Recently negotiated free trade agreements (FTAs), if signed onto by governors, will severely undermine states' procurement or purchasing policies. A letter, sent by U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Robert Zoellick in September 2003, encouraged governors to commit to the procurement policies in both current and future trade agreements. The agreements currently under negotiation include the Central American FTA (CAFTA), the U.S.-Australia FTA, and the U.S.-Morocco FTA. If your governor's signature remains on an agreement once it has been passed by Congress, your state will be prevented from establishing any procurement policies or altering existing policies that conflict with the agreement. The agreements would prevent states from enacting policies that encourage living wages and the purchase of goods from their state; they also would be devastating for green procurement policies, such as those that require recycled content, fuel efficiency, and renewable energy. It is important for states to maintain their ability to enact green procurement policies, in order to maintain a healthy environment and reduce fossil energy consumption. The U.S.-Australia FTA will be signed on May 18, 2004, while the CAFTA could be signed soon after May 20, 2004. At this stage, all 23 governors whose names remain on the agreements can remove their names and their state from the list. Recently, the governors of Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, and Pennsylvania removed their signatures after questioning the procurement provisions. If the agreements are passed by Congress, signatory states will be locked into the procurement policies and, at that point, it will be virtually impossible to be removed. Contact your state legislators and governors to ensure that your state's environmental (and other) policies will not be hindered by international trade agreements.

Ran 5/17/04