Issues arose regarding the products' quality, which caused the companies Dow Chemical AG, Dow Chemical Europe and the non-signatories Dow Chemical France and The Dow Chemical Company to initiate arbitration against Isover Saint-Gobain. The Dow Chemical companies claimed that Isover Saint-Gobain delivered products that were not in accordance with the required quality standards, which is in violation of the distribution agreement. In its defence, Isover Saint-Gobain argued that the two companies, Dow Chemical France and The Dow Chemical Company, were not parties to the distribution agreements and the arbitration clause and therefore, from their point of view, the arbitral tribunal was not competent to rule on the case.