Free Trade Area of the Americas - FTAA

 
Ministerial
Declarations
Trade Negotiations
Committee
Negotiating
Groups
Special
Committees
Business
Facilitation
Civil
Society
Trade&Tariff
Database
Hemispheric
Cooperation
Program

Home Countries Sitemap A-Z list Governmental Contact Points

 
 

Investment Agreements in the Western Hemisphere: A Compendium

Bilateral Free Trade Agreements


I. Scope of Application | A. Definition of Investment

Free Trade Agreement Between Bolivia and Mexico

Investment means:
a) the application or transfer of resources to the territory of a Party by investors from the other Party for purposes of profit;
b) the participation of investors from one Party, in any proportion of the corporate capital, in the enterprises of the other Party or in the activities covered by the investment legislation of that other Party; or
c) the investment made in accordance with subparagraphs a) and b) by an enterprise of one Party with the majority of its capital belonging to investors from the other Party or under their control.

Investment does not include:
a) a payment obligation in respect of a loan to a state enterprise or the granting of same;
b) monetary claims deriving exclusively from: i) commercial contracts for the sale of goods or services by a national or an enterprise in the territory of one Party to an enterprise in territory of the other Party; or, ii) the granting of a loan in connection with a commercial transaction, the due date for which falls within less than three years, such as financing for trade. (Article 15-01 of the Free Trade Agreement between Bolivia and Mexico). Free Trade Agreement between Bolivia and Mexico, September 10, 1994.

Investment of an investor from a Party: the investment owned by an investor from one Party or under such investor's direct or indirect control. (Article 15-01).

Free Trade Agreement Between Costa Rica and Mexico

Investment means:
Every kind of asset and rights of any kind, acquired with resources transfered to the territory of a Party, or reinvested therein, by investors from the other Party, such as: shares and any other kind of participation in companies established in accordance to the legislation of the other Party; rights derived from any type of investment made with the purpose of creating economic value (or claims to money or claims to performance having an economic value); movable and inmovable property and any other property rights, such as mortgages, liens and pledges and other similar rights; intellectual property rights; and, rights conferred by law or contract to perform commercial and economic activities.

Investment does not include:
a payment obligation in respect of a loan to the State or a state enterprise or the granting of same; nor monetary claims deriving exclusively from: a) commercial contracts for the sale of goods or services by a national or an enterprise in territory of one Party to an enterprise in the territory of the other Party; or, b) the granting of a loan in connection with a commercial transaction, the due date for which falls within less than three years, such as financing for trade. (Article 13-01 of the Free Trade Agreement between Costa Rica and Mexico). Free Trade Agreement between Costa Rica and Mexico, April 5, 1994.

Investment of an investor from a Party: the investment owned or controlled by an investor from one Party in the territory of the other Party. In the case of a company, an investment is owned by an investor of a Party if said investor owns more than 49 % of its capital. An investment is under the control of an investor of a Party if said investor is entitled to appoint the majority of its directors or to manage in any other way its operations. (Article 13-01).

Free Trade Agreement Between Canada and Chile

Investment means: (a) an enterprise; (b) an equity security of an enterprise; (c) a debt security of an enterprise: (i) where the enterprise is an affiliate of the investor, or (ii) where the original maturity of the debt security is at least three years, but does not include a debt security, regardless of original maturity, of a state enterprise; (d) a loan to an enterprise: (i) where the enterprise is an affiliate of the investor, or (ii) where the original maturity of the loan is at least three years, but does not include a loan, regardless of original maturity, to a state enterprise; (e) an interest in an enterprise that entitles the owner to share in income or profits of the enterprise; (f) an interest in an enterprise that entitles the owner to share in the assets of that enterprise on dissolution, other than a debt security or a loan excluded from subparagraph (c) or (d); (g) real estate or other property, tangible or intangible, acquired in the expectation or used for the purpose of economic benefit or other business purposes; and (h) interests arising from the commitment of capital or other resources in the territory of a Party to economic activity in such territory, such as under: (i) contracts involving the presence of an investor's property in the territory of the Party, including turnkey or construction contracts, or concessions, or (ii) contracts where remuneration depends substantially on the production, revenues or profits of an enterprise; but investment does not mean: (i) claims to money that arise solely from: (i) commercial contracts for the sale of goods or services by a national or enterprise in the territory of a Party to an enterprise in the territory of the other Party, or (ii) the extension of credit in connection with a commercial transaction, such as trade financing, other than a loan covered by subparagraph (d); or (j) any other claims to money, that do not involve the kinds of interests set out in subparagraphs (a) through (h); or (k) with respect to "loans" and "debt securities" referred to in paragraphs (c) and (d) as it applies to investors of the other Party, and investments of such investors, in financial institution in the Party=s territory: (i) a loan or debt security issued by a financial institution that is not treated as regulatory capital by the Party in whose territory the financial institution is located; (ii) a loan granted by or debt security owned by a financial institution, other than a loan to or debt security of a financial institution referred to in subparagraph (i); and (iii) a loan to, or debt security issued by, a Party or a state enterprise thereof. (Article G-40 of the Free Trade Agreement between Canada and Chile) .Free Trade Agreement between Canada and Chile, December 5, 1996. Chile has also signed bilateral complementarity agreements with the following countries: Mexico (September 22, 1991); Venezuela (April 2, 1993); Colombia (December 6, 1993); Ecuador (December 20, 1994); and Mercosur (June 25, 1996). These agreements include provisions on investment that state: "within their respective foreign investment laws, the Parties shall accord investments of the other Party the better treatment, whether it is the one accorded to national capital or to foreign capital."

Investment of an investor of a Party means an investment owned or controlled directly or indirectly by an investor of such Party. (Article G-40).

 
countries sitemap a-z list governmental contact points