The company Oceana Gold has paid the $8 million it owed because of the international arbitration case it lost against the Salvadoran state and has announced that it has no plans to continue mining activities in the country.
With the payment of $8 million plus interest, an end has been brought to the litigation that began years ago between Pacifi Rim, now Oceana Gold, and the Salvadoran state.
The South American country has until 22 January 2017 to implement the recommendations and rulings established by the Dispute Settlement Body of the WTO.
The announcement of the WTO comes after Colombia announced the replacement of the controversial mixed tariff by a threshold of $10 / kg for clothing and between $6 and $10 per pair of shoes, and the temporary application of maximum tariffs of 40% and 35%, respectively and above that threshold, a tariff of 15%.
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Employers indicate that taking the dispute to an arbitration panel will cost many millions of dollars and will result in indemnization payments, as it is clear that trade agreements and phytosanitary standards were breached.
The announcement by the Mexican authorities to take Costa Rica to a World Trade Organization (WTO) arbitration panel because of the dispute over avocados, has caused concern among employers who are members of the Chamber of Exporters and Importers of Perishable Goods (Ceipp).
Arbitrators working under the framework of DR-CAFTA have ruled that Costa Rican exports within this trade agreement in El Salvador should receive the tariff preferences provided for in the text.
From a statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Trade of Costa Rica (COMEX):
Defending the interests of the country as part of the effective administration of the treaty
Lego International has won a lawsuit against Lego PZ Multiservicios S.A. of Costa Rica for the misuse of the toymaker's brand name.
Lego International won the lawsuit filed against the corporation Multiservicios Lego PZ Costa Rica for the unauthorized use in its company name, of the trademarked name Lego. The Register of Legal Entities at the National Registry ordered the administrative detention of the corporation.
Infinito Gold is suing for $94 million lost due to violations of the agreement for the promotion and protection of investments between Costa Rica and Canada.
Industrias Infinito confirmed that its parent company, Infinito Gold, has filed a law suit against Costa Rica at the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) seeking compensation as a result of their investments in the canceled mining project of Crucitas.
The accusation of blackmail hanging over the Spanish construction company Sacyr in its proceedings related to the Canal expansion, casts a shadow over all firms of the same nationality.
An article printed in Spanish media outlet Invertia.com says "concerns of Spanish employers established in Panama have increased after the Canal Administrator Jorge Luis Quijano, censored the behavior of the construction firm Sacyr."
$300 million is being claimed for breach of contract for the project to build power generation facilities in Guatemala.
Jaguar Energy Guatemala (JEG), has instigated arbitration with the firm China Machine New Energy Corporation (CMNC). The company is claiming $300 million for violations in the construction of a 300 MW plant in Escuintla. "The arbitration has been instigated with the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris and will be effected based on the laws of New York ."
With this legislation, the country will be able to develop a new business sector and establish itself as an international center for arbitration.
Recently, the country approved a law to regulate domestic and international arbitration. This will allow Panama to position itself as an international arbitration center, thanks to its logistics development, infrastructure and connectivity.
The construction of the Jaguar Energy power plant has been delayed by eight months because of severe conflict with the Chinese construction company.
Eight months after the agreed period for delivery of the project by the companies China Machine New Energy Corp. (CMNC) and Jaguar Energy Guatemala (Jaguar Energy), in charge of the construction of the power plant based on coal with a capacity of 300 MW in Escuintla, the work has bee halted.
Having glossed over the Bechtel report on technical deficiencies in the very cheap proposal made by Grupo Unidos por el Canal for the Canal expansion, the project could now turn out to be very expensive for the ACP.
At the time of the award of the construction works on the Panama Canal expansion to the consortium Grupo Unidos por el Canal (GUPC), the efforts made by the U.S.
In a strong statement the Italian company warns of serious consequences if the Canal Authority does not agree to pay the cost overruns.
In an official statement the major partner, along with the Spanish company Sacyr, in the consortium Unidos por el Canal, warns that the Canal constructors are not social welfare companies, they have been contracted to do the work and they are not the owners, for which reason they should not have to bear the costs of the work.
As a precaution against the conflict not being resolved with the construction consortium, the Panama Canal Authority is already planning for the expansion works to carry on under its management.
The administrator of the ACP, Jorqe Quijano, announced that on Monday January 13 there will be a meeting with Zurich, the project's insurer, noting that the Canal Authority has $548 million available for the financing of the work in letters of credit and $442 million in reserve.
The facts seem to bear out what was said in 2009 -according to WikiLeaks- by the U.S. ambassador, who described Sacyr as "a bankrupt company sustained only by the Spanish government."
The dialogue regarding the cost overruns in the construction of the canal expansion project between the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) and the consortium Grupo Unidos por el Canal (GUPC)-initiated by the intervention of the Spanish Minister of Development- has been interrupted, and it is not longer the Spanish group Sacyr the spokeshead but instead it is now the other majority company in the Consortium, Italy's Impregilo, which is asking - via the media- for $1 billion from the ACP, while keeping up its threat to stop the work.