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 nego-
tiating objectives in the North American free trade area negotiations
certain threshold protections regarding worker rights, agricultural stand-
ards, 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, includ-
ing those involving the systematic denial or practical negation of certain
threshold protections of worker rights, agricultural standards, and envi-
ronmental 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 im-
plement as United States negotiating objectives in the
North American free trade area negotiations certain
threshold protections regarding worker rights, agricul-
tural standards, and environmental quality, and to imple-
ment 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 de-
nial or practical negation of certain threshold protections
of worker rights, agricultural standards, and environ-
mental 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 ‘‘North American Envi-
ronmental, 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 with Canada and Mexico (hereinafter
referred to as the ‘‘NAFTA’’) include the achievement of
the following principal negotiating objectives:
(1) WORKER
RIGHTS
AND
STANDARDS
AND
PROTECTION.—With a view to establishing open, ex-
panding mutually-beneficial trade among Canada,
Mexico, and the United States, to spreading the ben-
efits of such trade as widely as possible, to protect-
ing citizens interests, and to enhancing respect for
human rights throughout North America, the prin-
cipal negotiating objectives of the United States with
respect to worker rights and standards, and the pro-
tection 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
Canada, Mexico, and the United States as stewards
responsible for, and our common interest in, preserv-
ing and sustaining the North American continent’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 trinational com-
mission, 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 Senate);
and
(D) provision for the trinational 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 trinational 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 NAFTA
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
trinational commission determines, or
(iii) enter into binding agreements
with the offending signatory nation that
commit such nation to—
(I) eliminate, or phase out, the
act, policy, or practice that constitutes
an unfair trade practice and that is
the subject of the action to be taken
under clause (i) or (ii),
(II) eliminate any burden or re-
striction on North American trade, as
defined in the NAFTA, resulting from
such unfair trade practice,
(III) provide the aggrieved signa-
tory nation with compensatory trade
benefits that are satisfactory to the
trinational commission and meet the
requirements of subparagraph (F), or
(IV) enter into debt-for-science
exchanges, or similar arrangements,
as appropriate, that are satisfactory
to the trinational commission and that
serve, as potential funding sources for
remedies recommended under para-
graph (5), to ameliorate the issues in
dispute pursuant to subparagraph
(B);
(F) provision that any binding agreement
described in subparagraph (E)(iii)(III) provide
compensatory trade benefits (including, but not
limited to, appropriate fees on trans-border
movements of products, services, or capital)
that benefit the economic sector which includes
the domestic industry in the aggrieved signatory
nation that would benefit from the elimination
of the act, policy, or practice that constitutes an
unfair trade practice and that is the subject of
the action to be taken under subparagraph (E),
or benefit the economic sector within the ag-
grieved signatory nation as closely related as
possible to such sector, unless—
(i) the provision of such trade benefits
is not feasible, or
(ii) trade benefits that benefit any
other economic sector within the aggrieved
signatory nation would be clearly and sub-
stantially more satisfactory than such
trade benefits;
(G) provision for the trinational commis-
sion, in taking action against unfair trade prac-
tices, as defined in the NAFTA, to avoid dimin-
ishing higher protections accorded worker rights
and standards and environmental quality and
protection and to give preference to the prompt
elimination of the act, policy, or practice at
issue over—
(i) the imposition of duties or other
offsetting import restrictions or compen-
satory trade benefits, or
(ii) the entering into of debt relief ar-
rangements described in subparagraph
(E)(iii)(IV);
(H) provision for the government of any
signatory nation or any informed person within
a signatory nation to file a petition requesting
the trinational commission to take action under
subparagraph (E) against any unfair trade
practice, including the systematic denial or
practical negation of worker rights and stand-
ards and failure to apply or enforce standards
relating to environmental quality or protection
(referred to in paragraphs (1) and (2)), and
setting forth the allegations in support of the
request in public hearings and written testi-
mony; and
(I) provision for the proceedings, record,
and decisions (along with the supporting ration-
ale) of the trinational commission to be made
public information.
(5) TECHNICAL
ADVICE
AND
RECOMMENDA-
TIONS.—
(A) INTERAGENCY COMMITTEE.—The Di-
rector of the Office of Science and Technology
shall establish, through the Federal Coordinat-
ing Council on Science, Engineering, and Tech-
nology, an interagency committee to provide
technical assistance, advice, and recommenda-
tions to United States experts on the trinational
commission. The interagency committee shall
include one representative from each of the fol-
lowing agencies:
(i) The National Science Foundation.
(ii) The Environmental Protection
Agency.
(iii) The Department of Labor.
(iv) The Department of the Interior.
(v) The Department of Agriculture.
(vi) The Department of Energy.
(vii) The National Institute of Stand-
ards and Technology.
(viii) The Department of Justice.
(B) SPECIFIC FUNCTIONS.—In addition to
the general functions referred to in subpara-
graph (A), the interagency committee shall
evaluate the scientific and technological aspects
of 
certain 
disputes 
brought 
before 
the
trinational commission that pertain to environ-
mental quality and protection and to workplace
safety and health, and shall determine if viola-
tions related to the disputes reflect—
(i) inadequate or insufficient applica-
tion of known technologies and techniques
for mitigation of the violations, or
(ii) need for additional research on,
and the development of, new technologies
and techniques for mitigation of the viola-
tions.
Consistent with paragraph (4)(G), and after
consultations with State and local government
officials and a wide array of representative or-
ganizations with expertise in environmental,
labor, agricultural and scientific matters, the
interagency committee will recommend to the
United States experts on the trinational com-
mission, when appropriate, specific techno-
logical remedies to eliminate violations or fur-
ther research that is needed to develop scientific
and technological remedies.
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