Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment his Department has made of the potential implications for his Department’s policies of Colombia's announcement that it will withdraw from the Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) system.

The Government values the role played by the UK-Colombia Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) in the investment relationship between our countries. It includes binding investment protection provisions under the ISDS which protect both UK and Colombian investors against unfair and discriminatory treatment, and expropriation without adequate compensation.

My Department has not received a formal approach from its Colombian counterparts to discuss the UK-Colombia BIT or its ISDS provisions.