No Lessons from the Crises in the International Trade and Investment Dispute Settlement Mechanisms: The African Continental Free Trade Area

2021 ◽  
pp. 406-441
Author(s):  
Malebakeng Forere
Keyword(s):  
International Trade ◽  
Free Trade ◽  
Dispute Settlement ◽  
Free Trade Area ◽  
Trade Area ◽  
Trade And Investment ◽  
Dispute Settlement Mechanisms

Dispute Settlement Mechanisms in African Regional Economic Communities: Lessons and New Developments

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 242-265
Author(s):  
Obert Bore
Keyword(s):  
Free Trade ◽  
Dispute Settlement ◽  
Free Trade Area ◽  
World Trade Organisation ◽  
Dispute Settlement Mechanism ◽  
Trade Disputes ◽  
Regional Economic ◽  
New Developments ◽  
Trade Area ◽  
Dispute Settlement Mechanisms

Abstract African regional trade agreements often provide for dispute settlement mechanisms and procedures that should be followed. They also establish judicial bodies or tribunals for the respective African Regional Economic Communities. Despite the existence of judicial bodies, African governments do not usually litigate against each other on trade-related disputes. However, the few cases adjudicated by the regional judicial bodies are insightful of how contemporary trade disputes shape the development of community law. With reference to case law, this article presents lessons from regional judicial bodies. Notwithstanding the lessons learnt, there are challenges too. In response to the challenges, new developments on the continent, adopted through the African Continental Free Trade Area signal a move towards respecting rules-based trade through ensuring legal predictability and certainty for trade dispute settlement. Thus, this article will also provide a detailed analysis of the dispute settlement mechanism under the African Continental Free Trade Area, a system akin to World Trade Organisation.

Ghana’s Akufo-Addo faces economic diplomacy challenges

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
International Trade ◽  
Free Trade ◽  
Free Trade Area ◽  
African Union ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Economic Diplomacy ◽  
Trade Area ◽  
Social Tensions ◽  
Trade Partners

Significance However, the success of Akufo-Addo's second term could depend in large part upon effective economic diplomacy with regional and international trade partners now the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) has become operational. Impacts Ghana will push for all African Union (AU) members to ratify the AfCFTA to secure its position as a regional hub. Economic plans may heighten existing social tensions within Ghana, notably Western Togoland, if growth is not shared equitably. More AU members will likely undertake full ratification of the AfCFTA to not be left outside of lucrative continental markets.

scholarly journals Implications of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) for Investment Flows Between the European Union and the USA

2017 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 25-39
Author(s):  
Janina Witkowska
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Free Trade ◽  
Dispute Settlement ◽  
Free Trade Area ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Investment Protection ◽  
Transatlantic Trade ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Trade And Investment ◽  
The Eu

The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) is a controversial subject, but at the same time it is perceived to be the most comprehensive international agreement on free trade and investment protection. Among the topics that evoke criticism on the part of different social groups is the investor‑state dispute‑settlement (ISDS), as well as its legal consequences for the EU Member states. A less discussed issue is the potential implications of the agreement on the state of economic co‑operation between the European Union and the USA in the field of investment flows, with special reference to foreign direct investment (FDI). The aim of this paper is to present the discussion related to the ISDS and examine some of the economic, political and legal implications of TTIP provisions for FDI flows between the EU and the USA. The proposals of the European Commission to change the investment protection system might be treated as an attempt to make the system of arbitrage more transparent and convincing to societies, and safer for states. The effects of the TTIP agreement for FDI between both partners might be dependent on the scale of trade creation and diversion effects, and the mirror effects of investment creation and diversion under a free trade area.

Free Trade Area or Common Capital Market? Notes on Mexico-US Economic Integration and Current NAFTA Negotiations

1992 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 53-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaime Ros
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Free Trade ◽  
Economic Integration ◽  
Free Trade Area ◽  
Trade Agreement ◽  
The United States ◽  
Investment Liberalization ◽  
Trade Area ◽  
Mexican Government ◽  
Trade And Investment

This Article addresses some of the key issues involved in understanding current trade negotiations between Mexico and the United States, as well as their significance for the process of economic integration in North America. These issues derive from the new setting produced by (a) Mexico's trade and investment liberalization in the 1980s, (b) the incentives which underlie the drive towards integration, as well as (c) those factors which will condition the final content of the current negotiating process.A free trade agreement (FTA) with the United States could be seen as the logical conclusion of the process of trade and investment liberalization carried out by the Mexican government ever since the mid-1980s. At the same time, it also represents a shift in Mexico's initial trade strategy, from multilateralism to bilateralism, or from globalization to regionalization, as a consequence of the global trend, toward the end of the 20th century, to create large regional economic blocs.

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