 |
|
|
The 'Green' Promises of CAFTA |
|
By Diego Cevallos*
The
environment chapter of the Central American-U.S. free trade agreement
has environmental activists divided: for some it is merely ''symbolic'',
for others it is a ''major victory''.
MEXICO CITY - The ''green'' provisos of the
free trade treaty between the United States and six countries of
Central America states that the parties will act in ''good faith''
and will create an Environmental Affairs Council, an arbitration
group and perhaps a secretariat. These promises are being used as
artillery by the treaty's defenders and detractors alike.
Saying the trade treaty is pro- or anti-environmental is a battlehorse
for those debating the eventual ratification this year by the parliaments
of the Latin American countries involved (Costa Rica, El Salvador,
Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Dominican Republic) and the U.S.
Congress.
Approval by these legislative bodies is essential for the entry
into force of CAFTA (Central American Free Trade Agreement), signed
by the parties in early 2004.
Chapter 17 of the treaty, dedicated to the environment, opens with
the statement that the parties have the full right to establish
their own levels of environmental protection and to act with discretion
in regards to investigations, actions before the courts, regulations
and compliance with related standards.
Patricia Panting, Honduran environment minister and current holder
of the rotating presidency of the Central American Environment and
Development Commission (CCAD), says she is satisfied with what was
negotiated because the treaty's inclusion of a chapter on the environment
is in itself a victory.
CAFTA's environmental section includes concrete measures and a 10-year
timetable, and will help Central America obtain financial support
from the United States for environmental projects, Panting told
Tierramérica.
Marco González, CCAD executive secretary, agreed with Panting, underscoring
that the Central American countries negotiated CAFTA as a bloc,
and that the creation of the Environmental Affairs Council was crucial.
The signatory nations committed themselves to applying their own
laws and priorities, as well as ensuring policies and standards
that provide and promote ''high levels of environmental protection'',
and working to improve the related laws and policies.
But according to the non-governmental organization Citizens Trade
Campaign, an umbrella of U.S. environmental, labor, consumer and
farm groups, CAFTA will let the Central American partners maintain
their ''poor'' environmental standards.
Citizens Trade, alongside other NGOs, is lobbying in the United
States against ratification of the treaty.
Lobbying in Central America are various civil society groups that
fear the dismantling of tariff protections and the opening of borders
between partners that are so unequal in terms of economic power
and development.
The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) says 74 percent of
Central America's farmland is degraded, and that the region is one
of the most vulnerable to natural disasters.
''In CAFTA the environment is treated only in a symbolic way,''
Yuri Melini, director of the Center for Legal and Social Action,
a Guatemalan NGO, told Tierramérica.
A similar opinion comes from Angel Ibarra, president of the Salvadoran
Ecological Unit, who predicts that CAFTA will turn Central America
into a ''piñata to be exploited by whoever wants to,'' which will
translate into widespread ecological damage.
The treaty's environmental clauses ''are pure rhetoric, because
there are no mechanisms or measures that require countries to protect
their natural resources,'' he said in a conversation with Tierramérica.
But the treaty does entail some concrete measures, such as establishing
the Environmental Affairs Council, with representatives from environmental
ministries and agencies.
The Council must meet within the first year after CAFTA takes effect,
and annually thereafter, ''unless the parties agree otherwise, to
monitor implementation and review the progress of the treaty and
to consider the state of the cooperation activities.''
It also stipulates that any person from the member countries will
be able to file complaints of non-compliance with environmental
legislation before a secretariat or other appropriate body that
the parties designate, and which will have the authority to draft
rulings.
Furthermore, the parties to the treaty pledge to establish within
six months of ratification an arbitration group made up of 28 independent
experts to deal with environmental disputes.
Meanwhile, there are NGOs that do approve of CAFTA. The Salvadoran
group Salvanatura, Costa Rica's Foundation for the Restoration of
Nature, and the Honduran Network of Ecologists for Sustainable Development,
along with 10 other groups, in January sent a letter to U.S. lawmakers
praising the treaty.
The norms established by the accord ''are a positive precedent in
the efforts for environmental protection in Central America,'' they
said.
With independence of opinions about CAFTA, the NGOs recognize the
environmental progress made in the region, where ''citizen participation
has been promoted in projects related to protected areas, biodiversity,
protection of flora and fauna, and issues like territorial regulation
and environmental quality,'' said Guatemalan activist Melini.
Minister Panting, meanwhile, underscored the achievements made in
institutional integration, based on the creation 15 years ago of
CCAD, as part of the Central American Integration System.
''In 1990 no country in the region had environmental legislation.
Now there are laws, institutions and environmental management,''
she said.
According to González, CCAD has promoted important regional environmental
policies as well as the ratification of key international agreements,
like the conventions on biodiversity and climate change.
* Diego Cevallos is an IPS correspondent.
Jorge Grochembake contributed reporting from Guatemala.
|
