Environmental Review of Trade Agreements

Executive Order 13141 of November 16, 1999

Environmental Review of Trade Agreements

By the authority vested in me as President by the
Constitution and the laws of the United States of
America, and in order to further the environmental and
trade policy goals of the United States, it is hereby
ordered as follows:

Section 1. Policy. The United States is committed to a
policy of careful assessment and consideration of the
environmental impacts of trade agreements. The United
States will factor environmental considerations into
the development of its trade negotiating objectives.
Responsible agencies will accomplish these goals
through a process of ongoing assessment and evaluation,
and, in certain instances, written environmental
reviews.

Sec. 2. Purpose and Need. Trade agreements should
contribute to the broader goal of sustainable
development. Environmental reviews are an important
tool to help identify potential environmental effects
of trade agreements, both positive and negative, and to
help facilitate consideration of appropriate responses
to those effects whether in the course of negotiations,
through other means, or both.

Sec. 3. (a) Implementation. The United States Trade
Representative (Trade Representative) and the Chair of
the Council on Environmental Quality shall oversee the
implementation of this order, including the development
of procedures pursuant to this order, in consultation
with appropriate foreign policy, environmental, and
economic agencies.

    (b) Conduct of Environmental Reviews. The Trade
Representative, through the interagency Trade Policy
Staff Committee (TPSC), shall conduct the environmental
reviews of the agreements under section 4 of this
order.

Sec. 4. Trade Agreements.

    (a) Certain agreements that the United States may
negotiate shall require an environmental review. These
include:
    (i) comprehensive multilateral trade rounds;
    (ii) bilateral or plurilateral free trade
agreements; and
    (iii) major new trade liberalization agreements in
natural resource sectors.
    (b) Agreements reached in connection with
enforcement and dispute resolution actions are not
covered by this order.
    (c) For trade agreements not covered under
subsections 4(a) and (b), environmental reviews will
generally not be required. Most sectoral liberalization
agreements will not require an environmental review.
The Trade Representative, through the TPSC, shall
determine whether an environmental review of an
agreement or category of agreements is warranted based
on such factors as the significance of reasonably
foreseeable environmental impacts.

Sec. 5. Environmental Reviews.

    (a) Environmental reviews shall be:
    (i) written;
    (ii) initiated through a Federal Register notice,
outlining the proposed agreement and soliciting public
comment and information on the scope of the
environmental review of the agreement;

    (iii) undertaken sufficiently early in the process
to inform the development of negotiating positions, but
shall not be a condition for the timely tabling of
particular negotiating proposals;
    (iv) made available in draft form for public
comment, where practicable; and
    (v) made available to the public in final form.
    (b) As a general matter, the focus of environmental
reviews will be impacts in the United States. As
appropriate and prudent, reviews may also examine
global and transboundary impacts.

Sec. 6. Resources. Upon request by the Trade
Representative, with the concurrence of the Deputy
Director for Management of the Office of Management and
Budget, Federal agencies shall, to the extent permitted
by law and subject to the availability of
appropriations, provide analytical and financial
resources and support, including the detail of
appropriate personnel, to the Office of the United
States Trade Representative to carry out the provisions
of this order.

Sec. 7. General Provisions. This order is intended only
to improve the internal management of the executive
branch and does not create any right, benefit, trust,
or responsibility, substantive or procedural,
enforceable at law or equity by a party against the
United States, its agencies, its officers, or any
person.

    (Presidential Sig.)

THE WHITE HOUSE,

     November 16, 1999.