The Foreign Service Journal, February 2011

38 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 1 and held a regional training program in Abuja in December. The bureau is also the home for the Award for Corporate Excellence program, which celebrates the im- portant role U.S. businesses play in advancing best practices, good cor- porate governance and democratic values overseas. In 2010, the winners of the ACE in the multinational cat- egory were Cisco, for its programs in Israel enhancing connectivity, education and opportuni- ties for women and youth; andMars, for its work in Ghana in promoting sustainability of cocoa-growing communities and sensitizing them against child labor. In the small-to- medium-sized enterprise category, the winner was Deni- matrix, for its efforts in Guatemala to reduce the environmental impact of its textile and apparel operations and to help disadvantaged youth and the homeless. (See www.state.gov/e/eeb/ace/index.htm for more inf ormation.) Opening Overseas Markets The Bureau of Economic, Energy and Business Affairs’ experienced negotiators are pursuing a full plate of re- gional, subregional and bilateral free trade agreements, in addition to conducting strategic economic dialogues with such key countries as India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Kyr- gyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Trade success stories in 2010 include the negotiation of outstanding issues related to the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement, led by the Office of the U.S. Trade Repre- sentative. The U.S. International Trade Commission esti- mates that, once passed by Congress, the tariff cuts in the agreement would increase American exports by more than $10 billion. Another success was the completion of the U.S.-Canada Agreement on Government Procurement, which guarantees U.S. firms access to markets worth tens of billions of dollars. State recently concluded the 100th “Open Skies” agree- ment, increasing global opportunities for U.S. air carriers and bringing jobs and improved transportation links to the U.S. State also helped reopen pork markets in China, Rus- sia and South Korea after their closure during the 2009 swine flu pandemic. We are also working to liberalize ship- ping markets, through maritime agreements that eliminate restrictions in foreign shipping markets. Then there is the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a regional free trade agreement under negotiation among nine Asia-Pacific states: Australia, Brunei, Chile, Malaysia, New Zea- land, Peru, Singapore, the United States and Vietnam. The TPP aims for high standards concerning issues such as labor and the environment. The protection of U.S. workers’ rights, in particular, is at the heart of our global trade enforcement effort. Last July, the United States filed its first-ever labor case against an FTA partner, Guatemala, for violating its labor rights obligations under the Central America-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement. The department also plays a leading role in the fight against the manufacture and sale of counterfeit medicines, a particularly severe public health problem in developing countries. We work with foreign governments, interna- tional organizations and the private sector to combat the flow of these dangerous products through education and strengthening regulatory and enforcement systems. For example, my bureau’s international Campaign against Counterfeit Medicines is funding a series of Latin American regional workshops on the subject. The first of these, held in November 2010, resulted in the launch of a new public-private working group that will enhance Guatemala’s capacity to combat counterfeit pharmaceuti- cals. The working group’s first task is to develop a stream- lined protocol for testing suspect medicines. EEB also oversees U.S. participation in the Kimberley Process, a multistakeholder organization established in 2003 to restrict the trade in “conflict diamonds” mined il- licitly by rebel movements, so that the proceeds they gen- erate cannot be used to overthrow legitimate governments. Supporting U.S. International Financial Goals We work closely with the Department of the Treasury, the National Security Council and other agencies to en- sure that U.S. foreign policy equities are advanced in the Group of 8 and the Group of 20. EEB played a direct role in crafting the G-20 Framework for Strong, Sustainable and Balanced Growth and is helping to draw up a devel- opment agenda for the G-20 that includes a public finance initiative linked to fiscal legitimacy. This aims to boost the F O C U S Many overseas missions have established special teams to help U.S. firms successfully enter or expand in foreign markets.