Integrating Investor Obligations and Corporate Accountability Provisions in Trade and Investment Agreements

The report details discussions among 30 experts on integrating mandatory investor obligations into international investment agreements. It evaluates proposed draft texts covering compliance with domestic law, anti-corruption, information disclosure, human rights, labour and environmental standards, contract transparency, impact assessments, and tax base erosion. The experts discussed enforcement mechanisms, including the use of counterclaims in investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) and the possibility of civil liability in an investor's home state to improve access to justice for affected communities.

• The current international investment law regime is characterized by an asymmetry where foreign investors have broad rights and strong dispute settlement mechanisms, while host states face non-reciprocal obligations that limit their policy space.
• Experts proposed that investors should be required to comply with domestic laws throughout the entire life cycle of an investment, suggesting that material violations could lead to the loss of treaty protection or the exclusion of the investor from investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) proceedings.
• To combat corruption, the report suggests that investments made through corruption should be denied access to ISDS, though experts noted that draft language should align with the UN Convention against Corruption to avoid circumvention.
• There is a call to impose direct duties on investors to respect internationally recognized human rights, labour, and environmental standards, including responsibilities for violations occurring within their supply chains.
• The report advocates for the transparency of contracts and payments between foreign investors and host governments to prevent corruption and safeguard public interest, suggesting this practice be extended beyond the extractive industries sector.
• Experts emphasized the need for independent pre-establishment social and environmental impact assessments that include meaningful participation from affected communities and are conducted by entities independent of the investor and the state.
• To address tax base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS), the report proposes requiring investors to follow international financial accounting standards and arm's length principles for transfer pricing, although some experts questioned the effectiveness of the arm's length principle.
• To improve access to justice for affected individuals, the report discusses allowing civil liability claims to be brought in the investor's home state, specifically by removing barriers such as the forum non conveniens doctrine and piercing the corporate veil.

APA

International Institute for Sustainable Development (2018). Integrating Investor Obligations and Corporate Accountability Provisions in Trade and Investment Agreements. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/report-expert-meeting-versoix-switzerland-january-2018.pdf

Chicago

International Institute for Sustainable Development. Integrating Investor Obligations and Corporate Accountability Provisions in Trade and Investment Agreements. 2018. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/report-expert-meeting-versoix-switzerland-january-2018.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=International Institute for Sustainable Development |title=Integrating Investor Obligations and Corporate Accountability Provisions in Trade and Investment Agreements |date=2018 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/report-expert-meeting-versoix-switzerland-january-2018.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{internationalinstituteforsustainabledevelopment2018integrating, author = {{International Institute for Sustainable Development}}, title = {{Integrating Investor Obligations and Corporate Accountability Provisions in Trade and Investment Agreements}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2018}, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/report-expert-meeting-versoix-switzerland-january-2018.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }