{
  "id": "94-165",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "94-165",
  "active": false,
  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com, University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department",
  "versions": [
    {
      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 104437,
      "date": "1994-04-04",
      "retrieved": "2016-05-24T21:04:45.737941",
      "title": "Trade and Environment: GATT and NAFTA",
      "summary": "Environmental concerns in trade negotiations have received extensive attention by policymakers\nboth\nwith regard to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and to the North American Free\nTrade Agreement (NAFTA). At the conclusion of the NAFTA, environmental concerns were\naddressed both within the agreement and in side agreements that were critical to passage of NAFTA\nimplementing legislation in the United States. Similarly, although not initially expected to address\nenvironment, the GATT Uruguay Round agreement contains a number of provisions advocated by\nenvironmental groups. Following completion of the Uruguay Round agreement in December 1993,\nnegotiations continued on formulation of an environmental work program for GATT. Negotiators\ndecided in March that a Committee on Trade and Environment is to be established in the newly\nestablished World Trade Organization (WTO). \n  A number of basic concerns have been raised during the debates on trade and the environment,\nspanning a wide range of issues. These include concerns that differences in environmental\nregulations may affect competitiveness, raising the question of whether and how to ``harmonize,''\nor achieve some internationally accepted convergence of, environmental standards; concern that if\ncountries are not allowed to control or restrict exports, they may lose a major tool for conserving\nresources that are overharvested for trade markets; the use of trade measures in international\nagreements; concerns about unilateral use of trade measures. An important underlying issue is the\nextent to which environmental issues can or should be negotiated and resolved within the context\nof trade agreements. \n  In the final agreement of the Uruguay Round of GATT in December, some environmental\nissues were addressed directly, while others were deferred by the recommendation that a work\nprogram for environmental issues be formulated for approval at the April 15 Ministerial meeting in\nMarrakech, Morocco, where the Uruguay Round agreement will be signed. Modifications were\nmade in key language on technical barriers to trade (TBTs), sanitary and phyto-sanitary standards\n(SPS), and dispute settlement, and language on protection of the environment and sustainable\ndevelopment was added to the priorities in the preamble. The December agreement also approved\nsome limited environmental subsidies. Following up on the December decision to formulate a work\nprogram on environmental issues to address major environmental concerns in the post-Uruguay\nperiod, GATT negotiators decided in March 1994 that a Trade and Environment Committee is to be\nestablished within the WTO, and a broad work plan was outlined. \n  Negotiation of the NAFTA, signed December 17, 1992, involved unprecedented consideration\nof environmental issues in the context of a trade agreement. In the final text, negotiators included\nseveral environment-related provisions, including language to generally preserve participating\ncountries' laws and regulations on environment, health and safety. These are briefly described in this\nreport.",
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORTS",
      "active": false,
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          "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/94-165",
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          "filename": "files/19940404_94-165_9dbad21a5180913d957a38c64c62343e19ee0ad5.pdf",
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      "topics": []
    },
    {
      "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department",
      "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc26036/",
      "id": "94-165_1994Feb24",
      "date": "1994-02-24",
      "retrieved": "2010-07-07T17:39:19",
      "title": "Trade and Environment: Treatment in Recent Agreements--GATT and NAFTA",
      "summary": "This report reviews some of the concerns surrounding the environment work program and other environmental issues. It briefly describes work underway in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and current thinking underlying development of U.S. positions on trade and the environment in the GATT.",
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORT",
      "active": false,
      "formats": [
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          "format": "PDF",
          "filename": "files/19940224_94-165_4a481f22a324470a1d6e8092b122ebd40800ff67.pdf"
        },
        {
          "format": "HTML",
          "filename": "files/19940224_94-165_4a481f22a324470a1d6e8092b122ebd40800ff67.html"
        }
      ],
      "topics": [
        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Trade",
          "name": "Trade"
        },
        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Environmental protection",
          "name": "Environmental protection"
        },
        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Natural resources",
          "name": "Natural resources"
        },
        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Environmental policy",
          "name": "Environmental policy"
        },
        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "International affairs",
          "name": "International affairs"
        },
        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Trade agreements",
          "name": "Trade agreements"
        },
        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Tariff agreements",
          "name": "Tariff agreements"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "topics": [
    "Energy Policy",
    "Environmental Policy",
    "Foreign Affairs"
  ]
}