U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement: Potential Economy-wide ... - USITC

FTA Chapter 20—Environment 131
Assessment
The environment provisions of the U.S.-Korea FTA would likely have little effect on the
U.S. economy or on U.S.-Korea trade because the chapter does not significantly change
existing regulations, but focuses primarily on enforcement. Like the U.S.-Panama TPA, the
environmental provisions now in the FTA reflect the recent agreement between the
administration and the U.S. Congress to incorporate several environmental changes in the
FTAs (see Summary of Provisions section below).
Summary of Provisions
Chapter 20 of the FTA would commit each party to strive to ensure that its environmental
protection laws provide for high levels of protection and to strive to improve those laws, to
provide appropriate and effective remedies and sanctions for violations of environmental
protection laws, to not fail to effectively enforce its laws, to provide opportunities for public
participation, and to promote public awareness of its environmental laws. The parties would
agree that trade or investment will not be encouraged by weakening or reducing domestic
environmental laws, although there is a provision for a waiver or a derogation that is not
inconsistent with a party’s obligations under a covered agreement (see below). The two
parties would also agree to ensure that domestic judicial, quasi-judicial, or administrative
proceedings will be available to sanction or remedy violations of environmental laws. Such
proceedings would be required to be fair, open, and equitable; to comply with due process
of law; and to provide access to persons with recognizable legal interests. An Environmental
Affairs Council would be established that would meet to consider the implementation of the
provisions contained in chapter 20 as well as the separate Environmental Cooperation
Agreement (ECA), and to strive to resolve any controversies that may arise regarding these
environmental provisions. They would also agree to pursue cooperative environmental
activities and provide for environmental consultations. The parties will also commit to work
in multilateral fora to enhance the mutual supportiveness of multilateral environmental and
trade agreements.
The FTA would incorporate a specific list of multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs),
collectively referred to as “covered agreements,” under which the United States and Korea
have assumed obligations, including the Convention on International Trade in Endangered
Species (CITES), the Montreal Protocol on Ozone Depleting Substances, the Convention on
Marine Pollution, the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Convention (IATTC), the Ramsar
131 In a mandate separate from the Commission’s mandate, the USTR is tasked with providing an
environmental review of the U.S.-Korea FTA. Although the USTR has not yet released its final
environmental review of the U.S.-Korea FTA, it appears unlikely that the agreement will have significant
environmental effects in the United States. Pursuant to the Trade Act of 2002 and the environmental review
guidelines, the USTR provided an interim report to Congress in December 2006 on the probable
environmental effects on the United States of a U.S.-Korea FTA. In its report, the USTR stated that such an
FTA would be unlikely to result in any significant economically driven environmental effects in the United
States but that it may have positive environmental consequences for Korea. The USTR added that such an
FTA would not be expected to have a negative effect on the ability of U.S. government authorities to enforce
or maintain U.S. environmental laws or regulations.
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