I
103D CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1446
To provide for the multilateral negotiation of Western Hemisphere environ-
mental, 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 qual-
ity, and to implement a corresponding, comprehensive multilateral dispute
resolution mechanism to investigate, adjudicate, and render binding, en-
forceable 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 Hemi-
sphere environmental, labor, and agricultural standards,
to implement as United States negotiating objectives in
any free trade area negotiations pursuant to the Enter-
prise for the Americas Initiative certain threshold protec-
tions regarding worker rights, agricultural standards,
and environmental quality, and to implement a cor-
responding, comprehensive multilateral dispute resolution
mechanism to investigate, adjudicate, and render bind-
ing, enforceable judgments against any unfair trade prac-
tices 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.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Western Hemisphere
Environmental, Labor, and Agricultural Standards Act of
1993’’.
SEC. 2. PRINCIPAL NEGOTIATING OBJECTIVES OF THE
UNITED STATES.
In addition to the overall and principal trade nego-
tiating objectives of the United States set forth in section
1101 of the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of
1988, the purposes, policies, and objectives of title I of
such Act of 1988 that are applicable with respect to any
free-trade area trade agreement negotiated under the au-
thority of such title I in furtherance of the Enterprise for
the Americas Initiative with any country in the Western
Hemisphere outside North America (hereinafter referred
to as the ‘‘EAFTA’’) include the achievement of the fol-
lowing principal negotiating objectives:
(1) WORKER
RIGHTS
AND
STANDARDS
AND
PROTECTION.—With a view to establishing open, ex-
panding mutually-beneficial trade among the coun-
tries of the Western Hemisphere, to spreading the
benefits of such trade as widely as possible, to pro-
tecting citizens interests, and to enhancing respect
for human rights throughout the Western Hemi-
sphere, the principal negotiating objectives of the
United States with respect to worker rights and
standards, and the protection thereof, in the conduct
of international trade, commerce, and finance are—
(A) to ensure freedom of association and
to affirm the vital role that free and independ-
ent unions play in democratic governance;
(B) to ensure the rights of working people
to organize, to bargain collectively, and to
strike, and to ensure the right of workers’ rep-
resentatives to legal protection in the free exer-
cise of their duties and fundamental human
rights;
(C) to establish a minimum age for the
employment of children—
(i) at 14 years if the employment will
not result in the neglect of their education
and will not harm their health and well-
being, and
(ii) at 18 years if the employment in-
volves the use of, or exposure to, hazard-
ous equipment or toxic chemical sub-
stances, but only if the use or exposure will
not pose long-term risks to their health
and safety;
(D) to ensure the right to health at the
workplace and to a healthy working environ-
ment, including freedom from exposure to toxic
substances;
(E) to guarantee the right of all workers to
equal protection, including freedom from dis-
crimination in wages or working conditions, re-
gardless of their nationality, race, religion, age,
or sex; and
(F) to guarantee humane standards of
wages and hours of work that take into account
different levels of national economic develop-
ment, but provide for improvement concurrently
with gains in productivity.
(2) ENVIRONMENTAL
QUALITY
AND
PROTEC-
TION.—In recognition of the shared responsibility of
the countries of the Western Hemisphere as stew-
ards responsible for, and our common interest in,
preserving and sustaining the Western Hemisphere’s
natural habitat and resources over time, the prin-
cipal negotiating objectives of the United States with
respect to environmental quality and protection
are—
(A) the protection of environmental quality
and of the integrity of ecosystems, as well as
the maintenance of scarce biological and phys-
ical resources, in the conduct of international
trade, commerce, and finance;
(B) the establishment of a process for the
full and public disclosure of the kinds, quan-
tities, and risks associated with toxic chemical
and hazardous substance discharges into the
air, water, and land;
(C) the prevention of the export of toxic
and hazardous substances and products, such
as carcinogens and unsafe drugs, that are
banned in the country of origin;
(D) the prevention of the export of prod-
ucts (unless remediation or repatriation con-
tracts already exist) manufactured, extracted,
harvested, or grown under environmental condi-
tions or workplace safety and health conditions
that undermine counterpart standards, particu-
larly those applicable to the counterpart indus-
try in the importing country or the counterpart
standards, in general, in the importing country;
and
(E) to require that industries within their
national borders reduce the amount and toxicity
of hazardous substances that they use, mini-
mize the amount and toxicity of wastes they
generate, and demonstrate publicly their use of
best available technology for pollution abate-
ment in their production processes.
(3) UNFAIR
TRADE
PRACTICES.—In acknowl-
edging different, evolving comparative advantages
among trading nations, but with a view to distin-
guishing between acceptable and unacceptable means
of competition among trading nations, the principal
negotiating objectives of the United States with re-
spect to unfair trade practices shall include the
adoption, as a principle, that the systematic denial
or practical negation of the protections accorded
worker rights and standards and environmental
quality (within the context of paragraphs (1) and
(2)) as a means for any country or its industries to
gain competitive advantage in international trade,
commerce, and finance is an actionable unfair trade
practice.
(4) COMPREHENSIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION.—
The principal negotiating objectives of the United
States are to achieve a process for the settlement of
disputes that arise between or among the signatories
with respect to unfair trade practices, including not
only those involving commonly identified unfair
trade barriers, but unfair practices, within the con-
text of the negotiating objectives listed in para-
graphs (1), (2), and (3) involving the systematic de-
nial or practical negation of worker rights and
standards and failure to apply or enforce standards
relating to environmental quality or protection, re-
sulting in distortions to international trade, com-
merce, and finance. Such a process shall include—
(A) notification by each signatory nation to
the other signatories regarding changes in law
or practice that will materially affect the agree-
ment;
(B) provision, on a sequential basis and
subject to reasonable time limits, for consulta-
tion between or among signatories, for medi-
ation, and, if necessary, for binding arbitration;
(C) the establishment of a multilateral
commission, with authority to investigate, adju-
dicate, and issue binding judgments in a timely
manner regarding the issues in dispute pursu-
ant to subparagraph (B)—
(i) that consists of equal numbers of
experts from the signatory nations (with
United States experts being subject to the
advice and consent of the United States
Senate), and
(ii) the chairmanship of which will be
filled by individuals who—
(I) are citizens of the respective
signatories,
(II) serve on a rotational basis
among the signatories for 2-year
terms, but no individual may serve in
such office for more than one term,
and
(III) are appointed to such office
by the respective chief executive offi-
cers of the signatories (and any chair-
person appointed from the United
States is subject to the advice and
consent of the United States); and
(D) provision for the multilateral commis-
sion, in its proceedings and deliberations, to
consult with a wide array of representative or-
ganizations, in addition to government agencies,
with expertise in labor, environmental, agricul-
tural, and scientific matters in each of the sig-
natory nations;
(E) provision for the multilateral commis-
sion to enforce its judgments, as appropriate,
by authorizing an aggrieved signatory nation
to—
(i) suspend, withdraw, or prevent the
application of, the benefits of trade agree-
ment concessions to carry out the EAFTA
with the offending signatory nation,
(ii) impose proportionate duties on
specific products, companies, or industries,
or other offsetting import restrictions on
the goods of, and offsetting fees or restric-
tions on the services of, the offending sig-
natory nation for such time as the multi-
lateral commission determines, or
(iii) enter into binding agreements
with the offending signatory nation that
commit such nation to—