Webinar: National Security Exceptions and Covid-19: A Test for International Rules on Trade and Investment in Services?

In a global context where governments are still grappling with the health, social, and economic effects of the Covid-19 emergency, security exceptions in international agreements feature in debates as potential avenues to justify the various restrictive trade and investment measures implemented by governments. Discussions include appeals to the national security exception in the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) to suspend the enforcement of patent rights to allow for the imports and local manufacturing of Covid-19 vaccines.

There is also a real (or perceived) risk that governments may rely on this type of exception to circumvent international commitments under regional trade and investment agreements. This risk could materialise with the expanding notion of national security to cover not only military or defence interests but also other realms such as food security, energy security, cyber-security, climate security and recently, health security.

Although debates on national security preceded the pandemic, with the United States vs. China trade/tech “war” making the headlines, the Covid-19 crisis has fuelled these debates. It has done so by contributing a compelling and visible frame to justify government measures on the grounds of health security, economic security, and emergency response.   

Join us in discussing the multifaceted challenges in balancing States’ regulatory space and the need to ensure legal predictability for economic operators having to traverse the securitisation of economic terrain within the new Geoeconomic Order.

Key Questions

The key questions this webinar will address include:

1. What are the main features that underpin the design of national security exceptions in regional/bilateral trade and investment agreements?
2. Do unilateral restrictive measures on trade and investment adopted by governments during the pandemic have justification? Are they permitted within the architecture of regional preferential and investment agreements?
3. Is the Covid-19 pandemic likely to affect the way governments negotiate security exceptions in regional economic agreements?
4. Are national security exceptions likely to play a role as defences for respondent states in future investor-state-disputes and state-to-state disputes arising from the measures adopted during the Covid-19 emergency?

REGISTER HERE

This event will take place virtually via Zoom.
_{Attendees and participants of UNU events may appear in event-related photography, screen captures, videos, and/or audio. By attending this event, you are giving consent for UNU to use these images, audio, and video for purposes related to UNU’s work, including publications, websites, and digital and social media platforms. If you do not want UNU to use your image, audio, or video, please contact UNU prior to your attendance at the event.}