The Promotion and Protection of Investment Bill is one step closer to becoming law after being accepted by the National Assembly yesterday. The bill has been widely criticised and has garnered little support from opposition parties.International investors also showed disdain for the bill in the public-participation phase.Minister of Trade and Industry Rob Davies said the investment protection agreements created in the 1990s were "extremely expansive" and opened up governments to increased litigation and international arbitration, with the average cost of such litigation at about $10-million.The bill, a "new generation of protection", essentially seeks to "balance" the protection offered to international investors, which Davies said had been "skewed" in the original agreements.He said that, internationally, tobacco manufacturers had sought to take governments to court over health policy issues such as labelling of tobacco products.In South Africa, an investor had sought legal recourse because it was a victim of crime and its agreement had included a clause about physical protection.South Africa had been an "early mover" on this issue, driven by a decision to do away with bilateral investment treaties, Davies said.But the decision, though criticised at the time, had not affected investment."There is no correlation between having or not having bilateral agreements in place and investment", he said pointing to the US and Japan, "significant" investors despite not having such agreements in place.The European Union Chamber of Commerce said in August that the bill "promotes discomfort leading to discouragement related to new investments".Most problematic for investors was uncertainty about expropriation. The original bilateral agreements provided guarantees against direct expropriation.But Davies said the uncertainty was covered by the property clause of the constitution, which provided "adequate protection".The DA's Geordin Hill-Lewis told parliament every investor that had come before the committee had been against the bill."This bill is no welcome sign to the world. It is the big neon sign on the shopfront door of SA Inc saying 'closed for business'," he said.The EFF's Floyd Shivambu said his party could not support the bill until changes were made, including that foreign investors increase local ownership and use South African bank accounts to trade.Davies said South Africa and the US were "tantalisingly close" to reaching an agreement on the African Growth and Opportunity Act, or Agoa.Davies said vets from both countries had signed an agreement regarding avian flu. Issues around salmonella and shoulder cuts of pork were still on the table.Asked whether they would meet the US deadline, Davies said: "It's not going to be very long; we are in closure mode."..