II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1870

To authorize the negotiation of a Free Trade Agreement with the Republic

of Singapore, and to provide for expedited congressional consideration

of such an agreement.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

NOVEMBER 5, 1999

Mr. BAUCUS introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred

to the Committee on Finance

A BILL

To authorize the negotiation of a Free Trade Agreement

with the Republic of Singapore, and to provide for expedited congressional consideration of such an agreement.

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 ‘‘United States-Singa5 pore Free Trade Agreement Act of 1999’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 Congress makes the following findings:
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1 (1) Economic growth in the United States has

2 been considerably enhanced by bilateral agreements

3 to lower barriers to United States exports.

4 (2) Increased trade and economic growth are

5 not ends in themselves. Trade and economic growth

6 should enhance the welfare and quality of life of all

7 citizens of the United States and the Republic of

8 Singapore (in this Act referred to as ‘‘Singapore’’).

9 (3) Countries that open their domestic markets,

10 remove barriers to foreign direct investment, and

11 promote free enterprise, empower their citizens to al12 leviate poverty and maintain social and environ13 mental values.

14 (4) Singapore has participated fully in World

15 Trade Organization programs and policies which

16 promote open trade.

17 (5) At the 1996 World Trade Organization

18 Ministerial in Singapore, Singapore reaffirmed its

19 commitment to internationally recognized core labor

20 standards.

21 SEC. 3. UNITED STATES POLICY WITH RESPECT TO TRADE.

22 It is the policy of the United States to seek the elimi23 nation of tariff and nontariff barriers in order to achieve

24 more open market access, on a reciprocal basis, to inter25 nationally traded goods and service, through bilateral free
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1 trade agreements with like-minded countries. Such agree2 ments should address the following:

3 (1) National treatment and market access for

4 agricultural and industrial products.

5 (2) Rules for determining which goods originate

6 in the territory of the United States and Singapore.

7 (3) Customs procedures that facilitate trade

8 and collection of trade statistics, while ensuring the

9 validity of claims for preferential treatment.

10 (4) Science-based, nondiscriminatory sanitary,

11 phytosanitary, and technical standards, including

12 voluntary standards.

13 (5) Safeguard provisions for industries that

14 have sustained or are threatened with serious eco15 nomic injury from import surges.

16 (6) Government procurement procedures.

17 (7) National treatment and rights of establish18 ment for foreign direct investors.

19 (8) National treatment and market access for

20 traded services, including consumption of services

21 abroad, cross-border provision of services, rights of

22 establishment of commercial presence, and the move23 ment of natural persons.

24 (9) Protection of intellectual property.
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1 (10) Transparency of legal and regulatory re2 gimes.

3 (11) Measures to promote electronic commerce.

4 (12) Trade-related environmental measures,

5 and the potential for both favorable and adverse en6 vironmental impacts.

7 (13) Adherence to internationally recognized

8 core labor standards.

9 SEC. 4. NEGOTIATION OF A FREE TRADE AGREEMENT WITH

10 SINGAPORE.

11 Subject to section 5, the President is authorized to

12 enter into an agreement with Singapore consistent with

13 the policy described in section 3, and the provisions of sec14 tion 151(c) of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2191(c))

15 shall apply with respect to a bill to implement such agree16 ment.

17 SEC. 5. INTRODUCTION AND FAST TRACK CONSIDERATION

18 OF IMPLEMENTING BILL.

19 (a) INTRODUCTION IN HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

20 AND SENATE.—When the President submits to Congress

21 a bill to implement a trade agreement described in section

22 4, the bill shall be introduced (by request) in the House

23 of Representatives and the Senate as described in section

24 151(c) of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2191(c)).
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1 (b) PERMISSIBLE CONTENT IN IMPLEMENTING LEG2 ISLATION.—A bill to implement a trade agreement de3 scribed in section 4 shall contain provisions that are nec4 essary to implement the trade agreement, and may include

5 trade-related labor and environmental protection stand6 ards.

7 (c) APPLICABILITY OF FAST TRACK PROCEDURES.—

8 Section 151 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2191)

9 is amended—

10 (1) in subsection (b)(1), by inserting ‘‘section 5

11 of the United States-Singapore Free Trade Agree12 ment Act of 1999,’’ after ‘‘the Omnibus Trade and

13 Competitiveness Act of 1988,’’; and

14 (2) in subsection (c)(1), by inserting ‘‘or under

15 section 5 of the United States-Singapore Free Trade

16 Agreement Act of 1999,’’ after ‘‘the Uruguay Round

17 Agreements Act,’’.

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