I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1446

To provide for the multilateral negotiation of Western Hemisphere environmental, labor, and agricultural standards, to implement as United States

negotiating objectives in any free trade area negotiations pursuant to

the Enterprise for the Americas Initiative certain threshold protections

regarding worker rights, agricultural standards, and environmental quality, and to implement a corresponding, comprehensive multilateral dispute

resolution mechanism to investigate, adjudicate, and render binding, enforceable judgments against any unfair trade practices arising within

the Western Hemisphere free trade area, including those involving the

systematic denial or practical negation of certain threshold protections

of worker rights, agricultural standards, and environmental quality.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 24, 1993

Mr. BROWN of California (for himself, Mr. GLICKMAN, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr.

WALSH, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr. SPRATT, Mr. KANJORSKI, Mr. MCCLOSKEY,

Mr. BLACKWELL, and Mr. LAFALCE) introduced the following bill; which

was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means

A BILL

To provide for the multilateral negotiation of Western Hemisphere environmental, labor, and agricultural standards,

to implement as United States negotiating objectives in

any free trade area negotiations pursuant to the Enterprise for the Americas Initiative certain threshold protections regarding worker rights, agricultural standards,

and environmental quality, and to implement a corresponding, comprehensive multilateral dispute resolution

mechanism to investigate, adjudicate, and render bind-
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ing, enforceable judgments against any unfair trade practices arising within the Western Hemisphere free trade

area, including those involving the systematic denial or

practical negation of certain threshold protections of

worker rights, agricultural standards, and environmental

quality.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Western Hemisphere

5 Environmental, Labor, and Agricultural Standards Act of

6 1993’’.

7 SEC. 2. PRINCIPAL NEGOTIATING OBJECTIVES OF THE

8 UNITED STATES.

9 In addition to the overall and principal trade nego10 tiating objectives of the United States set forth in section

11 1101 of the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of

12 1988, the purposes, policies, and objectives of title I of

13 such Act of 1988 that are applicable with respect to any

14 free-trade area trade agreement negotiated under the au15 thority of such title I in furtherance of the Enterprise for

16 the Americas Initiative with any country in the Western

17 Hemisphere outside North America (hereinafter referred

18 to as the ‘‘EAFTA’’) include the achievement of the fol19 lowing principal negotiating objectives:
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1 (1) WORKER RIGHTS AND STANDARDS AND

2 PROTECTION.—With a view to establishing open, ex3 panding mutually-beneficial trade among the coun4 tries of the Western Hemisphere, to spreading the

5 benefits of such trade as widely as possible, to pro6 tecting citizens interests, and to enhancing respect

7 for human rights throughout the Western Hemi8 sphere, the principal negotiating objectives of the

9 United States with respect to worker rights and

10 standards, and the protection thereof, in the conduct

11 of international trade, commerce, and finance are—

12 (A) to ensure freedom of association and

13 to affirm the vital role that free and independ14 ent unions play in democratic governance;

15 (B) to ensure the rights of working people

16 to organize, to bargain collectively, and to

17 strike, and to ensure the right of workers’ rep18 resentatives to legal protection in the free exer19 cise of their duties and fundamental human

20 rights;

21 (C) to establish a minimum age for the

22 employment of children—

23 (i) at 14 years if the employment will

24 not result in the neglect of their education
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1 and will not harm their health and well2 being, and

3 (ii) at 18 years if the employment in4 volves the use of, or exposure to, hazard5 ous equipment or toxic chemical sub6 stances, but only if the use or exposure will

7 not pose long-term risks to their health

8 and safety;

9 (D) to ensure the right to health at the

10 workplace and to a healthy working environ11 ment, including freedom from exposure to toxic

12 substances;

13 (E) to guarantee the right of all workers to

14 equal protection, including freedom from dis15 crimination in wages or working conditions, re16 gardless of their nationality, race, religion, age,

17 or sex; and

18 (F) to guarantee humane standards of

19 wages and hours of work that take into account

20 different levels of national economic develop21 ment, but provide for improvement concurrently

22 with gains in productivity.

23 (2) ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY AND PROTEC24 TION.—In recognition of the shared responsibility of

25 the countries of the Western Hemisphere as stew-
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1 ards responsible for, and our common interest in,

2 preserving and sustaining the Western Hemisphere’s

3 natural habitat and resources over time, the prin4 cipal negotiating objectives of the United States with

5 respect to environmental quality and protection

6 are—

7 (A) the protection of environmental quality

8 and of the integrity of ecosystems, as well as

9 the maintenance of scarce biological and phys10 ical resources, in the conduct of international

11 trade, commerce, and finance;

12 (B) the establishment of a process for the

13 full and public disclosure of the kinds, quan14 tities, and risks associated with toxic chemical

15 and hazardous substance discharges into the

16 air, water, and land;

17 (C) the prevention of the export of toxic

18 and hazardous substances and products, such

19 as carcinogens and unsafe drugs, that are

20 banned in the country of origin;

21 (D) the prevention of the export of prod22 ucts (unless remediation or repatriation con23 tracts already exist) manufactured, extracted,

24 harvested, or grown under environmental condi25 tions or workplace safety and health conditions
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1 that undermine counterpart standards, particu2 larly those applicable to the counterpart indus3 try in the importing country or the counterpart

4 standards, in general, in the importing country;

5 and

6 (E) to require that industries within their

7 national borders reduce the amount and toxicity

8 of hazardous substances that they use, mini9 mize the amount and toxicity of wastes they

10 generate, and demonstrate publicly their use of

11 best available technology for pollution abate12 ment in their production processes.

13 (3) UNFAIR TRADE PRACTICES.—In acknowl14 edging different, evolving comparative advantages

15 among trading nations, but with a view to distin16 guishing between acceptable and unacceptable means

17 of competition among trading nations, the principal

18 negotiating objectives of the United States with re19 spect to unfair trade practices shall include the

20 adoption, as a principle, that the systematic denial

21 or practical negation of the protections accorded

22 worker rights and standards and environmental

23 quality (within the context of paragraphs (1) and

24 (2)) as a means for any country or its industries to

25 gain competitive advantage in international trade,
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1 commerce, and finance is an actionable unfair trade

2 practice.

3 (4) COMPREHENSIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION.—

4 The principal negotiating objectives of the United

5 States are to achieve a process for the settlement of

6 disputes that arise between or among the signatories

7 with respect to unfair trade practices, including not

8 only those involving commonly identified unfair

9 trade barriers, but unfair practices, within the con10 text of the negotiating objectives listed in para11 graphs (1), (2), and (3) involving the systematic de12 nial or practical negation of worker rights and

13 standards and failure to apply or enforce standards

14 relating to environmental quality or protection, re15 sulting in distortions to international trade, com16 merce, and finance. Such a process shall include—

17 (A) notification by each signatory nation to

18 the other signatories regarding changes in law

19 or practice that will materially affect the agree20 ment;

21 (B) provision, on a sequential basis and

22 subject to reasonable time limits, for consulta23 tion between or among signatories, for medi24 ation, and, if necessary, for binding arbitration;
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1 (C) the establishment of a multilateral

2 commission, with authority to investigate, adju3 dicate, and issue binding judgments in a timely

4 manner regarding the issues in dispute pursu5 ant to subparagraph (B)—

6 (i) that consists of equal numbers of

7 experts from the signatory nations (with

8 United States experts being subject to the

9 advice and consent of the United States

10 Senate), and

11 (ii) the chairmanship of which will be

12 filled by individuals who—

13 (I) are citizens of the respective

14 signatories,

15 (II) serve on a rotational basis

16 among the signatories for 2-year

17 terms, but no individual may serve in

18 such office for more than one term,

19 and

20 (III) are appointed to such office

21 by the respective chief executive offi22 cers of the signatories (and any chair23 person appointed from the United

24 States is subject to the advice and

25 consent of the United States); and
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1 (D) provision for the multilateral commis2 sion, in its proceedings and deliberations, to

3 consult with a wide array of representative or4 ganizations, in addition to government agencies,

5 with expertise in labor, environmental, agricul6 tural, and scientific matters in each of the sig7 natory nations;

8 (E) provision for the multilateral commis9 sion to enforce its judgments, as appropriate,

10 by authorizing an aggrieved signatory nation

11 to—

12 (i) suspend, withdraw, or prevent the

13 application of, the benefits of trade agree14 ment concessions to carry out the EAFTA

15 with the offending signatory nation,

16 (ii) impose proportionate duties on

17 specific products, companies, or industries,

18 or other offsetting import restrictions on

19 the goods of, and offsetting fees or restric20 tions on the services of, the offending sig21 natory nation for such time as the multi22 lateral commission determines, or

23 (iii) enter into binding agreements

24 with the offending signatory nation that

25 commit such nation to—
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1 (I) eliminate, or phase out, the

2 act, policy, or practice that constitutes

3 an unfair trade practice and that is

4 the subject of the action to be taken

5 under clause (i) or (ii),

6 (II) eliminate any burden or re7 striction on Western Hemisphere

8 trade, as defined in the EAFTA, re9 sulting from such unfair trade prac10 tice,

11 (III) provide the aggrieved signa12 tory nation with compensatory trade

13 benefits that are satisfactory to the

14 multilateral commission and meet the

15 requirements of subparagraph (F), or

16 (IV) enter into debt-for-science

17 exchanges, or similar arrangements,

18 as appropriate, that are satisfactory

19 to the multilateral commission and

20 that serve, as potential funding

21 sources for remedies recommended

22 under paragraph (5), to ameliorate

23 the issues in dispute pursuant to sub24 paragraph (B);
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1 (F) provision that any binding agreement

2 described in subparagraph (E)(iii)(III) provide

3 compensatory trade benefits (including, but not

4 limited to, appropriate fees on trans-border

5 movements of products, services, or capital)

6 that benefit the economic sector which includes

7 the domestic industry in the aggrieved signatory

8 nation that would benefit from the elimination

9 of the act, policy, or practice that constitutes an

10 unfair trade practice and that is the subject of

11 the action to be taken under subparagraph (E),

12 or benefit the economic sector within the ag13 grieved signatory nation as closely related as

14 possible to such sector, unless—

15 (i) the provision of such trade benefits

16 is not feasible, or

17 (ii) trade benefits that benefit any

18 other economic sector within the aggrieved

19 signatory nation would be clearly and sub20 stantially more satisfactory than such

21 trade benefits;

22 (G) provision for the trinational commis23 sion, in taking action against unfair trade prac24 tices, as defined in the EAFTA, to avoid dimin25 ishing higher protections accorded worker rights
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1 and standards and environmental quality and

2 protection and to give preference to the prompt

3 elimination of the act, policy, or practice at

4 issue over—

5 (i) the imposition of duties or other

6 offsetting import restrictions or compen7 satory trade benefits, or

8 (ii) the entering into of debt relief ar9 rangements described in subparagraph

10 (E)(iii)(IV);

11 (H) provision for the government of any

12 signatory nation or any informed person within

13 a signatory nation to file a petition requesting

14 the multilateral commission to take action

15 under subparagraph (E) against any unfair

16 trade practice, including the systematic denial

17 or practical negation of worker rights and

18 standards and failure to apply or enforce stand19 ards relating to environmental quality or pro20 tection (referred to in paragraphs (1) and (2)),

21 and setting forth the allegations in support of

22 the request in public hearings and written testi23 mony; and

24 (I) provision for the proceedings, record,

25 and decisions (along with the supporting ration-
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1 ale) of the multilateral commission to be made

2 public information.

3 (5) TECHNICAL ADVICE AND RECOMMENDA4 TIONS.—

5 (A) INTERAGENCY COMMITTEE.—The Di6 rector of the Office of Science and Technology

7 shall establish, through the Federal Coordinat8 ing Council on Science, Engineering, and Tech9 nology, an interagency committee to provide

10 technical assistance, advice, and recommenda11 tions to United States experts on the multilat12 eral commission. The interagency committee

13 shall include one representative from each of

14 the following agencies:

15 (i) The National Science Foundation.

16 (ii) The Environmental Protection

17 Agency.

18 (iii) The Department of Labor.

19 (iv) The Department of the Interior.

20 (v) The Department of Agriculture.

21 (vi) The Department of Energy.

22 (vii) The National Institute of Stand23 ards and Technology.

24 (viii) The Department of Justice.
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1 (B) SPECIFIC FUNCTIONS.—In addition to

2 the general functions referred to in subpara3 graph (A), the interagency committee shall

4 evaluate the scientific and technological aspects

5 of certain disputes brought before the multilat6 eral commission that pertain to environmental

7 quality and protection and to workplace safety

8 and health, and shall determine if violations re9 lated to the disputes reflect—

10 (i) inadequate or insufficient applica11 tion of known technologies and techniques

12 for mitigation of the violations, or

13 (ii) need for additional research on,

14 and the development of, new technologies

15 and techniques for mitigation of the viola16 tions.

17 Consistent with paragraph (4)(G), and after

18 consultations with State and local government

19 officials and a wide array of representative or20 ganizations with expertise in environmental,

21 labor, agricultural and scientific matters, the

22 interagency committee will recommend to the

23 United States experts on the multilateral com24 mission, when appropriate, specific techno25 logical remedies to eliminate violations or fur-
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1 ther research that is needed to develop scientific

2 and technological remedies.

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