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International Arbitration Forum

ICS Inspection and Control Services Limited v. Argentine Republic (II)

Case summary

At a glance

Parties
ICS Inspection and Control Services Limited (United Kingdom), a subsidiary of Agility Group, v. the Argentine Republic
Case no.
PCA Case No. 2015-12
Forum and rules
UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules; Permanent Court of Arbitration as registry
Treaty
United Kingdom–Argentina BIT (Article 2)
Sector
Pre-shipment inspection services
Outcome
According to the claimant's parent company, the tribunal decided in the claimant's favour and awarded compensation (decision dated 29 April 2024).
Amount
Awarded, as reported in the press release: USD 159.7 million (around KD 49 million), made up of USD 9.7 million principal and USD 150 million interest.

The dispute

ICS Inspection and Control Services Limited, a UK company in the Agility Group, entered into an agreement with Argentina's Ministry of Economy (MECON) on 11 March 1998. Under the agreement ICS provided services in a government-supervised programme for inspecting goods before they were shipped to Argentina. On 21 July 2014 ICS filed a notice of arbitration. It claimed that Argentina had breached its obligations under Article 2 of the United Kingdom–Argentina bilateral investment treaty in connection with that agreement, and it sought compensation for the resulting losses. The only published document is a disclosure notice issued by Agility Public Warehousing Company KSCP. It does not set out Argentina's defences or the tribunal's reasoning.

Key holdings

  1. According to Agility's disclosure notice, the tribunal decided in favour of ICS Inspection and Control Services Limited. The award itself is not among the published documents. Press release, p. 1
  2. The press release reports that ICS was awarded USD 159.7 million (around KD 49 million): USD 9.7 million as principal and USD 150 million as interest on that amount. Press release, p. 1
  3. Agility stated that the award has no financial impact for the time being, until the amount is collected. Press release, p. 2

Procedural history

  1. 11 March 1998ICS and MECON enter into the pre-shipment inspection agreement.
  2. 21 July 2014ICS files a notice of arbitration against Argentina under the UK–Argentina BIT.
  3. 29 April 2024Date of the decision: the tribunal awards ICS compensation.
  4. 30 April 2024Agility publishes a disclosure notice on the award.

Keywords

Summary generated with AI from the published documents — refer to the award for the authoritative text.

Case ID
PCA Case No. 2015-12
Country
Economic sector
Outcome
In favour of Investor
Treaty
Argentina - United Kingdom BIT (1990)