Colombia pushes to renegotiate investment agreement with UK

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Colombia is seeking to renegotiate the terms of its bilateral investment agreement with the UK, its trade minister said.

The two agreed in 2014 to foster a closer relationship with the option of either party canceling after 10 years.

“We have decided not to request a cancellation, but we also believe that renegotiation is important,” Trade Minister Luis Carlos Reyes told the Financial Times.

Fruit, vegetables, coal and coffee accounted for the largest share of the $852 million Colombian exports to the UK in the 12 months to July this year, while UK exports amounted to $1.1 billion, mainly pharmaceutical products, industrial machinery and whiskey. recorded dollars.

Colombia attaches great importance to all aspects of its bilateral relationship with the United Kingdom, including investments coming from there and here and their contribution to our country's economic growth, the Minister said.

But he expressed concern about provisions in the current agreement that see all disputes between British companies and the Colombian state sent to an arbitration panel that Colombia often argues favors the companies.

The investor-state dispute resolution process allows companies to sue the Colombian government if they believe they have been treated unfairly, and their cases are referred to international courts. Colombia has faced 23 ISDS claims over the past 10 years, three of which were by UK investors using existing treaties.

The claims include mining companies Glencore and Anglo American, which halted the project over disputes over indigenous community rights and environmental protection.

We are confident that every democratic country has a justification for what is convenient for business, Reyes added.

We are confident that the Colombian judicial system has the tools to guarantee investors all reasonable protections and due process to protect their rights, and we want to move in that direction. [with the UK treaty] It also generally applies to other agreements in which Colombia participates.

Reyes' comments come as foreign direct investment (FDI) has fallen for the seventh consecutive month, according to the central bank, and economists have warned of a widening national fiscal deficit. The scandal is also hampering President Gustavo Petro's economic agenda, with his second finance minister, Ricardo Bonilla, resigning this month amid a corruption investigation.

The latest case between GSK subsidiary ViiV Healthcare and Colombian regulators has tested relations at a time when Petro, Colombia's first left-wing president, is attempting to expand the state's role in the country's healthcare.

Last April, Colombia's antitrust and healthcare regulator granted a compulsory license to produce the company's antiretroviral HIV drug dolutegravir, effectively lifting ViiV Healthcare's patent on the drug.

The Washington-based International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes, which is reviewing the case, has not yet ruled on the matter, but the Andean Community's separate dispute mechanism ruled in Colombia's favor last month.

Compulsory license is [Colombia] Reyes said the production of generic drugs could be permitted by default when a serious health situation warrants it.

This is what Brazil has been doing for decades with its HIV treatment, so what Colombia seeks in its international investment agreement policy is equal treatment in its relations with other countries.

The Anglo-Colombian Chamber of Commerce in Colombia has warned that attempts to renegotiate the treaty could lead Britain to cancel existing agreements and put off investors who have long viewed Colombia as a stable investment destination.

we think so [a renegotiation of the treaty] Chamber president Jaime Gonzlez Moore said it was not convenient and could affect the security of contracts between British companies and Colombians. This would be an invitation for UK investors to look outside of Colombia.

Last month, British Trade Secretary Douglas Alexander said the treaty had played an important role in the investment relationship between the two countries.

He added that this includes legally binding investment protection commitments to ensure that British and Colombian investors are treated in accordance with the rule of law and protected from unfair, arbitrary or discriminatory treatment and confiscation without adequate compensation.

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Reyes denied that such a renegotiation would affect the stability required for investors, saying Colombia's legal system is strong enough to resolve all disputes in a fair and transparent manner.

Uncertainty over the treaty has led to a rare spat between London and Bogotico after Britain last month announced it would reimpose visas for Colombian tourists, two years after the law was removed following a rise in fake asylum applications from Colombian visitors. It happened while it was happening.

President Petro warned that Colombia would require visas for British tourists unless the decision was reversed.

In a recent speech he warned: I wonder if today's King of England and his Labor government, who are supposed to represent the banner of equality and freedom, are never again like slave owners who think Colombians are inferior. We are issuing visas.

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