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© Copyright 2000 The Christian Science Publishing Society. All rights reserved. |
Trade Agreement May Threaten Marine Life
The front-page article ''Analysts Praise Year-Old WTO, But Give It Incomplete Grade,'' Jan. 17, omits a couple of important examples of the way in which this so-called trade agreement can be used to weaken wise legislation.
Fearing another trade challenge by Mexico, Venezuela, and others, (similar to past GATT tuna-dolphin disputes lost by the United States), the US Congress is considering implementing a series of harmful provisions contained in the Panama Declaration, signed last October.
This deal would weaken America's marine-mammal protection laws, which protect dolphins from harmful tuna-fishing practices and enable American consumers to purchase accurately labeled ''dolphin safe'' tuna.
Further, US Trade Representative Mickey Kantor has pledged to cooperate with Canada in a challenge to the European Union's compassionate regulation banning the importation of certain furs from countries that allow the use of barbaric steel-jaw leghold traps. Both dolphin-safe fishing and abandonment of the use of cruel traps are measures supported by an overwhelming majority of citizens in the United States, Canada, and Europe.
Losing a dispute before the WTO, or even the threat of a challenge, can negate popular support and national sovereignty, reversing years of diligent work to enact praiseworthy laws.
Adam M. Roberts Washington
Research Associate, Animal Welfare Institute
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© Copyright 2000 The Christian Science Publishing Society. All rights reserved. |