Draft U.S. Model Bilateral Investment Treaty-Draft Comments from the Department of State Subcommittee on Investment

The Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) has formally critiqued a draft report from the Department of State Subcommittee on Investment, claiming it unfairly favors the investment community. CIEL identifies specific inaccuracies, such as the false claim that environmental and labor groups oppose any limitation on governmental authority to regulate, and notes a lack of mention regarding transparency and public participation in dispute settlement. The organization urges a revision of the report to ensure it is balanced and neutral before finalization.

• The Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) asserts that the Department of State Subcommittee on Investment's draft report on the U.S. Model Bilateral Investment Treaty is biased and presents an "inaccurate and biased view that favors the investment community".
• CIEL disputes the report's claim that labor and environmental communities oppose "any" limitation on the authority of governments to maintain labor and environmental measures, suggesting the term "undue" would be more accurate.
• The draft report fails to address concerns from labor and environmental communities regarding "transparency and public participation in dispute settlement".
• CIEL argues that the 1994 Model BIT "abrogates long-standing rules of customary international law" and lacks sufficient transparency and public participation, flaws which CIEL claims the draft model BIT fails to remedy.

APA

Magraw, D. (2004). Draft U.S. Model Bilateral Investment Treaty-Draft Comments from the Department of State Subcommittee on Investment. Center for International Environmental Law. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/BIT_CIELletter_20Jan04.pdf

Chicago

Magraw, Daniel. Draft U.S. Model Bilateral Investment Treaty-Draft Comments from the Department of State Subcommittee on Investment. Center for International Environmental Law, 2004. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/BIT_CIELletter_20Jan04.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Magraw |first1=Daniel |title=Draft U.S. Model Bilateral Investment Treaty-Draft Comments from the Department of State Subcommittee on Investment |publisher=Center for International Environmental Law |date=20 January 2004 |url=https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/BIT_CIELletter_20Jan04.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{magraw2004draft, author = {Magraw, Daniel}, title = {{Draft U.S. Model Bilateral Investment Treaty-Draft Comments from the Department of State Subcommittee on Investment}}, publisher = {Center for International Environmental Law}, year = {2004}, month = jan, url = {https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/BIT_CIELletter_20Jan04.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }