Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
North and Central America. As noted above, many are sceptical of the value of engaging
with initiatives such as this when there is no way of monitoring the impact of the pro-
posals. There is also a degree of political screening at work in so far as these groups play
a key role in consensus-building because these actors, while perhaps disagreeing on the
roadmaps to get there, support the basic principles of market liberalization.
There is a delicate balance to strike between attempting to construct ambitious mech-
anisms of consultation on a hemispheric, or even regional, basis and focusing attention
on improving national mechanisms of consultation that, in the
nal instance, is where
responsibility resides for considering the public interest in the formulation of trade policy.
As we have seen, groups with poor access to national decision-making structures often
value openings at regional level to make their voices heard. Ensuring that they are in a
position to exploit those openings means overcoming barriers they face in terms of
funding to attend meetings and the personnel implications of stretching often small sta
fi
ff
s
even further by engaging in regional processes. Those who bene
t most from participa-
tory mechanisms in regional trade accords appear to be those who also have open to them
channels of in
fi
uence at national level; hence the concern about getting 'two bites of the
apple': privileged access in both national and regional policy-making arenas. While this
scenario prevails, we can expect the debate about trade and environment in the Americas
to be framed by those who view the relationship as mutually supportive and not the rising
tide of opposition to neoliberal environmentalism in Latin America which raises ques-
tions about whose resources are being traded and on whose behalf.
fl
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