Acuerdo para la Suspensión Coordinada de la Solución de Controversias entre Inversionistas y Estados con respecto a las Medidas y Controversias asociadas al COVID-19

The IISD proposes a coordinated suspension of Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) mechanisms to protect governments from legal claims by foreign investors regarding emergency measures adopted after December 1, 2019, to manage the COVID-19 pandemic. The proposal suggests both multilateral and bilateral implementation paths to ensure states can prioritize public health and economic stability without the risk of treaty-based litigation.

• The IISD proposes a coordinated suspension of Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) to mitigate the risk of foreign investors suing governments over emergency measures taken to combat COVID-19, such as business closures, containment practices, and export limits on medical supplies and food.
• The proposed agreement defines 'COVID-19 associated measures' as state actions adopted after December 1, 2019—the date the first case was identified in Wuhan, China—to protect public health and manage national economies. This definition is intended to be 'discretionary,' meaning a host state's good-faith declaration that a measure is related to COVID-19 is determinative and cannot be overturned by a tribunal.
• The IISD suggests two implementation paths: a multilateral agreement, which can cover hundreds of treaties but may take longer to negotiate due to pandemic travel restrictions, and bilateral agreements, which are faster and easier to implement. Bilateral options could also be negotiated between country blocs, such as the European Union and another regional group.
• The draft agreement specifies that the suspension applies to any bilateral or multilateral investment treaty, including free trade agreements and investment promotion and protection agreements. It allows signatories to optionally exclude specific treaties and suggests the Secretary-General of the United Nations as the default depositary for signatures.

APA

International Institute for Sustainable Development (2020). Acuerdo para la Suspensión Coordinada de la Solución de Controversias entre Inversionistas y Estados con respecto a las Medidas y Controversias asociadas al COVID-19. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2021-02/suspension-isds-covid-19-es.pdf

Chicago

International Institute for Sustainable Development. Acuerdo para la Suspensión Coordinada de la Solución de Controversias entre Inversionistas y Estados con respecto a las Medidas y Controversias asociadas al COVID-19. 2020. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2021-02/suspension-isds-covid-19-es.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=International Institute for Sustainable Development |title=Acuerdo para la Suspensión Coordinada de la Solución de Controversias entre Inversionistas y Estados con respecto a las Medidas y Controversias asociadas al COVID-19 |date=18 June 2020 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2021-02/suspension-isds-covid-19-es.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{internationalinstituteforsustainabledevelopment2020acuerdo, author = {{International Institute for Sustainable Development}}, title = {{Acuerdo para la Suspensión Coordinada de la Solución de Controversias entre Inversionistas y Estados con respecto a las Medidas y Controversias asociadas al COVID-19}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2020}, month = jun, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2021-02/suspension-isds-covid-19-es.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }