환태평양경제동반자협정(TPP) 환경규정에 관한 고찰 - 한국이 체결한 주요 FTA 환경규정과의 비교 검토를 중심으로 -

Recently concluded free trade agreement(s) (hereinafter referred to as “FTA(s)”)between Korea and other states, such as 「Korea-EU FTA」, 「Korea-Peru FTA」,「Korea-US FTA」, 「Korea-Australia FTA」 and 「Korea-Canada FTA」, commonlyhave separate environmental chapters, in which various environmental issues arebeing dealt with. As with the cases of Korean FTAs, recently negotiated or concludedregional trade agreement(s) (hereinafter referred to as “RTA(s)”) and FTAs aroundthe world have generally included environmental chapters or environmentalprovisions. Accordingly, the implementation of domestic and internationalobligations under the chapters and provisions has been a core element as well as acritical issue of successful RTAs ․ FTAs. As a new “21th-century and wide/megaplurilateralFTA”, the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (hereinafter referred toas “TPP”), reportedly representing more than 40% of the world’s GDP and 1/3 ofworld trade, also includes a separate environmental chapter (EnvironmentChapter). So the TPP Environment Chapter has long been an object of attentionfrom environmental groups. Based on this perception, this article begins by considering the environmentalchapters in the texts of already concluded FTAs between Korea and the TPPnegotiating countries (additionally including the EU which is not a negotiatingparty) (Ⅱ); reviews the environmental chapter and environmental provisions in thedraft TPP (Ⅲ); analyses and evaluates the meanings and characteristics of thedraft TPP Environment Chapter from the perspective of comparative consideration(Ⅳ), and to conclude, proposes some desirable approaches to and countermeasures on the TPP Environment Chapter. The author expects this article to contribute to not only understanding themeanings and characteristics of TPP Environment Chapter but also preparing theground for participation in TPP negotiations.