Trade and investment dispute settlement mechanisms in ASEAN: The evolving landscape and major developments

• Main Author: HSU, Locknie
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2015
• Subjects: Asian Studies; Dispute Resolution and Arbitration; International Trade Law
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/sol_research/2581; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/sol_research/article/4539/viewcontent/12th_ALA_Hsu_workshop5_singapore.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

The ASEAN landscape on trade and investment dispute mechanisms has been changing significantly over the last 15 years. Such changes have come about partly due to preparations for establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) in 2015. An example is the coming into force on 29 March 2012 of the landmark ASEAN Comprehensive Investment Agreement (ACIA), a region-wide treaty in which ASEAN member States have committed to a number of significant investment obligations and dispute settlement mechanisms. Other developments have arisen from the signing of trade and investment agreements between ASEAN and its major trade partners, namely, Australia, New Zealand, China, India, Japan and Korea. With these same partners, ASEAN is presently negotiating the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (RCEP). At the same time, some ASEAN member States are negotiating parties for the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP).This paper will provide an overview of the trade and investment dispute settlement systems of ASEAN. It will introduce the mechanism established to handle trade disputes under the Protocol on Enhanced Dispute Settlement Mechanism, the investment dispute settlement mechanisms under the ACIA, and the options in the trade and investment agreements signed by ASEAN and its major trade partners. Finally, it will highlight some recent investment disputes in the region as well as broader investor-State dispute challenges faced by ASEAN member states.