The relationship between the general exceptions found within the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), and the obligations contained in the “specialized” goods texts of Annex 1A of the WTO Agreement has long been a matter of contention and legal uncertainty. Proponents of the...

Attracting agro-investment is important in food deficit countries that experience low relative yields for their agricultural production. Foreign direct investment (FDI) can play a crucial role because it means that the right quantities reach food deficit areas at the right moment. However, FDI...

This article addresses an important and complex subject relating to the link between international law and economic development. There is broad agreement that trade liberalization and participation in foreign markets play an important role in economic development. Countries in Sub-Saharan Africa...

The panel and the Appellate Body have recently examined one of the national tobacco control measures (US – Measures Affecting the Productions and Sale of Clove Cigarettes). The dispute, which emerged between the United States and Indonesia, concerned the US ban on the use of certain flavouring...

State capitalism is reemerging today. Some governments, notably newly emerging economies such as China and Russia and oil producing countries in the Middle East are placing much emphasis on state-led economic development, and they are making much use of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) to achieve...

On-going discussions on food security as both an element of the right to food and a goal for agricultural policy focus on the situation of the respective rights holders and the corresponding duty-bearers, i.e. individuals and the state. Yet, the coincidence of the recent food crisis and the...

China is a major recipient of foreign investment and has become a major investor internationally. Its active participation in international treaties relating to investment, in the form of bilateral investment treaties and, more recently, free trade agreements, when combined with the outward push...

The backlash against the expansive interpretation of key disciplines of international investment law by arbitral tribunals has prompted a host of strategies, implemented mostly by developing countries, aimed at walking away from the system. These range from denouncing the ICSID Convention and...

In this paper, I highlight that international investment law, as a subsystem, should evolve to accept rules from other subsystems of law, e.g., human rights, trade (WTO law and RTA law), and environmental. This proposed evolution would need to include the acceptance of new tools that would help...

This presentation considers the prospective development of policy frameworks for foreign direct investment in developing and emerging economies. It first considers the implications of two decisions on FDI in South Africa and the extent to which they dealt with potential inconsistencies between...