Doggett Challenges USTR for Not Enforcing Environmental Obligations in Past Trade Agreements

In the run-up to the controversial vote on Fast Track trade promotion authority, the administration has repeatedly claimed that the Trans Pacific Partnership will be a "21^st century" trade agreement that holds countries to high environmental standards. However, in a June 5, 2015 letter to Michael Froman, the U.S. Trade Representative, Congressman Lloyd Doggett of Texas, demonstrated how the U.S. has failed to hold countries accountable to "binding" environmental commitments in past trade deals. In particular, Doggett detailed the repeated failure of the USTR to follow through on the comprehensive five year audit required by U.S.-Peru Free Trade Agreement Forest Annex.

Bill Waren, senior trade analyst at Friends of the Earth, had this to say:

Congressman Doggett is an environmental champion and a real scholar of international trade law. His devastating and accurate analysis demonstrates Michael Froman's dereliction of his duty to enforce the Forest Annex of the U.S.-Peru free trade agreement. As we approach a vote on Fast Track, Congress needs to look at the evidence: the USTR has failed to enforce one of the few provisions in a U.S. trade deal that was designed to help rather than hurt the planet. Congress should not fall for Froman's empty environmental promises; the TPP is designed to benefit big business and Wall Street, not the environment.

For more background:
June 5, 2015 letter from Congressman Doggett to Michael Froman
June 4, 2015 report from Environmental Investigation Agency detailing the U.S.'s failure to enforce the environmental obligations in the US-Peru Free Trade Agreement