foreign investment. This Part traces the evolution of investment provisions, from Treaties of Friendship, Navigation and Commerce (FNC), through to Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs), and their most recent incorporation into Investment Chapters in Free Trade Agreements (FTAs).
Part III considers how the different definition of phrases such as ‘investor’ and ‘investment’ determine the scope of FTA Investment Chapters. This Part therefore inquires into who the investment chapter applies to, and what will constitute an investment for the purpose of the chapter.
Part IV continues the analysis of States’ commitments in the FTA Investment Chapter, but with a focus on their substantive commitments.
Part V focuses on investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) provisions in FTA investment chapters and outlines the main elements and differences between the ISDS provisions in different FTA Investment Chapters. It also explains how these ISDS provisions use, and rely on, the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Arbitration Rules and the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) Convention, Regulations and Rules (‘ICSID Convention’).
Part VI outlines the different architectures of FTA Investment Chapters, with a focus on whether States schedule their market access commitments in the form of either a positive or negative list.