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 Co-Signers:
April 21, 1998 The Honorable William Jefferson Clinton Dear Mr. President: We, the undersigned organizations representing millions of concerned citizens in the United States and throughout the world, write to express our deep concern regarding the implications of the recent decision of the World Trade Organization (WTO) on the U.S. law to protect sea turtles during shrimp harvesting. The WTO panel decision not only threatens the world’s remaining sea turtles and other marine resources, but also highlights the WTO’s failure to act as an appropriate forum for resolving international environmental issues. We urge you to fulfill your commitment to the American people and to the environment by taking the following steps:
For years, concerned citizens have repeatedly urged your Administration to articulate a comprehensive role for the environment in international trade and investment policy. Recent examples show, however, the tendency for environmental priorities to be neglected in trade negotiations and implementation. The Administration’s weak support for NAFTA’s environmental institutions, and the disappointing performance of the Trade and Environment Policy Advisory Committee (TEPAC) as a forum for useful policy discussion, demonstrate that environmental issues in trade and investment negotiations have not been appropriately considered. During the congressional battle over the Uruguay Round Agreements Act in 1994, the Administration promised the American people that it would use the WTO’s Committee on Trade and Environment (CTE) to resolve the conflicts between trade rules and environmental protection. In our opinion, this promise has not been kept. To date, the United States has not presented a single proposal in the CTE that would ensure the appropriate interpretation of the environmental provisions in the WTO Agreements. It is critical that the United States government and this Administration provide the leadership necessary to promote the adoption of effective international policies protecting our environment and natural resources, but also trade and investment policies promoting sustainable resource use. The WTO Shrimp/Turtle case is a critical opportunity for the Administration to reestablish its former leadership role in trade and environment by confronting this damaging panel decision. The decision renders meaningless the environmental exceptions in Article XX and contorts the language of the WTO’s own charter in order to maintain a uniform ban on policies targeted at preventing environmental damage from the way a product is produced ("process and production methods"). It also fails to respect an international consensus, reflected in legitimate multilateral environmental agreements, concerning the importance of protecting endangered species. We appreciate the Administration’s defense of U.S. laws and multilateral agreements which protect endangered sea turtles, and your efforts to improve the transparency of an otherwise undemocratic dispute process. We strongly disagree, however, with recent press statements by United States Trade Representative Ambassador Charlene Barshefsky suggesting that the final panel report can be narrowly construed. On the contrary, we are convinced that this decision jeopardizes other U.S. and international environmental laws by establishing the precedent that unilateral actions are unacceptable even if they are intended to protect internationally recognized endangered species. We are also disappointed by your Administration’s apparent unwillingness to use this opportunity to publicly acknowledge the inherent weaknesses in WTO rules and procedures. WTO trade rules fail to adequately consider social and environmental priorities, or to encourage trade consistent with sustainable use. Just as alarming, the WTO and its decision making and dispute processes occur in a manner inconsistent with democratic principles of openness and due process. We are deeply concerned that the USTR’s muted response to this alarming decision sends the American public a clear message that the Administration plans to continue ignoring the gravity of the current conflict between trade rules and environmental policies. Therefore we call upon your Administration to take the following concrete steps to demonstrate to the American people your commitment to resolving the tension between trade and environment priorities. Stand Firm: Continue to Implement U.S. Turtle Protection Laws The Administration must communicate immediately that turtle conservation is an important component of U.S. environment and trade policy. In defense of that principle, the United States should appeal the panel decision. The stakes for endangered sea turtles are simply too high to weaken sea turtle conservation laws under pressure from the WTO. We do not mean to suggest that U.S. law should always remain stagnant. Few laws are immune to potential improvement. But both the principle and the realities here are clear: U.S. policy mandating the use of turtle excluder devices is fundamentally sound, and should not be changed in response to a ruling from an international body whose vision is limited by trade prerogatives. The Administration must also reject as a solution to the dispute the use of "shipment-by-shipment certifications" of shrimp caught with turtle excluder devices. Due to the nature of the industry, the certification of individual shrimp shipments cannot be verified, and will not adequately protect sea turtles. Such a solution will also not immunize U.S. law from future WTO challenges. Put simply, a shipment-by-shipment solution to this decision is both substantively and politically unworkable. Negotiate and Ratify Multilateral Agreements to Protect Sea Turtles In order to ensure that sea turtles and their habitats are properly protected, it is imperative that the Administration push for the ratification and implementation of the Inter-American Convention for the Protection and Conservation of Sea Turtles and continue negotiations to secure worldwide agreements and other measures to protect sea turtles. "Green Reform" of the WTO The Administration must use this panel decision and the upcoming WTO Ministerial Meeting to address the longstanding conflict between existing trade rules and environmental goals. As its primary goal for the May meeting, we urge the United States to gain consensus for an agenda and timetable to review WTO rules and procedures so that they better address trade and environment priorities, integrate democratic principles of openness and due process, and support, rather than undermine, sustainable use. Given the CTE’s failure to address environmental priorities to date, we feel that progress on issues such as multilateral environmental agreements, process and production methods, the role for environmental assessments, sanitary and phytosanitary issues, and procedural transparency is warranted now more than ever. We are not alone in our call for such an initiative. In a recent speech, European Commission Vice President Sir Leon Brittan argued it was time for the WTO to tackle the overlap between WTO rules and trade provisions in multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs), ecolabeling, process and production methods, and the precautionary principle. Eminent Persons Group to Advise WTO Reform Process To ensure that a WTO green reform agenda offers genuine solutions, reform discussions must be supported with a spectrum of views from outside the narrow culture of trade policy making. We therefore urge you to also take advantage of the 50th anniversary celebration of the General Agreements on Tariffs and Trade to call for the formation of an "eminent persons group" to provide counsel to governments and to the WTO itself on trade policy reforms for the 21st Century. We respectfully remind you of the commitment you made to Congress last November, in which you called for an "eminent persons group" on trade and environment. This group should be asked to frame policy recommendations related to the WTO’s green agenda. If the group were properly balanced to include cabinet-level trade and environment officials, international agencies such as the WTO and United Nations, as well as representatives from civil society, it could provide the innovative solutions necessary to break the impasse on trade and the environment. Recent polls indicate that nearly 90 percent of Americans want environmental protections preserved with any trade agreement. Your Administration has consistently promised to deliver international agreements that promote a healthy environment and economy. It is imperative to honor these commitments, and move forcefully as an advocate of responsible trade rules and environmental policies. Sincerely, Durwood Zaelke Roger E. McManus Rod Leonard Roger Schlickeisen Todd Steiner Vawter Parker Brent Blackwelder Paul G. Irwin Daniel P. Beard Mark Van Putten John H. Adams Carl Pope
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