I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1445

To provide for the trilateral negotiation of North American environmental,

labor, and agricultural standards, to implement as United States negotiating objectives in the North American free trade area negotiations

certain threshold protections regarding worker rights, agricultural standards, and environmental quality, and to implement a corresponding,

comprehensive trinational dispute resolution mechanism to investigate,

adjudicate, and render binding, enforceable judgments against any unfair

trade practices arising within the North American 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. 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 trilateral negotiation of North American

environmental, labor, and agricultural standards, to implement as United States negotiating objectives in the

North American free trade area negotiations certain

threshold protections regarding worker rights, agricultural standards, and environmental quality, and to implement a corresponding, comprehensive trinational dispute

resolution mechanism to investigate, adjudicate, and

render binding, enforceable judgments against any unfair
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trade practices arising within the North American 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 ‘‘North American Envi5 ronmental, 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 with Canada and Mexico (hereinafter

16 referred to as the ‘‘NAFTA’’) include the achievement of

17 the following principal negotiating objectives:

18 (1) WORKER RIGHTS AND STANDARDS AND

19 PROTECTION.—With a view to establishing open, ex20 panding mutually-beneficial trade among Canada,

21 Mexico, and the United States, to spreading the ben-
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1 efits of such trade as widely as possible, to protect2 ing citizens interests, and to enhancing respect for

3 human rights throughout North America, the prin4 cipal negotiating objectives of the United States with

5 respect to worker rights and standards, and the pro6 tection thereof, in the conduct of international trade,

7 commerce, and finance are—

8 (A) to ensure freedom of association and

9 to affirm the vital role that free and independ10 ent unions play in democratic governance;

11 (B) to ensure the rights of working people

12 to organize, to bargain collectively, and to

13 strike, and to ensure the right of workers’ rep14 resentatives to legal protection in the free exer15 cise of their duties and fundamental human

16 rights;

17 (C) to establish a minimum age for the

18 employment of children—

19 (i) at 14 years if the employment will

20 not result in the neglect of their education

21 and will not harm their health and well22 being, and

23 (ii) at 18 years if the employment in24 volves the use of, or exposure to, hazard25 ous equipment or toxic chemical sub-
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1 stances, but only if the use or exposure will

2 not pose long-term risks to their health

3 and safety;

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

5 workplace and to a healthy working environ6 ment, including freedom from exposure to toxic

7 substances;

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

9 equal protection, including freedom from dis10 crimination in wages or working conditions, re11 gardless of their nationality, race, religion, age,

12 or sex; and

13 (F) to guarantee humane standards of

14 wages and hours of work that take into account

15 different levels of national economic develop16 ment, but provide for improvement concurrently

17 with gains in productivity.

18 (2) ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY AND PROTEC19 TION.—In recognition of the shared responsibility of

20 Canada, Mexico, and the United States as stewards

21 responsible for, and our common interest in, preserv22 ing and sustaining the North American continent’s

23 natural habitat and resources over time, the prin24 cipal negotiating objectives of the United States with
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1 respect to environmental quality and protection

2 are—

3 (A) the protection of environmental quality

4 and of the integrity of ecosystems, as well as

5 the maintenance of scarce biological and phys6 ical resources, in the conduct of international

7 trade, commerce, and finance;

8 (B) the establishment of a process for the

9 full and public disclosure of the kinds, quan10 tities, and risks associated with toxic chemical

11 and hazardous substance discharges into the

12 air, water, and land;

13 (C) the prevention of the export of toxic

14 and hazardous substances and products, such

15 as carcinogens and unsafe drugs, that are

16 banned in the country of origin;

17 (D) the prevention of the export of prod18 ucts (unless remediation or repatriation con19 tracts already exist) manufactured, extracted,

20 harvested, or grown under environmental condi21 tions or workplace safety and health conditions

22 that undermine counterpart standards, particu23 larly those applicable to the counterpart indus24 try in the importing country or the counterpart
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1 standards, in general, in the importing country;

2 and

3 (E) to require that industries within their

4 national borders reduce the amount and toxicity

5 of hazardous substances that they use, mini6 mize the amount and toxicity of wastes they

7 generate, and demonstrate publicly their use of

8 best available technology for pollution abate9 ment in their production processes.

10 (3) UNFAIR TRADE PRACTICES.—In acknowl11 edging different, evolving comparative advantages

12 among trading nations, but with a view to distin13 guishing between acceptable and unacceptable means

14 of competition among trading nations, the principal

15 negotiating objectives of the United States with re16 spect to unfair trade practices shall include the

17 adoption, as a principle, that the systematic denial

18 or practical negation of the protections accorded

19 worker rights and standards and environmental

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

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

22 gain competitive advantage in international trade,

23 commerce, and finance is an actionable unfair trade

24 practice.
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1 (4) COMPREHENSIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION.—

2 The principal negotiating objectives of the United

3 States are to achieve a process for the settlement of

4 disputes that arise between or among the signatories

5 with respect to unfair trade practices, including not

6 only those involving commonly identified unfair

7 trade barriers, but unfair practices, within the con8 text of the negotiating objectives listed in para9 graphs (1), (2), and (3) involving the systematic de10 nial or practical negation of worker rights and

11 standards and failure to apply or enforce standards

12 relating to environmental quality or protection, re13 sulting in distortions to international trade, com14 merce, and finance. Such a process shall include—

15 (A) notification by each signatory nation to

16 the other signatories regarding changes in law

17 or practice that will materially affect the agree18 ment;

19 (B) provision, on a sequential basis and

20 subject to reasonable time limits, for consulta21 tion between or among signatories, for medi22 ation, and, if necessary, for binding arbitration;

23 (C) the establishment of a trinational com24 mission, with authority to investigate, adju25 dicate, and issue binding judgments in a timely
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1 manner regarding the issues in dispute pursu2 ant to subparagraph (B)—

3 (i) that consists of equal numbers of

4 experts from the signatory nations (with

5 United States experts being subject to the

6 advice and consent of the United States

7 Senate), and

8 (ii) the chairmanship of which will be

9 filled by individuals who—

10 (I) are citizens of the respective

11 signatories,

12 (II) serve on a rotational basis

13 among the signatories for 2-year

14 terms, but no individual may serve in

15 such office for more than one term,

16 and

17 (III) are appointed to such office

18 by the respective chief executive offi19 cers of the signatories (and any chair20 person appointed from the United

21 States is subject to the advice and

22 consent of the United States Senate);

23 and

24 (D) provision for the trinational commis25 sion, in its proceedings and deliberations, to
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1 consult with a wide array of representative or2 ganizations, in addition to government agencies,

3 with expertise in labor, environmental, agricul4 tural, and scientific matters in each of the sig5 natory nations;

6 (E) provision for the trinational commis7 sion to enforce its judgments, as appropriate,

8 by authorizing an aggrieved signatory nation

9 to—

10 (i) suspend, withdraw, or prevent the

11 application of, the benefits of trade agree12 ment concessions to carry out the NAFTA

13 with the offending signatory nation,

14 (ii) impose proportionate duties on

15 specific products, companies, or industries,

16 or other offsetting import restrictions on

17 the goods of, and offsetting fees or restric18 tions on the services of, the offending sig19 natory nation for such time as the

20 trinational commission determines, or

21 (iii) enter into binding agreements

22 with the offending signatory nation that

23 commit such nation to—

24 (I) eliminate, or phase out, the

25 act, policy, or practice that constitutes
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1 an unfair trade practice and that is

2 the subject of the action to be taken

3 under clause (i) or (ii),

4 (II) eliminate any burden or re5 striction on North American trade, as

6 defined in the NAFTA, resulting from

7 such unfair trade practice,

8 (III) provide the aggrieved signa9 tory nation with compensatory trade

10 benefits that are satisfactory to the

11 trinational commission and meet the

12 requirements of subparagraph (F), or

13 (IV) enter into debt-for-science

14 exchanges, or similar arrangements,

15 as appropriate, that are satisfactory

16 to the trinational commission and that

17 serve, as potential funding sources for

18 remedies recommended under para19 graph (5), to ameliorate the issues in

20 dispute pursuant to subparagraph

21 (B);

22 (F) provision that any binding agreement

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

24 compensatory trade benefits (including, but not

25 limited to, appropriate fees on trans-border
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1 movements of products, services, or capital)

2 that benefit the economic sector which includes

3 the domestic industry in the aggrieved signatory

4 nation that would benefit from the elimination

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

6 unfair trade practice and that is the subject of

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

8 or benefit the economic sector within the ag9 grieved signatory nation as closely related as

10 possible to such sector, unless—

11 (i) the provision of such trade benefits

12 is not feasible, or

13 (ii) trade benefits that benefit any

14 other economic sector within the aggrieved

15 signatory nation would be clearly and sub16 stantially more satisfactory than such

17 trade benefits;

18 (G) provision for the trinational commis19 sion, in taking action against unfair trade prac20 tices, as defined in the NAFTA, to avoid dimin21 ishing higher protections accorded worker rights

22 and standards and environmental quality and

23 protection and to give preference to the prompt

24 elimination of the act, policy, or practice at

25 issue over—
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1 (i) the imposition of duties or other

2 offsetting import restrictions or compen3 satory trade benefits, or

4 (ii) the entering into of debt relief ar5 rangements described in subparagraph

6 (E)(iii)(IV);

7 (H) provision for the government of any

8 signatory nation or any informed person within

9 a signatory nation to file a petition requesting

10 the trinational commission to take action under

11 subparagraph (E) against any unfair trade

12 practice, including the systematic denial or

13 practical negation of worker rights and stand14 ards and failure to apply or enforce standards

15 relating to environmental quality or protection

16 (referred to in paragraphs (1) and (2)), and

17 setting forth the allegations in support of the

18 request in public hearings and written testi19 mony; and

20 (I) provision for the proceedings, record,

21 and decisions (along with the supporting ration22 ale) of the trinational commission to be made

23 public information.

24 (5) TECHNICAL ADVICE AND RECOMMENDA25 TIONS.—
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1 (A) INTERAGENCY COMMITTEE.—The Di2 rector of the Office of Science and Technology

3 shall establish, through the Federal Coordinat4 ing Council on Science, Engineering, and Tech5 nology, an interagency committee to provide

6 technical assistance, advice, and recommenda7 tions to United States experts on the trinational

8 commission. The interagency committee shall

9 include one representative from each of the fol10 lowing agencies:

11 (i) The National Science Foundation.

12 (ii) The Environmental Protection

13 Agency.

14 (iii) The Department of Labor.

15 (iv) The Department of the Interior.

16 (v) The Department of Agriculture.

17 (vi) The Department of Energy.

18 (vii) The National Institute of Stand19 ards and Technology.

20 (viii) The Department of Justice.

21 (B) SPECIFIC FUNCTIONS.—In addition to

22 the general functions referred to in subpara23 graph (A), the interagency committee shall

24 evaluate the scientific and technological aspects

25 of certain disputes brought before the
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1 trinational commission that pertain to environ2 mental quality and protection and to workplace

3 safety and health, and shall determine if viola4 tions related to the disputes reflect—

5 (i) inadequate or insufficient applica6 tion of known technologies and techniques

7 for mitigation of the violations, or

8 (ii) need for additional research on,

9 and the development of, new technologies

10 and techniques for mitigation of the viola11 tions.

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

13 consultations with State and local government

14 officials and a wide array of representative or15 ganizations with expertise in environmental,

16 labor, agricultural and scientific matters, the

17 interagency committee will recommend to the

18 United States experts on the trinational com19 mission, when appropriate, specific techno20 logical remedies to eliminate violations or fur21 ther research that is needed to develop scientific

22 and technological remedies.

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