WASHINGTON - U.S. Trade Representative Robert B. Zoellick announced that Joseph G. (Jerry) Block, a former federal prosecutor on environmental issues and a partner at the Washington-based law firm of Venable LLP, Baetjer, Howard & Civiletti, has been appointed to chair the Trade and Environment Policy Advisory Committee (TEPAC), a federally-chartered committee that provides advice to USTR and the Environmental Protection Agency on policy issues involving trade and the environment.

Block served as Chief of the Environmental Crimes Section of the U.S. Department of Justice from 1988-91, where he was responsible for federal environmental criminal investigations and prosecutions. He has been co-chair of an American Bar Association Environmental Crimes Committee. In his current private practice, he works on environmental criminal defense, environmental compliance programs and internal investigations. He holds a J.D. from Harvard Law School, and has served on TEPAC since 1995. He has also published numerous articles and books on environmental law in both environmental publications and academic/legal journals.

"Jerry Block brings great expertise and creative thinking to some of the complex issues we face in the intersection of trade and environment policies," Zoellick stated. "I appreciate his willingness to serve as chairman and look forward to getting his advice, and that of the full committee, on the Administration's ambitious trade agenda. This includes building on our recent successes in the Chile and Singapore FTAs by seeking robust environmental provisions, coupled with groundbreaking cooperation mechanisms, to further promote environmental protection in future FTAs."

Jerry Block stated, "I am honored to be appointed Chairman of TEPAC. I look forward to continuing TEPAC's important role in advising USTR and EPA on trade and environment issues. TEPAC has contributed to ensuring strong environmental provisions in the Jordan, Chile and Singapore Free Trade Agreements. Under the Trade Act of 2002, TEPAC is mandated to continue this role. Preserving the world's environment while increasing global trade is a critical goal for US trade policy."

Background

TEPAC is part of the private sector trade advisory committee system, established by the Congress under the Trade Act of 1974. The advisory committee system was created to ensure that U.S. trade policy and trade negotiation objectives adequately reflect U.S. interests. In recent months, TEPAC has been active in advising USTR and EPA on environmental reviews of trade agreements, bilateral environmental cooperation programs, the WTO Doha Development Agenda, the Free Trade Area of the Americas, various bilateral trade agreements, processes for civil society input into trade negotiations, and other matters.

The current membership of the TEPAC is listed below.

Trade and Environment Policy Advisory Committee
July 2003

Dennis Avery Hudson Institute
Joseph G. Block Venable LLP, Baetjer, Howard & Civiletti
Nancy Zucker Boswell Transparency International- USA
William A. Butler Audubon Naturalist Society
Roger Carrick Carrick Law Group
Patricia Forkan The Humane Society of the United States
Mary Gade Sonnenschein, Nath & Rosenthal
Robert E. Grady The Carlyle Group; board member, Environmental Defense
Frank H. Habicht Global Environment & Technology Foundation
Thomas B. Harding Agrisystems International
Jennifer Haverkamp Former Assistant USTR for Environment
Rhoda Karpatkin Consumers Union
Elizabeth Lowery General Motors Corporation
Daniel MacGraw Center for International Environmental Law
Naotaka Matsukata Hunton & Williams
John Mizroch World Environment Center
Thomas Niles U.S. Council for International Business
Frederick O'Regan International Fund for Animal Welfare
Anne Neal Petri Garden Clubs of America and The Olmstead Society
Paul Portney Resources for the Future
Jeffrey J. Schott Institute for International Ecomonics
Andrew F. Sharpless Oceana
Frances B. Smith Consumer Alert
William J. Snape, III Endangered Species Coalition
Irwin M. Stelzer Hudson Institute
Alexander F. Watson Hills & Company; board member, The Nature Conservancy
Douglas Wheeler Hogan & Hartson
Michael K. Young The George Washington University Law School
Durwood Zaelke The Center for Governance and Sustainable Development