Senate Finance Committee

on the

United States Trade Agenda After the WTO Ministerial in Seattle

Good afternoon. I thank the Committee for the opportunity to appear here today.

I am Mark Van Putten, President and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation, the nation's largest conservation education and advocacy organization.

For nearly ten years, we have been involved in the development of U. S. trade policy. Our members are America's mainstream and main street conservation advocates who share a commitment to United States leadership in building a global economy that protects the environment while raising living standards for all people throughout the world.

I was in Seattle for the World Trade Organization Ministerial meeting with our National Wildlife Federation team and our colleagues from the public interest community. We were intensely involved in dialogue with trade officials, members of this Committee, and all the participants. In response to the Committee's focus of inquiry for this hearing, I would like to outline for you the four key lessons that I believe emerged from Seattle and the implications of those lessons for future WTO negotiations.

I. No Turning Back

The first lesson is that the old, exclusive and secretive deal making process of trade negotiations must give way to an inclusive, transparent, and democratic process. The negotiating strategies pursued by the United States and its trading partners must reflect this new reality. At the beginning of the twentieth century, President Wilson denounced secret deals, secretly arrived at. It is past time to follow through with a process that takes fully into account the views of developing as well as developed countries and of citizens and citizen groups as well as those of industry and government officials from all countries. The era of international trade negotiations being insulated from public concerns, including respect for the environment, is over.

II. Trade Liberalization and Environmental Protection Must Go Hand-in-Hand

In Seattle, we used every constructive means available to improve the WTO, not to disparage it. We will continue on that course.

Let me be emphatically clear. To the degree that a stereotype is being created in the public mind that the environmental community wants to "shut down" international trade, we believe that stereotype is false.

Economic globalization is a fact. It is not a policy option. We want the international trading system to succeed.

We also want trade to fulfil its true potential. We want trade to deliver on its promise of improving our quality of life. We want trade to raise living standards, including respect for conservation values throughout the world.

To achieve this goal my written testimony presents the National Wildlife Federation's agenda for environmentally responsible trade. The outlines of that agenda can be stated simply:

• The WTO should recognize legitimate national and international environmental standards. In this vein, the United States should assert international leadership in negotiating and ratifying multilateral environmental agreements, such as the Inter-American Convention for the Protection and Conservation of Sea Turtles.
• New trade agreements should include environmental assessments.
• Individuals and nations should be able to take into account the environmental effects of how imports are produced.
• The WTO should adopt modern standards of openness.

III. Global Consensus

Seattle's next lesson is that as a consensus driven institution, the WTO must find the common ground that unites the interests of the developed world with those of the developing world.

We recognize that liberalized trade abroad can be vital to securing the means for less developed nations to implement policies for sustainable development and environmental protection. But these results are not a given. They do not occur automatically.

As representatives of the non-governmental community we share a responsibility with you as Members of Congress, and with the Administration, and the business community to reach out to developing countries through capacity-building and other efforts to achieve common ground that removes their reservations.

IV. American Business' Self-interest

The fourth major lesson from Seattle is that it is in the self-interest of American businesses and traditional trade advocates who remain committed to old approaches to stop resisting the inclusion of democratic values into the international trade system. Progress requires finding common ground, not accentuating differences.

International trade is suffering a crisis of eroding public confidence. In Seattle, we witnessed this crisis first-hand. Increasingly, average citizens simply do not believe that the current rules of international trade respect their values, including their concern for the environment.

To create public confidence, the trade system must respect mainstream values - including democratic values of openness and respect for legitimate environmental concerns.

It is in the interest of everyone who wants trade to succeed to establish public confidence in the institutions and policies governing trade. We look to you as Members of Congress to help provide the leadership in this effort.

In this effort, the National Wildlife Federation is engaged and committed to advancing the cause of conservation in the global economy. I can summarize by saying that we need to recognize for the new international economy what we began to recognize about our own national economy as the 20th century opened - that trade is not an end in itself. It is a tool to achieve human aspirations, to improve standards of living and to enhance the quality of life. Our environment, our wild places and wild things are part of humanity's quality of life.

Thank you.