Environmental Reviews
Environmental reviews provide important support for trade negotiations and trade policies. Reviews, and the process of conducting them, provide information concerning potentially significant environmental implications of trade agreements, and a framework for discussing these implications within the government and with the public.
The United States has a long standing commitment to conducting written environmental reviews of major trade agreements, dating back to 1992 and USTR's review of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
Executive Order 13141, issued in 1999, and a set of implementing guidelines completed in 2000 made this commitment more enduring and the process more formal. The policy of conducting reviews was reaffirmed in 2001, and the Trade Act of 2002 required reviews consistent with the 1999 Executive Order and guidelines with reports to Congress.
The guidelines make it clear that the review process should begin early enough to be a productive part of the negotiations.
All of these reviews begin with invitations to the public to provide comments and suggestions on the scope of the review, on methods that should be used, and on likely effects of the proposed agreement, both positive and negative.
Reviews primarily focus on domestic environmental effects, but also consider transboundary and international environmental concerns as appropriate.
| Australia FTA | Interim Review | Final Review |
|---|---|---|
| Bahrain FTA | Interim Review | Final Review |
| CAFTA-DR | Interim Review | Final Review |
| Chile FTA | Final Environmental Review | |
| Colombia TPA | Interim Andean TPA | Final Environmental Review |
| Environmental Goods Agreement | Interim Review | |
| Jordan FTA | Final Environmental Review | |
| Korea | Interim Review | Final Environmental Review |
| Morocco FTA | Interim Review | Final Review |
| Oman FTA | Interim Review | Final Review |
| Panama FTA | Interim Review | Final Environmental Review |
| Peru TPA | Interim Andean TPA | Final Review |
| Singapore FTA | Final Review | |
| USMCA | Final Environmental Review |
