| Press Statement Richard Boucher, Spokesman Washington, DC December 19, 2003 New OECD Environmental Standards
The United States welcomes the December 18 final agreement by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development on new environmental standards for projects financed by the export credit agencies of its member countries. The United States has been pressing for such an agreement since the mid-1990's, and we take satisfaction in what the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has accomplished. The export credit agencies of all Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries will now apply the environmental standards of either the project host country or a relevant multilateral development bank, whichever are more stringent. This will set a high floor for the standards to be applied, whereas no Organization for Economic Cooperation and development standard existed before. This agreement is a double success. It raises the minimum standard of environmental protection in these projects and levels the playing field for U.S. exporters. It extends the high environmental standards of the multilateral development banks to some $60 billion a year in export credit agency-financed projects, many times more than the multilateral development banks themselves finance. It also puts in place a monitoring and consultation process that will help provide transparency and ensure that the new standards are implemented effectively. 2003/1285 |
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