Some weekend readings for trade policy makers

 Weekend readings for policy makers:

1. On the ever controversial question of addressing the challenges of international investment agreements and the dispute settlement regime called ISDS. Should countries exit them or reform, how to do it and what are the avenues available. 

Columbia Center on Sustainable Development has this recent publication titled "BREAKING FREE:STRATEGIES FOR GOVERNMENTS ON TERMINATING INVESTMENTTREATIES AND REMOVING ISDS PROVISIONS" which outlines three ways:

"In this report, we present three practical approaches governments can consider in the near term to address their current stock of IIAs with ISDS: 

1. Terminating BITs, ideally with an agreement to neutralize the sunset clause. 

2. Amending FTAs to remove the investment chapters, ideally with an agreement to neutralize the sunset clause, where applicable. 

3. Amending BITs and FTAs to remove the ISDS provisions or to withdraw advance consent to ISDS.

This report is designed to provide policymakers with a comprehensive understanding of the various approaches available to their governments for mitigating the adverse effects of IIAs and ISDS, highlighting the advantages and disadvantages of each. These policy approaches can be implemented unilaterally, bilaterally, or multilaterally, depending on the instrument and the specific context of the State. They should not be viewed as antiinvestment, anti-foreigner, or anti-international law. Rather, they reflect a conscientious effort to govern effectively and fairly, ensuring that investment treaties and their dispute settlement mechanism achieve their intended goals, produce legitimate decisions respected by all countries (even those that lose cases), and do not undermine regional and national economic cooperation and sustainable development objectives."

2.  A GTRI report on the state of play of India's FTA journey titled "India FTA Report 2024 - Learning from the Past to Shape the Future".

"Broadly, two types of measures are negotiated in trade agreements. Border measures include eliminating customs duties on products from the partner countries. And behind the border measures that deal with harmonizing domestic regulations of members. The new issues are essentially behind the border measures will impact the domestic policy and regulations. Indo-Pacific Economic framework is the most recent trade agreement India is negotiating with the US and 14 other countries. IPEF does not negotiate market access through tariff negotiations but focuses only on new issues. 

From the Bangkok agreement or APTA to IPEF, Indian FTAs have come a long way. India's FTA journey has evolved significantly, reflecting its commitment to fostering international trade and economic integration within its region and with global partners. These phases demonstrate India's adaptability and willingness to explore new avenues for economic growth and cooperation on the international stage."