Report: U.S. recycling legislation violates trade law

   The Congressional Research Service (CRS) has released a new report finding that The Responsible Recycling Act (RERA, S. 1270, HR 2284) violates international trade law.
   The report notes the total export ban called for by RERA will be “difficult to reconcile with the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), one of the World Trade Organization (WTO) agreements and could be susceptible to challenge before a WTO panel.”
   CRS works for Congress providing policy and legal analysis to committees and members of both the House and Senate, regardless of party affiliation.
   “This report objectively confirms what ISRI, Republicans Democratic trade experts, and the USTR have been saying for quite some time now,” said Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries President Robin Wiener, in a statement. “An export ban bill is nothing but a disguised measure that will fail to put an end to irresponsible recycling around the world, and will in fact take us backward by violating our trade obligations.”
   The report said the United States cannot unilaterally impose restrictions on electronic exports without risking repercussions in the WTO system. “U.S. GATT obligations prohibit any government actions that impose, or result in bans or other quantitative restriction of exports and imports destined to WTO members,” CRS said.
   The report also points up that invoking one of GATT’s general exceptions to protect human, animal or plant life or health would be “difficult” as the United States would have the burden to demonstrate that RERA’s export ban produced a “material contribution” towards realizing its public health objective – ending illegal pollution in developing countries.
   If the United States imposed export ban restrictions were deemed inconsistent with the GATT, the country would be expected to lift or modify these restrictions. If the United States failed to do so it could face WTO-authorized trade sanctions, ISRI warned.