Shearman & Sterling partner Jeremy K. Sharpe (London-International Arbitration) was recently interviewed by the Australian Broadcasting Corp. (ABC) about the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and quoted in a report published by ABC News online on December 17, 2015.

Sharpe advised the US government on TPP negotiations in his capacity as Chief of Investment Arbitration at the US State Department. The final text of the TPP, a trade and investment agreement among 12 Pacific Rim nations, was officially released on November 5, 2015.

Asked to comment on TPP critics’ concerns over “Protecting the Public Interest,” Sharpe states that “The TPP investment chapter has been carefully calibrated to provide strong protections for investors while seeking to ensure that governments can regulate in the public interest, including with respect to health, safety and the environment.”

Sharpe also notes that the treaty protects States from the pressure from big business, and, in particular, the threat of costly proceedings under the treaty’s ISDS provisions, as it “allows a respondent State to request early dismissal of frivolous claims and to recover the State’s legal fees.” This provision, Sharpe adds, “should help deter investors from bringing clearly non-meritorious claims.”

View the full article, Fact file: Your questions on the Trans-Pacific Partnership answered.