[CTC] Obama touts TPP environment language

[Arthur Stamoulis]

POLITICO
 
Obama touts TPP environment language
 
By Victoria Guida
03/03/2016 10:51 AM EDT

President Barack Obama today took an environmental tack in pushing for the Trans-Pacific Partnership, saying in an interview <http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=95cf2851ffed4128a5664f9beaa4ddcd1f3a40eb678c07efd1aa0f2e299c7622> with the Humane Society of the United States that it puts in place "the toughest environmental protections of any trade agreement in history."

"The TPP is packed with fully enforceable provisions that I'm confident will be effective new tools to curb illegal logging, combat illegal fishing and protect iconic species like the rhino and the lesser-known - but highly-trafficked - pangolin," he told the group's president, Wayne Pacelle.

Obama pointed to pledges from TPP members that would commit them to take action to combat wildlife trafficking regardless of where the poaching originally takes place.

The president also highlighted commitments to international cooperation and information sharing in order to catch wildlife traffickers and to implementing "strong anti-corruption protections to get at bribery and money-laundering and other illegal activities that are often at the root of illegal trafficking schemes."

"If these measures are found to be ineffective, or a country isn't upholding its conservation laws - we can bring a formal dispute proceeding, and if we win, we can use trade sanctions against the losing country to help compel their compliance with these rules," he added.

The Humane Society of the United States, as well as the World Wildlife Fund, Oceana, World Animal Protection, International Fund for Animal Welfare, and The Nature Conservancy have praised the environmental chapter, while groups like the Sierra Club, Friends of the Earth and the National Resource Defense Council have argued the provisions have no teeth.
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