“Common Public Coverage Exceptions in Worldwide Funding Agreements (IIAs): Alternatives and Challenges in Occasions of International Well being Disaster“
Yi Tang (PhD Candidate)
Asian Journal of WTO & Worldwide Well being Regulation and Coverage
Printed on-line: Oct 2024
Summary: This text delves into the efficacy of common public coverage exceptions inside Worldwide Funding Agreements (hereinafter “IIAs”) towards the backdrop of the unprecedented world well being disaster precipitated by the COVID-19 pandemic. By empirically surveying using common public coverage exceptions in IIAs, the analysis highlights a discernible pattern in direction of the incorporation of such exceptions in new-generation IIAs, aimed toward reconciling funding safety with the host state’s regulatory autonomy for public welfare. Nonetheless, the examination of arbitral jurisprudence reveals the tribunals’ challenges in coherently and successfully making use of these exceptions, typically leading to outcomes that diverge from the contracting states’ expectations and the aims underlying these treaty improvements. This evaluation is especially essential and well timed within the context of the COVID-19 disaster, the place the potential surge in investor-state disputes arising from pandemic-related regulatory measures poses urgent questions concerning the efficacy and scope of common public coverage exceptions. Nonetheless, the prevailing uncertainties in arbitral interpretations could forged a major shadow on the possible utility of those exceptions. In gentle of those challenges, this text requires a holistic reform of IIAs and a recalibration of arbitral follow, advocating for enhanced engagement with World Commerce Group (hereinafter “WTO”) jurisprudence and the availability of express clarifications inside IIAs to make sure that common public coverage exceptions fulfil their supposed goal.
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