Trade Policy Staff Committee; Initiation of Environmental Review of Doha Multilateral Trade Negotiations; Public Comments on Scope of Environmental Review

Résumé

Pursuant to Executive Order 13141, 64 FR 63169 (Nov. 18, 1999), and implementing guidelines, 65 FR 79442 (Dec. 19, 2000), the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), through the Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC), is initiating an environmental review of the multilateral negotiations launched in November 2001 at the World Trade Organization's Fourth Ministerial Meeting in Doha, Qatar. The negotiations are to be concluded within three years (not later than January 1, 2005). The TPSC requests written public comments on the scope of the environmental review, including any reasonably foreseeable significant positive and negative environmental effects that might flow from economic changes attributable to the prospective agreements, and potential implications for environmental laws, regulations and other measures. The TPSC also welcomes public views on appropriate methodologies for conducting the review and the appropriate time to perform the environmental analysis, given the three-year time frame for the negotiations.