House Lawmakers Circulate Letter to Press Strict Environment Rules in TPP
A group of lawmakers led by Reps. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., and Peter Defazio, D-Ore., are soliciting House member signatures on a letter urging support for strict environmental rules in a final Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) pact. The letter, intended to be submitted to U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman in late February or early March, insists the TPP agreement builds on a May 10, 2007 accord (here) that requires adherence to a host of multilateral environment agreements. The letter will circulate until Feb. 11, according to a spokeswoman from a House member that endorsed the letter.
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“TPP countries represent some of the most diverse forests on earth, but many of those forests face unsustainable logging practices, which globally accounts for 17 percent of total carbon emissions and substantial threats to endangered plant and wildlife. Many TPP countries do not have sufficient rules or fail to adequately enforce their laws against the trade in illegally sourced plants and wildlife, a roughly $15 billion market that often funds international criminal activity,” said the letter. “A robust, fully enforceable environment chapter is about more than just conservation and undercutting the black market. It will also help level the playing field for U.S. companies consistently placed at a disadvantage because of poor or unevenly enforced environmental laws in other TPP countries.” WikiLeaks released on Jan. 15 an apparent TPP Environment chapter, dated November, which indicated TPP participant nations still need to reconcile differences in environmental priorities, according to analysis from advocacy groups (see 14011722).
Email ITTNews@warren-news.com for a copy of the letter.