<html><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><table style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; width: 996px; font-family: Georgia, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; position: static; z-index: auto; "><tbody><tr><td width="99%" style="vertical-align: top; "><h1 style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-bottom: 6px; "><a href="http://citizen.typepad.com/eyesontrade/" title="(http://citizen.typepad.com/eyesontrade/)" style="color: rgb(136, 136, 136); font-size: 22px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; ">Eyes On Trade: Announcement of Flawed 2012 Model BIT Shows Agenda Motivating Obama TPP Talks (plus 1 more posts)</a> <br><a href="http://fusion.google.com/add?source=atgs&feedurl=http://feeds.feedburner.com/eyesontrade"><img alt="" border="0" style="border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; padding-top: 6px; " height="17" width="66" src="cid:53B84ED5-089C-4713-8A09-DEF9A469DB94@hsd1.wa.comcast.net."></a></h1></td><td width="1%"></td></tr></tbody></table><hr style="border-top-width: 1px; border-right-width: 1px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-width: 1px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: solid; border-top-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-right-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-left-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-family: Georgia, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; "><table id="itemcontentlist" style="font-family: Georgia, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; position: static; z-index: auto; "><tbody><tr xmlns=""><td style="margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.4em; "><p style="margin-top: 1em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 3px; margin-left: 0px; "><a name="1" href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/eyesontrade/~3/ziPjTA4LfSw/announcement-of-flawed-investment-rules-show-agenda-motivating-obama-trade-talks.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; ">Announcement of Flawed 2012 Model BIT Shows Agenda Motivating Obama TPP Talks</a></p><p style="color: rgb(85, 85, 85); margin-top: 9px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 3px; margin-left: 0px; font-family: Georgia, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; font-size: 13px; "><span>Posted:</span> 20 Apr 2012 10:50 AM PDT</p><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-family: Georgia, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); "><div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>The Obama administration released the <a href="http://www.state.gov/e/eb/ifd/bit/index.htm" target="_self" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; ">2012 Model Bilateral Investment Treaty </a>this morning. Here's our response:</p><p style="padding-left: 30px; ">Announcement of Flawed Investment Rules Show Agenda Motivating Obama Trade Talks</p><p style="padding-left: 30px; ">Statement of Lori Wallach, Public Citizen</p><p style="padding-left: 30px; ">Instead of the reforms promised by candidate Obama, the Obama administration’s ‘new’ Model Bilateral Investment Treaty released today is the same in all major respects as the deeply flawed ‘old’ Model Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) and the investment chapters of U.S. free trade agreements. <br> <br>Like the old U.S. investment model, the new text will allow companies to challenge public interest regulations outside of domestic court systems before tribunals of three private sector trade attorneys operating under minimal to no conflict of interest rules. These arbitrators can order governments to pay corporations unlimited taxpayer-funded compensation for having to comply with policies that affect their future expected profits, and with which domestic investors have to comply.<br> <br>By revealing a fundamentally unchanged BIT (after pushing three Bush trade deals in 2011 based on the same flawed model), the administration is exposing the anti-public interest agenda motivating the nine-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership trade talks. In those negotiations, countries like Australia (who have been attacked in BITs by Philip Morris over their plain packaging tobacco policies) have criticized the U.S. model of investment rules.<br> <br>At a time when multinationals like Chevron are using BITs to evade justice and get out of environmental remediation obligations, it is unthinkable that an Obama administration – post BP oil spill, post Wall Street crash – would privilege the rich at the expense of the 99 percent.</p></div><div class="feedflare"><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/eyesontrade?a=ziPjTA4LfSw:wBtWMNGmXY8:yIl2AUoC8zA" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; "><img border="0" style="border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; " height="24" width="66" src="cid:607A76BB-0FD1-42B1-9B1E-CD7EDA785A4E@hsd1.wa.comcast.net."></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/eyesontrade?a=ziPjTA4LfSw:wBtWMNGmXY8:JUhcmGiK9AQ" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; "><img border="0" style="border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; " height="24" width="71" src="cid:1DB8AA8D-6A79-4E9B-A916-9A38F82DD94B@hsd1.wa.comcast.net."></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/eyesontrade?a=ziPjTA4LfSw:wBtWMNGmXY8:F7zBnMyn0Lo" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; "><img border="0" style="border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; " height="24" width="109" src="cid:77A51693-4D55-42C4-8D27-9179A9819D06@hsd1.wa.comcast.net."></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/eyesontrade?a=ziPjTA4LfSw:wBtWMNGmXY8:V_sGLiPBpWU" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; "><img border="0" style="border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; " height="24" width="70" src="cid:C5A0180C-8660-414D-BD44-D9D9954FA4CF@hsd1.wa.comcast.net."></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/eyesontrade?a=ziPjTA4LfSw:wBtWMNGmXY8:qj6IDK7rITs" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; "><img border="0" style="border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; " height="24" width="117" src="cid:73356BA1-03CE-4ACC-8A0D-62D8774E1BC2@hsd1.wa.comcast.net."></a></div><img height="1" width="1" style="border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; " src="cid:F9743801-69DB-4C05-B0DF-897773351350@hsd1.wa.comcast.net."></div></td></tr><tr><td style="margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.4em; "><p style="margin-top: 1em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 3px; margin-left: 0px; "><a name="2" href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/eyesontrade/~3/WL0RlvNj1kU/illegal-log-trade-flourishes-under-us-peru-trade-deal.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; ">Illegal log trade flourishes under U.S.-Peru trade deal</a></p><p style="color: rgb(85, 85, 85); margin-top: 9px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 3px; margin-left: 0px; font-family: Georgia, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; font-size: 13px; "><span>Posted:</span> 20 Apr 2012 07:45 AM PDT</p><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-family: Georgia, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); "><div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>Our colleagues over at the Environmental Investigation Agency have just published a <a href="http://peruforests-bosquesperuanos.com/" target="_self" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; ">comprehensive study </a>in the trade in illegal logging certificates in Peru in the years since the US-Peru FTA was signed. As they write:</p><p style="padding-left: 30px; ">By crossing public information on (a) the “supervision” inspections conducted by the Supervisory Body for Forest Resources and Wildlife (OSINFOR for its Spanish initials) on a series of timber concessions with (b) the documentation for CITES export permits for cedar and mahogany, EIA identified more than 100 shipments containing illegally logged CITES wood that were exported to the US between January 2008 and May 2010 – that is, more than 35% of all such shipments with CITES permits that left Peru for the US during this period.</p><p style="padding-left: 30px; ">Peru’s primary exporter, Maderera Bozovich, exported shipments under 152 CITES permits during this time, at least 45% of which included wood of illegal origin. It is likely that more supervisions in the field would discover that these percentages are actually higher.</p><p>The FTA contained a new <a href="http://www.ustr.gov/sites/default/files/uploads/agreements/fta/peru/asset_upload_file953_9541.pdf" target="_self" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; ">Annex on Forest Sector Governance</a>, which was put in place because Peru was (at the time of negotiations on the deal) one of the world's primary sources of cedar, mahogany and other endangered species. (Longtime Eyes on Trade readers will recall that the <a href="http://citizen.typepad.com/eyesontrade/2010/02/a-year-after-implementation-of-peru-free-trade-agreement-us-and-peru-left-with-broken-promises-no-new-trade-model.html" target="_self" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; ">forestry annex was a major reason</a> cited by key Democrats for their support of an otherwise fundamentally flawed trade deal, back when a minority of Democrats joined with a majority of Republicans to pass the deal back in 2007.) A provision of the annex reads that Peru is obligated to:</p><p style="padding-left: 30px; ">"Provide criminal and civil liability at adequate deterrent levels for actions that impede or undermine the sustainable management of Peru’s forest resources. Such actions shall include:<br><br>(i) Threats or violence against, or other intimidation of, government personnel engaged in enforcement of Peru’s laws, regulations and other measures relating to the harvest of, and trade in, timber products;<br>(ii) Knowingly creating, using, presenting or providing false information on any material document relating to enforcement of Peru’s laws, regulations and other measures relating to the harvest of, and trade in, timber products, including forest management plans, annual operating plans, applications for permits/concessions, and transportation documents;<br>(iii) Obstructing an investigation, verification, or audit conducted by government personnel engaged in enforcement of Peru’s laws, regulations and other measures relating to the harvest of, and trade in, timber products;<br>(iv) Knowingly harvesting or purchasing timber or timber products from areas or persons not authorized under Peruvian law; or knowingly transporting timber or timber products taken from areas or persons not authorized under Peruvian law; and<br>(v) Providing to a government official, or receiving as a government official, compensation, whether monetary or in kind, in exchange for particular action taken in the course of that official’s enforcement of Peru’s laws, regulations and other measures relating to the harvest of, and trade in, timber products."</p><p>While there is no statistical evidence that trade in endangered timber has increased, or that deforestation has increased, EIA is concerned (as I understand it) that the lack of accountability represented by the forged documents that do not line up to the actual origin of the trees sold and exported from 2008-10 could be an indication of deeper forestry abuses beneath the statistical surface or down the line. They're calling on the Obama administration to audit Peru's forestry practices, as a first step that could lead to actual retaliation under the FTA.</p><p>The FTA has been a fundamentally disruptive force in Peruvian life, <a href="http://citizen.typepad.com/eyesontrade/2011/04/fair-traders-win-in-peru-again-will-us-respect-the-outcome.html" target="_self" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; ">disrupting presidential elections</a> and now offering U.S. multinationals with tools to evade justice and environmental clean-up responsibilities. See this excellent <a href="http://reporting.sunlightfoundation.com/2012/Renco-lobbying-drive-fades-so-does-congressional-support-in-Peru/" target="_self" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; ">report by the Sunlight Foundation's Keenan Steiner</a> for more on this latter point, which makes mention of <a href="http://www.citizen.org/documents/renco-memo-03-12.pdf" target="_self" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; ">our March 2012 report</a> on a recent so-called investor-state case under the U.S.-Peru FTA. The Obama administration is set to <a href="http://www.citizen.org/Page.aspx?pid=3129" target="_self" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; ">lock in and expand</a> these rules under the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, which both Peru and the US are in and which is also supported by presumptive <a href="http://www.mittromney.com/issues/trade" target="_self" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; ">GOP candidate Mitt Romney</a>.</p><p>The significance of the EIA reports (you can check out <a href="http://www.eia-global.org/PDF/Report--Peru--Forest--May10--ENG.pdf" target="_self" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; ">EIA's 2010 study </a>on the same topic) is that the best part of the FTA (the forestry sector annex) is delivering more information and attention to forestry, but has not yet led to fundamental change on the ground. To deliver that change, we'll have to see actual enforcement. Now, the ball's in Obama's (or Romney's) court. Will they deliver?</p></div><div class="feedflare"><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/eyesontrade?a=WL0RlvNj1kU:ViafJb-mG1Y:yIl2AUoC8zA" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; "><img border="0" style="border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; " height="24" width="66" src="cid:BCB46775-7D2D-4935-9A3A-5DE90F6B24F0@hsd1.wa.comcast.net."></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/eyesontrade?a=WL0RlvNj1kU:ViafJb-mG1Y:JUhcmGiK9AQ" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; "><img border="0" style="border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; " height="24" width="71" src="cid:D5C8BCA2-9298-4A9E-AEA9-FD64E3427A4A@hsd1.wa.comcast.net."></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/eyesontrade?a=WL0RlvNj1kU:ViafJb-mG1Y:F7zBnMyn0Lo" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; "><img border="0" style="border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; " height="24" width="109" src="cid:7B34A05A-F6D6-453C-9FC4-68887735BFAD@hsd1.wa.comcast.net."></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/eyesontrade?a=WL0RlvNj1kU:ViafJb-mG1Y:V_sGLiPBpWU" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; "><img border="0" style="border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; " height="24" width="70" src="cid:94F76C6B-050F-468B-BC07-B5C077E16BDB@hsd1.wa.comcast.net."></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/eyesontrade?a=WL0RlvNj1kU:ViafJb-mG1Y:qj6IDK7rITs" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; "><img border="0" style="border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; " height="24" width="117" src="cid:F36ECCC1-8842-4E7F-BE11-AAB1DE6098DB@hsd1.wa.comcast.net."></a></div><img height="1" width="1" style="border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; " src="cid:DEB8677B-15E8-4582-9725-99526C1B2B28@hsd1.wa.comcast.net."></div></td></tr></tbody></table></body></html>