Public Citizen, an American consumer advocacy group, claims the Bush administration illegally withholds details of its WTO compensation deal with the EU. The deal in question allows the U.S. to withdraw gambling services from its schedule of trade commitments.
On Monday Public Citizen filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The group wants the release of the deal's specifics, which have been declared classified by the U.S. Trade Representative as a matter of national security.
“Americans have a right to know what kinds of trade concessions the U.S. government is granting other countries, especially when those deals have a significant impact on domestic policy and may be worth billions of dollars,” said Bonnie I. Robin-Vergeer, a Public Citizen attorney.
“The Bush administration’s decision to withhold the agreement under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) has more to do with its desire to prevent public and congressional scrutiny of the settlement before it is enshrined in a new WTO schedule than it does with national security. FOIA requires the agreement’s release.”
The Trade Representative has publicly acknowledged only that the deal with the European Union entails new American commitments for “warehousing services, technical testing services, research and development services and postal services relating to outbound international letters.”
Public Citizen represents freelance journalist Ed Brayton, who earlier filed a request for the specifics of the deal and was rejected.