Les mémorandums d’entente

The document explains how host governments can use MOUs as non-binding preliminary frameworks for agricultural investments while avoiding unintended legal obligations. It details strategies to prevent the creation of 'legitimate expectations' under international investment treaties and suggests using MOUs to structure due diligence for investor and project selection.

• MOUs are often mistakenly viewed as 'soft' agreements without legal consequences, but they can inadvertently create binding contracts if they contain all essential legal elements of a contract, regardless of the document's title.
• To avoid unintended binding obligations, governments should include explicit statements that the MOU is not intended to create legal relations or clearly distinguish between binding 'ancillary' clauses (such as confidentiality and dispute resolution) and non-binding substantive commitments.
• Governments must be cautious with language regarding land rights, permits, and incentives to avoid overly broad commitments. For land, MOUs should specify that identification of land will be transparent and conducted in consultation with legitimate land rights holders and local communities.
• Under Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs), specific statements in an MOU can create 'legitimate expectations' for an investor, which may be enforceable via international investment arbitration under the 'fair and equitable treatment' (FET) standard.
• MOUs can be used proactively to define pre-contractual due diligence steps for selecting investors, including requiring CVs of managers, verified financial statements, and details on the investor's corporate structure to prevent tax evasion.
• MOUs can structure the selection of the investment project by requiring the investor to provide feasibility studies, detailed business plans, and environmental and social impact assessments, including climate vulnerability evaluations.

APA

Brewin, S. (2023). Les mémorandums d’entente. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2023-05/investment-agriculture-memorandums-understanding-fr.pdf

Chicago

Brewin, Sarah. Les mémorandums d’entente. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2023. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2023-05/investment-agriculture-memorandums-understanding-fr.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Brewin |first1=Sarah |title=Les mémorandums d’entente |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=April 2023 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2023-05/investment-agriculture-memorandums-understanding-fr.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{brewin2023les, author = {Brewin, Sarah}, title = {{Les mémorandums d’entente}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2023}, month = apr, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2023-05/investment-agriculture-memorandums-understanding-fr.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }