Simon Lester

The conference formerly known as the BIICL WTO conference, and this year organized by BIICL, the IIEL, the Graduate Institute and SIEL, will be held in Geneva this year, on June 10-11. The call for papers is here. Here are the topics being covered: • 1. LEGAL INNOVATION IN TPP

She has three proposals: First, we must continue to work on outstanding Doha issues, particularly those issues that can only be solved by the WTO and not in bilateral or regional agreements. One such issue is subsidies. We cannot approach them in the same way that we have in the

This is from Congressman Sandy Levin's testimony to the ITC on the impact of the TPP on the U.S. economy: We all recognize that trade can be beneficial. The issue is not whether Members of Congress such as myself could pass an Econ 101 class, as President

This is from Inside US Trade: The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, a U.S. anti-smoking group, is actively lobbying Democratic members of Congress hoping to sway them in support of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) based on the argument that the agreement's tobacco carveout is a

Have you been following the U.S. presidential primaries? I don't recommend it. They are kind of awful. However, last night's GOP debate did have a bright spot or two related to trade. After the usual bluster by one candidate, and some mangled nonsense from another,

This is from Indian trade lawyer R.V. Anuradha: It is in this context that the Nairobi Ministerial Declaration’s admission of dissonance in the WTO membership on the ‘Doha mandate’ assumes greater significance. This dissonance is presented in the text of the declaration which records what “many Members” versus

If President Obama's mention of the TPP in the State of the Union address falls flat in Congress, and most people pretend they didn't hear it, will we hear the sound of Congress passing the TPP any time soon? This is from Inside US Trade: Members

This is from Inside US Trade: One business source said the Keystone ISDS claim definitely complicates the TPP approval process, but should be “manageable.” This source said the administration will likely fight back against criticism by arguing that the Keystone claim is frivolous and by highlighting the changes it secured

PluriCourts, at the University of Oslo Faculty of Law, has issued a call for papers for a conference on "Adjudicating International Trade and Investment Disputes: Between Interaction and Isolation" (more details at the links): CALL FOR PAPERS Adjudicating international trade and investment disputes: between interaction and isolation The

From TransCanada's press release: TransCanada Corporation ... announced today it has filed a Notice of Intent to initiate a claim under Chapter 11 of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in response to the U.S. Administration's decision to deny a Presidential Permit for the Keystone