USTR Accepting Comments on EGA Environmental Impacts

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is accepting public comments through Nov. 21 on the Trade Policy Staff Committee’s interim environmental review of the World Trade Organization Environmental Goods Agreement, USTR said (here). Executive Order 13141, “Environmental Review of Trade Agreements,” provides for environmental reviews of certain international trade agreements. “The purpose of environmental reviews is to ensure that policymakers and the public are informed about reasonably foreseeable environmental impacts of trade agreements (both positive and negative), to identify complementarities between trade and environmental objectives, and to help shape appropriate responses if environmental impacts are identified,” USTR said. “Reviews are intended to be one tool, among others, for integrating environmental information and analysis into the fluid, dynamic process of trade negotiations.”