Oppose the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) – Recently Released Text Falls Short on Environment

A coalition of environmental organizations urges the U.S. Congress to oppose CAFTA, asserting that its investor rules allow foreign companies to challenge environmental laws in international tribunals and that its environmental safeguards are insufficient to support sustainable development in Central America.

• CAFTA's investor rules allow foreign investors to bypass domestic courts and challenge environmental laws and regulations before international tribunals, potentially demanding monetary compensation for the implementation of legitimate protections. This creates a risk where the threat of costly challenges could prevent developing Central American countries from adopting environmental standards.
• The agreement's investment rules are described as similar to NAFTA's Chapter 11 and are argued to violate the Trade Act of 2002 by granting foreign investors rights and privileges that exceed those of U.S. citizens under U.S. law. Specifically, the text allows challenges to government decisions regarding natural resource agreements, including mineral, gas, and oil leases.
• The document asserts that CAFTA's environmental rules are inadequate because they do not require countries to maintain and enforce basic environmental laws, lack enforceable corporate responsibility standards, and provide no parity between the enforcement of environmental and commercial provisions.
• The agreement lacks a comprehensive program for environmental cooperation, capacity building, and objective monitoring, and provides no dedicated funding for such efforts despite the fact that CAFTA would reduce the tariff revenue available to Central American countries for environmental protection.
• CAFTA is criticized for failing to ensure adequate food safety and "sanitary and phytosanitary" standards to protect public health and the environment. Additionally, its rules on services are claimed to potentially undermine safeguards in sectors including mining, forestry, water, waste transport, and offshore oil development.

APA

Magraw, D., Frymoyer, B., Muffett, C., Hershowitz, A., Wagner, M., Caldwell, J., Waskow, D., Seligman, D., Loyless, B., & Aurilio, A. (2004). Oppose the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) – Recently Released Text Falls Short on Environment. Center for International Environmental Law. https://www.ciel.org/news/ciel-and-partner-organizations-urge-the-united-states-congress-to-oppose-the-recently-completed-central-american-free-trade-agreement-which-threatens-to-undermine-environmental-protections-in-both-t/

Chicago

Magraw, Dan, Bill Frymoyer, Carroll Muffett, Ari Hershowitz, Martin Wagner, Jake Caldwell, David Waskow, et al. Oppose the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) – Recently Released Text Falls Short on Environment. Center for International Environmental Law, 2004. https://www.ciel.org/news/ciel-and-partner-organizations-urge-the-united-states-congress-to-oppose-the-recently-completed-central-american-free-trade-agreement-which-threatens-to-undermine-environmental-protections-in-both-t/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Magraw |first1=Dan |last2=Frymoyer |first2=Bill |last3=Muffett |first3=Carroll |last4=Hershowitz |first4=Ari |last5=Wagner |first5=Martin |last6=Caldwell |first6=Jake |last7=Waskow |first7=David |last8=Seligman |first8=Dan |last9=Loyless |first9=Betsy |display-authors=etal |title=Oppose the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) – Recently Released Text Falls Short on Environment |publisher=Center for International Environmental Law |date=1 February 2004 |url=https://www.ciel.org/news/ciel-and-partner-organizations-urge-the-united-states-congress-to-oppose-the-recently-completed-central-american-free-trade-agreement-which-threatens-to-undermine-environmental-protections-in-both-t/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{magraw2004oppose, author = {Magraw, Dan and Frymoyer, Bill and Muffett, Carroll and Hershowitz, Ari and Wagner, Martin and Caldwell, Jake and Waskow, David and Seligman, Dan and Loyless, Betsy and Aurilio, Anna}, title = {{Oppose the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) – Recently Released Text Falls Short on Environment}}, publisher = {Center for International Environmental Law}, year = {2004}, month = feb, url = {https://www.ciel.org/news/ciel-and-partner-organizations-urge-the-united-states-congress-to-oppose-the-recently-completed-central-american-free-trade-agreement-which-threatens-to-undermine-environmental-protections-in-both-t/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }