"IGWG Day 2 | Summary", 25 Oct 2016

...[P]anellists fired shots in Panel II on primary obligations of states.  After first hearing from non-governmental organisations (NGOs) who were unable to speak yesterday, the discussions turned to state obligations with respect to TNC-OBEs...Ariel Meyerstein of the US Council for International Business asserted that investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) is a “form of human rights protection” – a statement which was later countered...Ana María Suárez Franco of FIAN International...pointed out that the UNGPs are ambiguous regarding ETOs and that this is an important gap that the binding instrument should fill...Panel II continued to cover important ground through the topic of jurisprudential and practical approaches to elements of extraterritoriality and national sovereignty...Leah Margulies of Corporate Accountability shared insights from the creation of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control...Fortunately no states have walked out of the second IGWG so far, and differences are being tabled and worked through. The absence of countries such as Canada, the United States of America, Australia and New Zealand is, however, to be noted.