Ambassador Kirk and EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson hosted a meeting of the Trade and Environment Policy Advisory Committee (TEPAC) on June 2 at USTR. This is the fourth TEPAC meeting that Ambassador Kirk and Administrator Jackson have co-hosted. Ambassador Kirk provided updates on the trade agreements with Korea, Colombia and Panama, on recent developments with Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations, APEC and WTO Doha negotiations, including a read-out of his recent meetings in Big Sky, Montana. Administrator Jackson highlighted that the Administration is working on a new strategy for electronic waste. TEPAC members focused in particular on fisheries subsidies, thanking USTR for U.S. leadership in the WTO and TPP, and on environmental goods and services, including U.S. aspirations for the Leaders Meeting in Honolulu in November. Assistant USTR for Environment and Natural Resources, Mark Linscott, provided a detailed assessment of TPP negotiations on environment, including highlighting the U.S. proposal on wildlife and wild plant (e.g., forestry) conservation.
Ambassador Kirk co-hosts the June 2 Trade and Environment Policy Advisory Committee (TEPAC) Meeting