By MARTIN CRUTSINGER, AP Economics Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Clinton administration, maintaining that free trade and environmental protection can go hand in hand, put into place new rules Wednesday that subject future trade deals to environmental reviews.
The guidelines were developed under an executive order issued by President Clinton last year. They direct the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and the president's Council on Environmental Quality to review agreements for their potential environmental impacts. Also consulted would be governmental agencies, Congress and environmental groups.
While the guidelines will not be binding on a new administration, U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky predicted that the next administration will choose to adopt similar environmental reviews.
"I believe the policy is here to stay because it makes good sense. It meets a real need," she told reporters.
In a statement, Clinton said the guidelines "will ensure that we fully integrate environmental considerations into our negotiation of new trade agreements and will provide unparalleled opportunities for public involvement in trade policy."
The rules are part of the administration's efforts to answer complaints that past trade deals have failed to include safeguards for the environment and worker rights.
U.S. labor unions and environmental groups have contended that globalization promotes moving U.S. factories to countries with a low-wage work force and lax environmental regulations.
Environmental groups praised the guidelines, although some expressed concerns about whether a Bush administration would adopt them.
Republicans have opposed including labor and environmental regulations in trade deals and the split with the Clinton administration has blocked congressional enactment of new trade negotiating authority for the past three years.
"The bottom line is if George Bush wants to build a consensus for trade policy, he will use these guidelines," said Daniel Seligman, trade policy director at the Sierra Club. "The fair trade coalition has been able to block anti-environmental and anti-labor trade agreements."
Signaling possible trade battles with Republicans next year, House Democratic leader Richard Gephardt of Missouri said in a statement that U.S. policy had to deal with labor and environmental issues in order to "build popular support in the United States for global economic engagement."
Thousands of demonstrators disrupted World Trade Organization meetings a year ago in Seattle, where efforts to launch a new round of global trade negotiations collapsed in a cloud of tear gas.
Barshefsky said the administration would use the guidelines to review proposals, to be put forward before leaving office in January, on what a new round of trade talks should include, as well as efforts now under way to reach deals with Singapore and Chile.:
