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These comments are made in response to the request from the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) and the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) for public comment on issues relevant to the implementation of the November 16, 1999 Executive Order on the environmental review of trade agreements (EO 13141)
Trade liberalization is an instrument intended to produce benefits to society as a whole. Crafting policies to meet this goal must involve consideration of the full range of values important to American citizens, such as the environment, quality of work conditions, health, and so on. In other words, environmental protection and sustainable development are essential elements at the starting point, not side issues to be added late in the process. The denial of this reality is largely to blame for the public dissatisfaction that contributed so heavily to the successive defeats ofthis Administration’s trade policy efforts, culminating in the dramatic
failure in Seattle.
Remedying the problem in a credible way will require significant changes in the structure of the U.S. trade policy-making process. The stated objective of EO 13141 is to accomplish this. But past practice suggests that reaching these goals will not be easy. To make a real difference, EO 13141 will require broad interpretation and vigorous application — in short, the
political will to make good on the clear and now frequently repeated promises of the President and the Vice President. The following specific suggestions, we think, help point the way forward.