The final decision in Methanex v. United States

It is followed by a summary of the conclusions of the Tribunal on the main substantive points and the contribution the findings make to the case law in this field. [...] The long history of the case is reviewed in the award and previous decisions of the Tribunal. [...] Methanex launched its international arbitration against the United States in response to the March 1999 order by the State of California to ban the use of MTBE by the end of 2002. [...] The company argued that the ban is tantamount to an expropriation of the company's investment and thus a violation of NAFTA's Article 1110; was enacted in breach of the national treatment obligation in Article 1102 of NAFTA; and was also in breach of the minimum international standards of treatment obligations in Article 1105 of NAFTA. [...] Three points stand out from the analysis: the methodology, the scope of the investigation undertaken, and the potential breadth of the approach taken.