Public Interest Committee Important but Limited Progress in Trade Negotiations, Says Advocacy Group
The U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Feb. 18 announcement to form a new Public Interest Trade Advisory Committee (PITAC) to advise Obama administration officials on trade negotiations will ramp up transparency and accountability, said the Center for Policy Analysis on Trade and Health (CPATH) in a Feb. 20 statement. Trade negotiations currently underway, such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership, have largely relied on industry input instead of considering public interest issues, said the statement.
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“The scope of trade negotiations has expanded well beyond tariffs to include issues with a direct impact on public health and domestic policy, including access to affordable medicines and health care, the right and ability of government laws and regulations to protect the public’s health from the epidemic of tobacco-related deaths and diseases, internet freedom, industrial farms, preventable climate change, labor rights, and economic instability related to unregulated capital flows,” said Co-Director of CPATH Ellen Shaffer.
The PITAC, however, represents only “limited” progress, said the statement, as the committee will be on par with “tier-two” committees, as defined by the Trade Act of 1974. The “tier-two” committees have comparatively scant influence and exposure to negotiations, said AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka in a Feb. 4 letter to members of Congress (see 14020716). The AFL-CIO sits on the Labor Advisory Committee. In the PITAC announcement, Froman said the committee will be similar to labor and environment committees.
“While the LAC has nominally the same access to initial U.S. proposals as the other advisory committees do, it is important to note that there are 16 Industry Trade Advisory Committees (ITACs), but only one LAC,” said Trumka in the letter. “Members of the ITACs, which on average meet six times per year, have the opportunity to participate in multiple ITACs … as well as in ad hoc working groups on such issues as government and procurement. In contrast, the LAC meets two times per year, and its members have not been invited to serve on ITACs related to their industries, nor to sit on ad hoc working groups.” A USTR spokesman did not respond for comment.
Email ITTNews@warren-news.com for a copy of the CPATH statement.