A/HRC/33/40 diligence, and might lead to the suspicion of bribery and corruption. Treaty-making cannot be a game of trying to trick the other party into a toxic deal and then holding it hostage through “survival clauses”. In sum, an investment protection mechanism cannot result in the transfer of important components of sovereignty from the State to private parties. Contracts that are unconscionable in their aims or in their consequences 42 are invalid and must be declared null and void under article 53 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties. 54. Considering that jurisdiction is based on consent, it would be instructive to consult the travaux préparatoires of bilateral investment treaties and free trade agreements and see whether investors and transnational corporations exercised due diligence and full disclosure and whether States understood the stakes and expressed valid consent. Treaties are made with rational expectations on both sides. No State will consent to a treaty when negative consequences are likely to outweigh potential benefits. If those dangers and negative consequences are not spelled out, consent cannot be presumed. VI. World Trade Organization rules and practice 55. The Independent Expert wishes to thank the staff of the Secretariat of WTO for devoting much time to addressing his questionnaire (see annexes III and IV) and explaining in bilateral meetings many aspects of their important work. 56. He also thanks the former Special Rapporteur on the right to food, Olivier de Schutter, for sharing his insights in relation to the impacts of WTO rules and practice on the right to food and on human rights more generally. 57. The Independent Expert recognizes manifold human rights problems arising from commercial activity, but places trust in the existence of multilateral organizations like WTO. They have the opportunity and mechanisms to make trade work for human rights and development, as exemplified, for instance, by the adoption of the Doha Declaration, which is at the origin of an extended transition period for least developed countries exempting them from the obligation to enforce patents for pharmaceutical products.43 The good will of States parties and a change of mindset toward more international solidarity offers a starting point. 58. Since the third Ministerial Conference, held in Seattle in 1999, and the civil society outcry against the adverse human rights impacts of commerce, WTO has become increasingly aware of the human rights dimensions of trade. In the wake of the global food crisis in 2008, the United Nations Secretary-General established the High-level Task Force on the Global Food Security Crisis, involving more than 20 international organizations, including WTO and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), towards a coordinated response to the crisis. A trilateral initiative with the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) also allows for policy dialogue and experience sharing. Since 2001, WTO has conducted a yearly Public Forum, 44 in which as many as 1,500 representatives from civil 42 43 44 GE.16-11938 The contract between Shylock and the Merchant of Venice, Antonio, was contra bonos mores, because failure to reimburse a debt cannot have death as its consequence. By analogy, when a State cannot repay an investor, the consequence cannot be interventionism as practised in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, when overt imperialism ruled, or more recently by IMF and central banks when imposing “austerity measures” and “privatizations”; A/65/260 and A/69/273. Annex IV. Formerly known as “public symposium”, www.wto.org/english/forums_e/public_forum_e/public_forum_e.htm. 13