On 26 April 2002, the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) received from SGS Société Générale de Surveillance S.A. (SGS) a request for arbitration dated 24 April 2002 against the Republic of the Philippines (hereafter the Philippines or the Respondent, as the context requires). SGS is a large Swiss corporation providing verification, testing, monitoring and certification services in respect of various products, to the private sector as well as to governments and international institutions. On 23 August 1991, SGS concluded an agreement with the Philippines regarding the provision of comprehensive import supervision services (the CISS Agreement), under which SGS would provide specialized services to assist in improving the customs clearance and control processes of the Philippines. A dispute having arisen between the parties concerning alleged breaches of the CISS Agreement, SGS invoked in the request for arbitration the provisions of a bilateral Agreement of 1997 between the Swiss Confederation and the Republic of the Philippines on the Promotion and Reciprocal Protection of Investments (the BIT).