Ecuador: President terminates 16 Bilateral Investment Treaties on his way out

TNI.ORG – On May 16, President Correa of Ecuador signed decrees terminating 16 Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs), including with the US, Canada, China and eight European countries.

The decision follows the recommendation of the Ecuadorian Commission that audited the country’s Investment Protection Treaties (CAITISA).

The President of the CAITISA Commission Cecilia Olivet (a researcher at the Transnational Institute) commented “Ecuador has taken a sound decision by terminating its investment protection agreements. The auditing process revealed that these treaties not only failed to attract additional investment or advance the country’s development plan, they also diverted millions of dollars of government money to fighting costly lawsuits. We hope other governments will learn from Ecuador’s example and review their own investment agreements to find out if they are truly beneficial to their citizens.”

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The 12-person CAITISA commission was set up in October 2013 and was comprised of government officials, academics, lawyers and civil society groups, including the foremost expert on investment law, Muthucumaraswamy Sornarajah and the former Attorney General for Argentina, Osvaldo Guglielmino.

Treaties were terminated with: China, the Netherlands, Germany, the UK, France, Spain, Italy, Sweden, Switzerland, Canada, the United States, Argentina, Bolivia, Peru, Venezuela, and Chile. Read Full Article