The Mexican government secured a victory in the international arbitration initiated by the U.S. firm Access Business Group before the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), the World Bank’s specialized body for disputes between investors and states, the Ministry of Economy (SE) reported on Monday.
The ministry explained in a statement that it successfully represented the Mexican State in the arbitration initiated by Access Business Group LLC, a company that in April 2023 filed a claim under NAFTA and the USMCA before the ICSID, seeking more than $2.7 billion from the country.
Access stated that in 1992 and 1994, through its subsidiary Nutrilite, S. de R.L. de C.V., it acquired land comprising a property known as “El Petacal,” located in Jalisco. Access’s claim was based on the alleged expropriation of these properties, alleging that in July 2022 the Ministry of Agrarian, Territorial and Urban Development (SEDATU) handed them over to an ejido (communal landholding).
On November 21, 2025, the Arbitration Tribunal, by majority vote and in favor of Mexico, determined that it lacked jurisdiction to hear the dispute, dismissing the arbitration in its entirety.
In essence, the Ministry of Economy explained, the Tribunal concluded that it lacked jurisdiction because the challenged measures occurred more than two years after the termination of NAFTA, and therefore could not be alleged as violations of obligations that were no longer in force.
“Nothing in the text of Annex 14-C indicates that the Contracting States extended the application of the substantive provisions of Section A of Chapter 11 beyond the termination of NAFTA,” the tribunal stated.
Furthermore, the Ministry of Economy (SE) stated that the Tribunal ordered the plaintiff company to pay Mexico approximately $1.3 million in arbitration costs and expenses.
“The outcome of this arbitration represents a significant achievement for the Mexican State, an important precedent in investment arbitration, and clearly demonstrates the inadmissibility of a multimillion-dollar claim,” the ministry concluded.
Source: jornada
