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

Environmental organizations petitioned U.S. Ambassador Robert B. Zoellick on September 19, 2002, regarding the General Treatment provision in the upcoming United States-Chile free trade agreement. The petitioners argue that the current administration's process lacks transparency and risks granting foreign investors greater substantive rights than U.S. investors, contrary to the Bipartisan Trade Promotion Authority Act of 2002.

• The petitioners argue that any General Treatment or Minimum Standard of Treatment provision should be strictly limited to 'full protection and security' and 'denial of procedural justice'. They specify that 'full protection and security' should only cover direct governmental interferences with property as defined under U.S. law, and warn that including 'substantive justice' would allow arbitral panels to second-guess government actions in a way that has no counterpart in U.S. law.
• The document strongly opposes the use of 'fair and equitable' or 'reasonableness' standards in the agreement. The petitioners claim 'fair and equitable' language is subjective and lacks a corresponding right under U.S. law, noting that while the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) allows review for 'arbitrary or capricious' regulations, it does not provide the monetary damages that free trade agreements allow. Similarly, a 'reasonableness' standard is rejected because it would allow tribunals to perform their own cost-benefit analyses to reject good faith government actions.
• The petitioners request 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 (NAFTA). Additionally, they argue that claimants must be required to exhaust administrative and judicial remedies before filing a General Treatment claim to prevent strategic removals from legal processes and 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. 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. 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 - Center for International Environmental Law |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 - Center for International Environmental Law}}, 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} }