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Supporting Free Trade and Environmental Protection

“History shows that as nations become more prosperous, their citizens will demand, and can afford, a cleaner environment.” -- President Bush, August 6, 2002, signing statement for the Trade Act of 2002

Reflecting the importance that the United States places on sustainable development, U.S. trade policy incorporates robust environmental provisions, most notably in the Trade Act of 2002, which provided Trade Promotion Authority, to enhance the mutual supportiveness of trade and environmental policies.

Specifically, in negotiating bilateral and regional free trade agreements (FTAs), U.S. negotiators pursue the following principal negotiating objectives with respect to the environment:

• Ensure that FTA partners do not fail to effectively enforce their environmental laws ; and
• Strengthen the capacity of U.S. FTA trading partners  to protect the environment by promoting sustainable development.

Therefore, the United States negotiates Environment Chapters in each FTA. The obligations contained in the Environment Chapters help ensure that our FTA partners practice effective environmental governance. Alongside FTAs, we also negotiate mechanisms for environmental cooperation that provide a framework for working with our FTA partners to build their capacity to develop, implement, and enforce standards to protect the environment and human health. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) takes the lead in negotiating the FTA Environment Chapters; the State Department leads negotiation and implementation of the environmental cooperation mechanisms, which usually take the form of environmental cooperation agreements or memoranda of understanding or joint statements on the environment.

Status of Trade Agreements and Cooperation Mechanisms

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was the first free trade agreement to be linked to a complementary environmental cooperation mechanism, the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation , which entered into force in 1994. Since then, the United States has concluded negotiations for FTAs and associated cooperation mechanisms with a growing number of countries in Latin America, the Middle East, and Asia , listed at the left.

These environmental cooperation mechanisms generally provide for the creation of an Environmental Cooperation Commission or similar intergovernmental body that meets periodically or as needed to develop a work program and guide cooperative activities under that work program.

Opportunities for Public Input and Participation

The State Department welcomes public input and participation in the development and implementation of these cooperative mechanisms. It encourages interested individuals and private sector organizations, including businesses and not-for-profit organizations, to send an e-mail to the Department's Office of Environmental Policy with comments, suggestions, or to explore public-private partnerships to promote environmental capacity building in countries with which the U.S. has entered into trade agreements.

Environmental Reviews and FTAs under negotiation

In addition to FTAs already concluded, negotiations are underway with South Korea , Malaysia , Panama , Thailand , and the United Arab Emirates . The United States also is negotiating several regional agreements, including the regional negotiations for a Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) agreement and with the Southern African Customs Union Further information on the status of those negotiations may be found at the website at the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR).

For each FTA the United States negotiates, USTR, working with State and other USG agencies, prepares an environmental review to assess the potential environmental impact of the FTA in the United States . Such reviews may also examine global and transboundary impacts. These reviews help to guide U.S. cooperation with our FTA partners. Email a suggestion for future cooperative priorities and activities with these partners are also welcome.

World Trade Organization and Environment

The World Trade Organization (WTO) launched negotiations as part of the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) on certain aspects of the trade and environment linkage . The State Department's Office of Environmental Policy participates in the interagency process led by USTR on U.S. policy on trade and environment issues at the WTO.

Environment Cooperation Successes

Through promoting cooperative environmental activities with its trading partners, the U.S. has already seen a number of tangible outcomes come from joint efforts throughout the world. For example, in the CAFTA-DR region, the Administration currently is implementing approximately $20 million in cooperative environmental projects. The Administration also implements cooperative environmental projects with our other FTA partners, including Chile, Morocco, Jordan, Bahrain, Oman and Singapore.

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