When tobacco company Philip Morris sued Australia over our plain packaging laws, it's fair to say we were taken by surprise. How can a foreign company take a nation's government to tribunal for protecting its citizens health? The answer is Investor State Dispute Settlement, an obscure clause in free trade agreements allowing corporations to sue foreign governments for what it perceives be unfair discrimination. In practice, this tends to end up happening over regulations in two area: health and the environment. This episode unpacks how ISDS could put a stranglehold on regulations and policies that put people ahead of profit.
Producer/Presenter: Cheyne Anderson.
Featuring:Dr Patricia Ranald - Convenor of Australian Fair Trade and Investment Network.Dr Carl Rhodes - Professor of Organisational Studies at the University of Technology Sydney. Matthew Rimmer - Professor of Intellectual Property and Innovation Law at the Queensland University of Technology. Max Bonnell - Partner, White and Case.