In November 1996, CIEL, working with USAID Paraguay, sponsored a national trade and environment policy workshop in Paraguay. The workshop was designed to draw attention to environmental issues during a time when the Paraguayan government has begun to address the sometimes difficult link between economic growth and the environment. The administration has made trade expansion the cornerstone of its development policy (even the national airline, known by its acronym TAM, was recently renamed Transporte Aereo de MERCOSUR), yet has not placed a similar emphasis on environmental sustainability. For example, earlier this year, the administration vetoed an environmental crimes bill under reported pressure from the business community, fearing it would stifle growth. The Parliament overrode the veto by a reported 85% majority, and has pressed for a broader environmental agenda.

Against this background, CIEL worked with USAID to sponsor a national dialog on environmental issues as a key to market access - not because of threatened trade barriers, but because market forces such as ISO 14,000, and increasing consumer demand for environmentally-sound products will drive businesses to stay competitive. The workshop focused on the need for a new "environmental competitiveness" as a key to success in international commerce, and emphasized the complementarity of trade and environment goals.

The workshop was formally hosted by the Paraguayan Ministry of Integration, Ministry of Commerce and Industry and Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock. Vice Ministers made opening remarks, and senior staff joined the policy debates. The Inter-American Development Bank co-funded the workshop, which was produced for CIEL by a local economic NGO known as CEPPRO.

US Ambassador to Paraguay Robert Service opened the workshop, and was joined by legal counsel to the Argentina Mission to the World Trade Organization, and the Director of the Mexico office of the NAFTA Commission on Environmental Cooperation. A panel of experts followed these addresses, including one of the US Environmental Protection Agency's top international trade experts, the local Director of USAID's EP3 Paraguay, and the Director of CIEL's Geneva office, who were joined by local business leaders active in environment and trade issues.

The Workshop raised significant local interest and received extensive press coverage. One local television station had a crew filming during most of the first day, and presented 30 minutes of coverage in the evening news. Local newspaper coverage was also very positive, with local papers adopting the workshop themes in their headlines and coverage. The largest circulation paper in Asuncion, carried headlines after the first day of the workshop proclaiming "Exporters Must Adapt to Environmental Exigencies - Key to Success in International Commerce." The paper also carried another article quoting extensively from Ambassador Service's remarks, under the headline "Protection of the Ecosystem does not Imply Danger for Jobs."