Dems Wants TPP to Have Strong Environmental Provisions
On June 3, 2011, 15 Democratic Representatives, including the Ranking Members of the House Ways and Means Committee and its Trade Subcommittee, sent a letter to the U.S. Trade Representative urging the inclusion of strong, enforceable environmental provisions in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), similar to the ones in the Peru FTA and pending FTAs with Korea, Colombia and Panama1.
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The letter also praises the conservation text that has already been proposed in the TPP negotiations that compels strong action to address the illegal trade in wood and wood products, illegal wildlife trade, fisheries subsidies, marine conservation and shark preservation..
1These environmental provisions are based on a May 10, 2007 bipartisan agreement, which include (i) the effective enforcement of multilateral environmental agreements; (ii) the non-derogation from a party’s environmental laws; and (iii) the application of dispute settlement provisions for environmental obligations with the same stringent enforcement and remedies that apply to commercial obligations. (See ITT’s Online Archives or 05/14/07 news, 07051405, for BP summary.)
Press release, including link to letter, available here