If the
agreement is signed, it would grant corporations the exclusive right to bypass
domestic legal systems and sue governments at international tribunals whenever
they feel state rules can limit their profits.
Around 50 lawsuits seeking US$31 billion have been filed against
governments in talks on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership
agreement
Investors
have launched 50 lawsuits at secret international arbitration tribunals,
seeking at least US$31 billion, against governments that are negotiating the
new Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement, Friends of
the Earth International said based on new research.
The
lawsuits were revealed in new research
published in a report by the Transnational Institute (TNI), Friends
of the Earth International, Indonesia for Global Justice, Focus on the Global
South and Paung Ku.
The bloc
of 16 countries started negotiations on RCEP on Thursday in Jakarta, Indonesia,
and talks are expected to end on December 10. If the agreement is signed, it
would grant corporations the exclusive right to bypass domestic legal systems
and sue governments at international tribunals whenever they feel state rules
can limit their profits.
RCEP
comprises 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations members (Brunei, Cambodia,
Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, Laos and
Vietnam) and their six free-trade agreement partners – India, China, Japan,
South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.
The
report exposes an increase in corporate lawsuits against Asian countries that
could lead to a drain of millions of US dollars from public budgets.
The
research shows the largest known amount paid to a foreign investor by an RCEP
country is US$337 million as part of the settlement in the Cemex versus
Indonesia case, which is equivalent to 38,593 Indonesian teachers’ salaries for
one year. Environment-related laws and sectors account for 36% of cases
recorded.
Friends
of the Earth International trade campaigner Sam Cossar-Gilbert said the secrecy
of the investor-state arbitration means these figures “could be just the tip of
the iceberg.”
“The huge
sums of money involved leave no doubt about the unacceptable burden that this
dangerous mechanism puts on countries across Asia,” Cossar-Gilbert said.
“If the
RCEP trade deal goes ahead as planned, we expect to see an increase in
multibillion-dollar claims – and citizens being forced to foot the bill.”
The
report said the lawsuits are a warning of the potential high costs of the
proposed RCEP trade deal. RCEP will deepen the rights of investors and lock in
place this system of privatized justice, it said.
“Investors
are already using investment agreements to raid cash-strapped public budgets in
Asia. Granting corporations the same excessive rights in the even more
far-reaching RCEP trade deal would be political madness,” said Cecilia Olivet,
researcher at the Transnational Institute. “It is time to reject a privatized
justice system that can undermine crucial regulation in the public interest.”
This
week, 316 civil society organizations presented a joint letter to RCEP
governments urging them to exclude investor-to-state dispute settlement
provisions from the deal and demanding instead a new trade model that helps to
develop sustainable societies, by supporting local economies, workers’ rights
and food sovereignty.
The
stated goal of the negotiations is to “boost economic growth and equitable
economic development, advance economic cooperation and broaden and deepen
integration in the region through the RCEP,” according to the ASEAN website.
The proposed deal would cover intellectual property rights, investment, economic
and technical cooperation, goods, services, rules of origin and competition and
dispute settlement.
By Asia Times staff
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