U.S. sets environmental guidelines for future trade pacts

December 14, 2000
Web posted at: 12:03 PM EST (1703 GMT)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- In a bid to clean up the image of free trade, the Clinton administration on Wednesday issued final guidelines for assessing the impact future trade agreements could have on the environment.

U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky said the initiative would help trade officials identify potential environmental concerns early in the negotiation process.

"The key is public involvement to ensure that pertinent environmental issues are identified and explored as trade agreement negotiations move forward," she told reporters.

	MESSAGE BOARD
Environmental issues

Major environmental groups welcomed the guidelines, which stem from an executive order President Bill Clinton issued last year just prior to the protest-rocked World Trade Organization ministerial meeting in Seattle.

Environmental activists concerned that trade pacts pose a threat to the air, water, land and wildlife were among the throngs that clogged the streets of Seattle and nearly shut down the meeting.

"This decision adopts the common sense approach to look before we leap into future trade deals," said Paul Joffe, associate director for federal and international affairs at the National Wildlife Federation Associate.

Barshefsky said the new guidelines require officials to consider not just the negative impact that trade agreements have on the environment, but also the positive.

That drew mild praise from the National Association of Manufacturers, an industry group that is one of the biggest supporters of trade agreements to expand foreign markets.

"By and large, we think that any environmental assessment worth its salt will show that trade creates wealth," said Marino Marcich, NAM assistant vice president for international trade. As incomes grow, countries have more resources to spend on environmental problems, he said.

But NAM is uncomfortable with other aspects of the guidelines, including a provision that appears to single out natural resource sectors for mandatory review, he said.

Barshefsky voiced confidence the new guidelines would survive the Clinton administration, which has just a little more than one month left in office.

"The policy, I believe, is here to stay," Barshefsky said. "That's because the policy makes sense and fits a real need."

Daniel Seligman, trade specialist for the Sierra Club, agreed with that view, noting the next president will need to forge a consensus in Congress on how to deal with environmental and labor issues in future trade pacts.

"If George Bush wants to pick a fight on trade, there's no better way to do it than to discard these guidelines," Seligman said, referring to the Texas governor who now appears to be the winner in the the U.S. presidential election after a Supreme Court ruling on Tuesday.

The Clinton administration is finishing up an environmental impact review of a recently concluded free trade agreement with Jordan. It will also conduct reviews of proposed free trade pacts with Chile and Singapore and broader agriculture and service negotiations underway in the WTO, Barshefsky said.

Copyright 2000 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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National Wildlife Federation
The National Association of Manufacturers
Sierra Club

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