Abstract
First, I will briefly explain what is meant by hemispheric sustainable development law. Then, I will discuss the current progress of the FTAA from a sustainable development law perspective. To illustrate the links between trade liberalization, social and environmental law and policy in the Americas, I will briefly highlight potential social and environmental impacts and opportunities in several important areas of negotiations: services, intellectual property rights, competition law, government procurement and investment. (The directions of agricultural liberalization, market access and subsidies are also crucial to sustainable development, but are too extensive to discuss here). Then, I will consider the institutional questions from a sustainable development perspective, especially the potential directions for FTAA chapters on environmental and social issues, focusing especially on mechanisms for cooperation and dispute resolution. I will only briefly comment on institutional mechanisms for civil society participation, as these issues have been canvassed elsewhere, and are also addressed in this volume. Finally, since a large part of social and environmental issues are not directly linked to trade and investment, I will briefly discuss the development of other, parallel forums for hemispheric cooperation on the environmental and social challenges of the western hemisphere, and consider whether these forums are strong enough to address overlapping agendas, as well as the mechanisms for coordination between these forums and the trade liberalization treaty process.
Recommended Citation
Marie-Claire Cordonier Segger,
Sustainable Development in the Negotiation of the FTAA,
27 Fordham Int'l L.J. 1118
(2003).
Available at: https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/ilj/vol27/iss4/16