Nationalization and expropriation proved more intractable issues, however. The OECD countries wanted a reference to what they asserted was “customary international law,” including specific language about the right of foreign investors to “prompt, adequate, and effective” compensation. This position was rejected by several of the G-77 countries, whose representatives insisted that there was no consensus on what constituted “customary international law” in the first place. Furthermore, they argued that no international regulation regarding nationalization could supersede domestic law and be made binding on host country governments in the event of a dispute with foreign investors.

Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, loc. 1795