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

Convention on Wetlands, the International Whaling Convention (IWC), and the Convention
on Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) (Annex 20-A). In
previous FTAs, environmental dispute settlement procedures have focused on the use of
fines, as opposed to trade sanctions, and were limited to the obligation to effectively enforce
environmental laws. 132 In the U.S.-Korea FTA, all FTA environmental obligations would be
enforced on the same basis as the commercial provisions of the agreements and would be
subject to the same remedies, procedures, and sanctions. 133
Views of Interested Parties
The Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations (ACTPN) report states that the
environmental provisions of the U.S.-Korea FTA meet Congressional environmental
objectives. The report adds that ACTPN endorses the environmental provisions of the FTA,
noting that each party must enforce its own domestic laws in an effective manner so as to
avoid having a negative effect on trade. 134
The Trade and Environment Policy Advisory Committee (TEPAC) report states that a
majority of the committee members believe that the U.S.-Korea FTA meets the U.S.
environmental negotiating objectives. 135 Similarly, a majority of TEPAC members report that
are also pleased to see the enhanced provisions for public participation and view such public
participation as increasing the opportunities for effective enforcement of environmental laws.
Moreover, the report states that the majority of TEPAC members also believe that the
Environmental Cooperation Agreement (ECA) will provide a reasonable basis for fulfilling
negotiating objectives regarding capacity building and sustainable development. It notes,
however, that the majority believes that without a dedicated funding source, the achievement
of the goals of the ECA is doubtful. On the other hand, a minority expressed the view that
dedicated funding for the ECA would mean that funds for other priorities, even for similar
projects associated with other FTAs, may not be available. 136 The TEPAC report states that
most members also believe that the dispute-resolution procedures are sufficient to meet U.S.
environmental negotiating objectives. 137 A majority were disappointed with the absence of
an article on biological diversity such as those included in other FTAs. 138
The ITAC 9 (Non-Ferrous Metals and Building Materials), ITAC 7 (Forest Products), and
ITAC 3 (Chemicals) reports also addressed the environment provisions. The ITAC 9 report
expressed support for use of side agreements, as opposed to the agreement text. It said that
the side-agreement approach encourages private-sector cooperation toward furthering the
advancement of environmentally sustainable economic development. It also expressed
concern about the environment provisions that appear to approve use of measures to achieve
environmental goals in the context of MEAs, noting that there is no assurance that these
132 USTR, “Bipartisan Trade Deal,” May 2007, 2.
133 For additional information on such remedies, procedures, and sanctions, see the section on Dispute
Settlement in this chapter.
134 ACTPN, Report, April 26, 2007, 9.
135 TEPAC, Advisory Committee Report, April 25, 2007, 2.
136 Ibid., 16.
137 Ibid., 3.
138 Ibid., 5.
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