[CTC] Faith Organizations Call on APEP Countries to Eliminate ISDS from the Americas

[Arthur Stamoulis]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                           Contact: Thomas Gould,
July 23, 2024                                                                                                 thomas at maryknollogc.org <mailto:thomas at maryknollogc.org>
 
Faith Organizations Call on APEP Countries to
Eliminate ISDS from the Americas
Groups Say APEP Can End “Investor-State Dispute Settlement’s” Ongoing Harms
 to Human Rights, the Environment and Democratic Sovereignty
 
Washington, D.C. — Faith organizations across the United States and the Americas submitted comments to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) today urging the Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity (APEP) dialogues to create a working group tasked with eliminating Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) from the Western Hemisphere.
Linking ISDS with “economic inequality and environmental destruction,” the 35-group submission explains that ISDS “empowers those investing across borders to challenge nations’ laws, regulations, permitting decisions and even court decisions as alleged violations of trade and investment rules via complaints the circumvent domestic judicial systems and are instead heard in binding international arbitration.”
“The special rights granted to corporations and millionaires within ISDS extend far beyond the rights held by citizens and residents to challenge national policies with which they disagree,” the submission says.
The submission points on that, “ISDS tribunals have already awarded corporations over USD 33 billion in suits against Latin American and Caribbean countries involving mining pollution, water quality, toxics controls, consumer safety and other public interest policies. And, today, a staggering USD 1.5 trillion in ISDS claims are currently pending in the region.”
APEP is a 12-nation body including the United States, Barbados, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, Peru and Uruguay, and according to USTR, APEP’s trade track seeks to “develop sustainable and inclusive approaches to trade and investment” in the Western Hemisphere.
The faith organizations’ comments opposing ISDS were submitted as part of USTR’s open public comment period on APEP’s trade track and ahead of an APEP trade ministerial reportedly scheduled to take place in Ecuador on August 1 and 2.
“We call on APEP countries and other governments to defend against attacks on their democratic sovereignty by working together to eliminate ISDS from all existing pacts,” the submission says. “Doing so would also help to safeguard the budgets of developing countries — some of whom have faced single ISDS claims that represent a significant percentage of their entire gross domestic products. Crucially, ISDS elimination would also better enable the locally-enacted development programs, environmental improvement measures, and human rights policies that are needed to help uplift communities everywhere.”
 
A PDF of the letter is available at: https://mogc.info/ISDS <https://mogc.info/ISDS>
 
The comments submitted were signed by:
 
Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns
NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice
Sisters of Mercy of the Americas Justice Team
The United Methodist Church — General Board of Church and Society
Presbyterian Church (USA) Office of Public Witness
Franciscan Action Network
Interfaith Power & Light
United Church of Christ
Pax Christi International
Pax Christi USA
Pax Christi Metro DC-Baltimore
Sisters of Charity of Nazareth Western Province Leadership
Sisters of Charity of Nazareth Congregational Leadership
Dominican Sisters of Peace
Mennonite Central Committee US
Unitarian Universalists for a Just Economic Community
St. Vincent de Paul
Benedictines for Peace
Passionist Solidarity Network
Ohio Sisters Justice Network
Medical Mission Sisters, Justice Office
US Federation of the Sisters of St. Joseph
Dominican Sisters — Grand Rapids
School Sisters of Notre Dame Collective Investment Fund
Hope Border Institute
Franciscan Peace Center, Clinton, Iowa
Roman Union Ursulines of the USA
Dominican Sisters of Houston
Sisters of Sint Francis Rochester Minnesota
School Sisters of Notre Dame, CP Shalom Office
Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange
Wheaton Franciscan Sisters JPIC Office
Religious Sisters of Charity
Sisters of St. Francis, Clinton, Iowa
InterReligious Task Force on Central America
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