Environmental Organizations Petition U.S. Ambassador Zoellick Regarding the General Treatment Provision in Upcoming United States-Chile Free Trade Agreement Negotiations

Environmental organizations are urging the U.S. government to restrict the 'General Treatment' provision in the U.S.-Chile Free Trade Agreement to avoid granting foreign investors rights that exceed those of domestic investors under U.S. law. They specifically argue against the use of 'fair and equitable' or 'reasonableness' standards, which they claim would allow arbitral panels to subjectively second-guess democratic government actions. The petitioners recommend limiting the provision to 'full protection and security' and 'denial of procedural justice,' while requiring an environmental exception modeled on GATT Article XX and the exhaustion of domestic remedies before claims are brought.

• The petitioners argue that any General Treatment provision should be strictly limited to 'full protection and security' and 'denial of procedural justice'. They define 'full protection and security' as only covering 'direct governmental interferences with property that would be covered under U.S. law'.
• The document strongly opposes the inclusion of 'fair and equitable' language, asserting that such terms are 'inherently subjective' and have 'no corresponding right under U.S. law'. The authors claim this language would invite arbitral tribunals to apply their own views of fairness, which they describe as 'antithetical to democracy'.
• The petitioners reject the use of a 'reasonableness' standard, stating it is 'inappropriate and unacceptable' because it would allow tribunals to perform their own cost-benefit analyses and reject 'good faith government actions'.
• The authors recommend that the General Treatment provision include an environmental exception based on Article XX of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and Article 2101 of the North American Free Trade Agreement.
• The petition requests that claimants be required to exhaust all administrative and judicial remedies before filing a General Treatment claim, unless such efforts would be futile, to protect the 'domestic rule of law'.

APA

Muffett, C., & Porter, S. (2002). Environmental Organizations Petition U.S. Ambassador Zoellick Regarding the General Treatment Provision in Upcoming United States-Chile Free Trade Agreement Negotiations. Center for International Environmental Law. https://www.ciel.org/news/environmental-organizations-petition-u-s-ambassador-zoellick-regarding-the-general-treatment-provision-in-upcoming-united-states-chile-free-trade-agreement-negotiations/

Chicago

Muffett, Carroll, and Steve Porter. Environmental Organizations Petition U.S. Ambassador Zoellick Regarding the General Treatment Provision in Upcoming United States-Chile Free Trade Agreement Negotiations. Center for International Environmental Law, 2002. https://www.ciel.org/news/environmental-organizations-petition-u-s-ambassador-zoellick-regarding-the-general-treatment-provision-in-upcoming-united-states-chile-free-trade-agreement-negotiations/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Muffett |first1=Carroll |last2=Porter |first2=Steve |title=Environmental Organizations Petition U.S. Ambassador Zoellick Regarding the General Treatment Provision in Upcoming United States-Chile Free Trade Agreement Negotiations |publisher=Center for International Environmental Law |date=1 October 2002 |url=https://www.ciel.org/news/environmental-organizations-petition-u-s-ambassador-zoellick-regarding-the-general-treatment-provision-in-upcoming-united-states-chile-free-trade-agreement-negotiations/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{muffett2002environmental, author = {Muffett, Carroll and Porter, Steve}, title = {{Environmental Organizations Petition U.S. Ambassador Zoellick Regarding the General Treatment Provision in Upcoming United States-Chile Free Trade Agreement Negotiations}}, publisher = {Center for International Environmental Law}, year = {2002}, month = oct, url = {https://www.ciel.org/news/environmental-organizations-petition-u-s-ambassador-zoellick-regarding-the-general-treatment-provision-in-upcoming-united-states-chile-free-trade-agreement-negotiations/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }