Trade and Environment Seminar: A Collaboration with the OAS Department of Sustainable Development
June 17-June 21, 2013
The Environmental Law Summer Session and the Organization of American States Department of Sustainable Development are hosting a joint seminar focusing on capacity-building in the area of Trade and Environment in the Americas. The Seminar will consist of a series of modules taught by leading practitioners from the Americas and will conclude with a trade simulation exercise. The Agenda for the Trade and Environment seminar can be found here: Draft Agenda.
Details regarding the readings for the modules of the 2013 seminar are still being developed, however, you can see information about the 2012 and 2011 seminars are below and can be used as a guide for what the seminar may consist of in 2013. The modules focus on a variety of topics including: Trade and Environment - Law and Policy; the Intersection between Trade and the Environment; Negotiating Agreements; Environmental Dimensions of International Trade; Enforcement of Trade-Related Environmental Obligations; and Post-Negotiation Issues. The seminar will conclude with a Negotiation Simulation Exercise. There will also be a site visit to ExxonMobil to learn more about real-world considerations. The seminar will conclude with a trade simulation exercise related to negotiating an environmental portion of a trade agreement. Once the final schedule with readings, including lecturers, has been set, it will be posted here.
If you have any questions please email Erika Lennon at summerenvironment@wcl.american.edu.
Lecturers
A preliminary list of lecturers is below and includes the following leading practitioners from government and non-governmental organizations from throughout the Americas (lecturers are listed in chronological order of the seminar):
Rodrigo Martinez
Rodrigo Martinez was born in Colombia and started working for the Department of Sustainable Development at the Organization of American States in late 2007. He holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from Universidad Javeriana in Bogotá, Colombia, and a Graduate Certificate of Advanced Financial Management, and a Master in Natural Resource Economics from the University of Queensland, Australia. He has experience in areas such as policy analysis, business plan development, information systems, website and database development, e-business and e-commerce, cost-benefit analysis of private reserves, marketing research, trade of natural products, and ecotourism among others. He has worked in IT private companies, environmental NGO's, the Ministry of Environment, Housing and Territorial Development of Colombia, as a consultant for UNDP, and as a trade and environment researcher at the Faculty of Environmental and Rural Studies of Colombia. Prior to joining DSD, he was coordinating the National Biotrade Watch of Colombia within the Alexander von Humboldt Institute where he developed the Markets Information System and designed the Technology Transfer System of Biotrade for Colombia. He speaks fluent English and Spanish and has working knowledge of Portuguese. Rodrigo's work at the DSD is focused in environmental economics, in particular supporting member States as they develop payment for ecosystem services and also in the linkages of trade and environment.
David Hunter
David Hunter is a Professor of Law and the Director of the International Legal Studies Program and the Program on International and Comparative Environmental Law at American University Washington College of Law. He is also the Director of the Environmental Law Summer Session. He is the former Executive Director of the Center for International Environmental Law and was previously an Associate with the law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher, and Flom. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide-US, EarthRights International, the Project on Government Oversight, the Bank Information Center, and the Center for Progressive Reform. His research and advocacy work covers a broad range of global environment and development issues. Mr. Hunter is a co-author of International Environmental Law and Policy, currently in its 4th edition. He holds a B.A. in economics and political science from the University of Michigan and a J.D. from Harvard Law School.
Bill Snape
William (Bill) J. Snape, III is a fellow and practitioner-in-residence at American University, Washington College of Law, as well as the director of adjunct faculty development. Snape is also senior counsel with the Center for Biological Diversity, where he works on endangered species, public lands and energy issues. He is co-producer of “Hot Air,” a radio podcast show on global warming policy and regulation. Previously, Snape was vice president and chief counsel at Defenders of Wildlife for over a decade. Snape has litigated a number of environmental and related cases in federal court, and argued Center for Biological Diversity v. Interior (D.C. Cir. 2009), which rejected the federal government’s plan for oil and gas drilling off the coast of Alaska in part because of climate change concerns. Snape is the author of numerous articles on natural resource issues, including the book Biodiversity and the Law published by Island Press. He presently serves on the President’s Trade and Environment Policy Advisory Committee, as well as several non-profit boards. He is a magna cum laude graduate of the Honors College at the University of California, Los Angeles, and received his law degree from George Washington University. Snape is a masters’ swimmer and water polo player, has coached at both the Division I and Division III levels of college swimming, and was named the 2011 world swim coach of the year by the International Committee of Sports for the Deaf. He has two teenage boys.
Geoffrey Garver
Geoffrey Garver is an environmental consultant and lecturer in law in Montreal. From 2000 to 2007, he was a senior official at the North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation as Director of the Submissions on Enforcement Matters Unit. THe Unit handles assertions by North American citizens that one of the NAFTA countries -- Mexico, the United States, and Canada -- is failing to effectively enforce its environmental law. Previously, he spent nine years with the U.S. Justice Department's Environment and Natural Resources Division as a trial attorney and then an Acting Assistant Chief, handling cases concerning land and natural resource management, water rights, and environmental impact assessment. His major cases included suits dealing with Everglades water quality, winter use and bison management in Yellowstone National Park, and water rights in Idaho and Oregon. He was also part of the U.S. team negotiating with Canada and Mexico toward an agreement on transboundary environmental impact assessment, and he helped develop federal agency guidelines for conducting environmental reviews of trade agreements. From 1993 to 1995, he was special assistant and Senior Policy Counsel to the Assistant Administrator for Enforcement and Compliance Assurance at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. While with U.S. EPA, he directed the process for revising the U.S. EPA's environmental auditing policy. Before joining the U.S. Justice Department in 1989, he was a judicial clerk for the Hon. Conrad Cyr in the U.S. District Court in Maine. He received his B.S. in chemical engineering from Cornell University in 1982 and a J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School in 1987.
Claudia de Windt
A lawyer graduated from Universidad Iberoamericana (UNIBE) in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic with a LL.M. in International Legal Studies from American University Washington College of Law, Ms. de Windt has been with the OAS since 2001 as a Legal Specialist for the Department of Sustainable Development and Environment. She leads the Department's work in Environmental Law, Policy, and Good Governance. Her work mainly focuses on the governance aspects of sustainability and on the environmental sustainability of free trade agreements; supporting member States identify the challenges and opportunities for sustainable development derived from economic integration. In addition to supporting the strengthening of institutional-legal frameworks in the hemisphere towards sustainability in trade. Ms. de Windt has experience in legal drafting, negotiations, and international development cooperation projects in different areas, such as international project financing, foreign investment, environmental law, and environmental corporate social responsibility. Prior to coming to OAS, Ms. de Windt was an Associate Attorney for the firm Headrick Rizik Alvarez & Fernández in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, where she worked as Counsel for International and local organizations mainly in the areas of contracts, banking, maritime, corporate, and investment law. She was appointed in 1999, by the President of the Dominican Republic as Judicial Interpreter of The Court of First Instance in Santo Domingo. Ms. de Windt is admitted to practice in the Dominican Republic and a member of the Dominican Bar Association. She also served as Vice-President of the LL.M. student association at the Washington College of Law in 2000. Her native language is Spanish and she is fluent in English and has working knowledge of French and Portuguese.
Gustavo Alanís Ortega
Gustavo Alanís Ortega is President of the Mexican Environmental Law Center (Centro Mexicano de Derecho Ambiental (CEMDA)). Mr. Alanís, a practicing lawyer, teaches environmental law the Universidad Iberoamericana's law school in Mexico City. He is also co-director of the university's post-graduate diploma program in environmental law and policy. Since August 1993, he has been president of CEMDA, a public interest environmental law organization based in Mexico City. He is also active as a columnist for "Reforma," one of Mexico's most read and influential newspapers. He is a member of the seventh cohort of the Leadership of Environment and Development Program (LEAD) and part of the Joint Public Advisory Committee (JPAC) under the North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation. Mr. Alanís has an LL.M. in international law from the Washington College of Law.
PAST SEMINARS
May 29-June 2, 2012
The Environmental Law Summer Session and the Organization of American States Department of Sustainable Development are hosting a joint seminar focusing on capacity-building in the area of Trade and Environment in the Americas. The Seminar will consist of a series of modules taught by leading practitioners from the Americas and will conclude with a trade simulation exercise. The Agenda for the Trade and Environment seminar can be found here: Draft Agenda.
For a detailed schedule of the seminar including links to descriptions of each module and the readings that accompany each module, please visit the Tool Kit. The modules focus on a variety of topics including: Trade and Environment - Law and Policy; the Intersection between Trade and the Environment; Negotiating Agreements; Environmental Dimensions of International Trade; Enforcement of Trade-Related Environmental Obligations; and Post-Negotiation Issues. The seminar will conclude with a Negotiation Simulation Exercise.
During the seminar, the participants will have an opportunity to have a site visit from ExxonMobil. There will also be a Welcome Reception at the Washington College of Law and a closing celebration after the simulation exercise.
Visit the Photo Gallery Here!
Welcome Reception 
Additionally, participants had a chance to interact with lawyers, trade and environment specialists, law students, arbitration specialists, and other professionals at a Welcome Reception at the American University Washington College of Law. On Thursday, May 31, the Environmental Law Summer Session and the WCL Summer Session on International Commercial Arbitration co-hosted a Welcome Reception for participants in the Summer Sessions, including the Trade and Environment Seminar with the OAS. Participants were welcomed by Professor David Hunter (Director of the WCL International Legal Studies Program and the Environmental Law Summer Session), Dr. Horacio Naon (Director of the WCL Center on International Commercial Arbitration), and Cletus Springer (the Director of the Department of Sustainable Development at the Organization of American States).
Lecturers
Lecturers include the following leading practitioners from government and non-governmental organizations from throughout the Americas (lecturers are listed in chronological order of the seminar):
Gustavo Alanís Ortega
Gustavo Alanís Ortega is President of the Mexican Environmental Law Center (Centro Mexicano de Derecho Ambiental (CEMDA)). Mr. Alanís, a practicing lawyer, teaches environmental law the Universidad Iberoamericana's law school in Mexico City. He is also co-director of the university's post-graduate diploma program in environmental law and policy. Since August 1993, he has been president of CEMDA, a public interest environmental law organization based in Mexico City. He is also active as a columnist for "Reforma," one of Mexico's most read and influential newspapers. He is a member of the seventh cohort of the Leadership of Environment and Development Program (LEAD) and part of the Joint Public Advisory Committee (JPAC) under the North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation. Mr. Alanís has an LL.M. in international law from the Washington College of Law.
David Hunter
David Hunter is a Professor of Law and the Director of the International Legal Studies Program and the Program on International and Comparative Environmental Law at American University Washington College of Law. He is also the Director of the Environmental Law Summer Session. He is the former Executive Director of the Center for International Environmental Law and was previously an Associate with the law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher, and Flom. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide-US, EarthRights International, the Project on Government Oversight, the Bank Information Center, and the Center for Progressive Reform. His research and advocacy work covers a broad range of global environment and development issues. Mr. Hunter is a co-author of International Environmental Law and Policy, currently in its 4th edition. He holds a B.A. in economics and political science from the University of Michigan and a J.D. from Harvard Law School.
Rodrigo Martinez
Rodrigo Martinez was born in Colombia and started working for the Department of Sustainable Development at the Organization of American States in late 2007. He holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from Universidad Javeriana in Bogotá, Colombia, and a Graduate Certificate of Advanced Financial Management, and a Master in Natural Resource Economics from the University of Queensland, Australia. He has experience in areas such as policy analysis, business plan development, information systems, website and database development, e-business and e-commerce, cost-benefit analysis of private reserves, marketing research, trade of natural products, and ecotourism among others. He has worked in IT private companies, environmental NGO's, the Ministry of Environment, Housing and Territorial Development of Colombia, as a consultant for UNDP, and as a trade and environment researcher at the Faculty of Environmental and Rural Studies of Colombia. Prior to joining DSD, he was coordinating the National Biotrade Watch of Colombia within the Alexander von Humboldt Institute where he developed the Markets Information System and designed the Technology Transfer System of Biotrade for Colombia. He speaks fluent English and Spanish and has working knowledge of Portuguese. Rodrigo's work at the DSD is focused in environmental economics, in particular supporting member States as they develop payment for ecosystem services and also in the linkages of trade and environment.
Claudia de Windt
A lawyer graduated from Universidad Iberoamericana (UNIBE) in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic with a LL.M. in International Legal Studies from American University Washington College of Law, Ms. de Windt has been with the OAS since 2001 as a Legal Specialist for the Department of Sustainable Development and Environment. She leads the Department's work in Environmental Law, Policy, and Good Governance. Her work mainly focuses on the governance aspects of sustainability and on the environmental sustainability of free trade agreements; supporting member States identify the challenges and opportunities for sustainable development derived from economic integration. In addition to supporting the strengthening of institutional-legal frameworks in the hemisphere towards sustainability in trade. Ms. de Windt has experience in legal drafting, negotiations, and international development cooperation projects in different areas, such as international project financing, foreign investment, environmental law, and environmental corporate social responsibility. Prior to coming to OAS, Ms. de Windt was an Associate Attorney for the firm Headrick Rizik Alvarez & Fernández in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, where she worked as Counsel for International and local organizations mainly in the areas of contracts, banking, maritime, corporate, and investment law. She was appointed in 1999, by the President of the Dominican Republic as Judicial Interpreter of The Court of First Instance in Santo Domingo. Ms. de Windt is admitted to practice in the Dominican Republic and a member of the Dominican Bar Association. She also served as Vice-President of the LL.M. student association at the Washington College of Law in 2000. Her native language is Spanish and she is fluent in English and has working knowledge of French and Portuguese.
Maria Amparo Alban
Maria Amparo Alban is an Ecuadorian Lawyer graduated from
Pontifical Catholic University (PUCE) based in Quito. In 1995,
obtained a master degree in Economic Law with a mention in
International Negotiations and Environment, from Andean
University Simon Bolivar (UASB). In 1995-1996, she served as a
political advisor for Vice-president Candidate Diego Cordovez, in
charge of his political agenda. In 1996, Maria Amparo co-founded CEDA –
Ecuadorian Center for Environmental Law, with a group of
Ecuadorian environmental lawyers. From 1995 she has been linked
with the Academia, teaching a course on trade and environment
in the Schools of Economics and Law at PUCE, and other courses and seminars in
other universities, national and international. She has worked in different
legislative processes related to environment, in particular in charge of drafting
the Biodiversity Law and the Access to Genetic Resources and Biosafety By-laws.
She has been invited to participate and lecturer in different international meetings on
Environmental Law and Trade and Environment, and has coordinated different
research projects on that regards, with OAS, UNEP and UNCTAD. She has hosted
an international civil society meeting on trade and environment within the FTAA
Quito Ministerial Conference in 2002, and has published several articles in
national and international journals. She served as executive director for the
Ecuadorian Center for Environmental Law-CEDA, since 2000 to 2004. And in May
of 2004 Maria Amparo joined the negotiating team for the Free Trade Agreement with the
United States in the environment group on behalf of the Ministry of Environment of Ecuador and has been a consultant for CEDA in other projects.
Geoffrey Garver
Geoffrey Garver is an environmental consultant and lecturer in law in Montreal. From 2000 to 2007, he was a senior official at the North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation as Director of the Submissions on Enforcement Matters Unit. THe Unit handles assertions by North American citizens that one of the NAFTA countries -- Mexico, the United States, and Canada -- is failing to effectively enforce its environmental law. Previously, he spent nine years with the U.S. Justice Department's Environment and Natural Resources Division as a trial attorney and then an Acting Assistant Chief, handling cases concerning land and natural resource management, water rights, and environmental impact assessment. His major cases included suits dealing with Everglades water quality, winter use and bison management in Yellowstone National Park, and water rights in Idaho and Oregon. He was also part of the U.S. team negotiating with Canada and Mexico toward an agreement on transboundary environmental impact assessment, and he helped develop federal agency guidelines for conducting environmental reviews of trade agreements. From 1993 to 1995, he was special assistant and Senior Policy Counsel to the Assistant Administrator for Enforcement and Compliance Assurance at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. While with U.S. EPA, he directed the process for revising the U.S. EPA's environmental auditing policy. Before joining the U.S. Justice Department in 1989, he was a judicial clerk for the Hon. Conrad Cyr in the U.S. District Court in Maine. He received his B.S. in chemical engineering from Cornell University in 1982 and a J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School in 1987.
Panelists
The discussion of Post-Negotiation Issues will be enhanced by the participation 
of expert panelists.
Panelists include:
Amy Karpel
Amy Karpel is the Director for Environment and Natural Resources at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. Since 2004, Amy Karpel has worked in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), where she has also served as Associate General Counsel. USTR is part of the Executive Office of the President and the U.S. federal agency responsible for developing and implementing U.S. international trade policy. Among other responsibilities, Amy has litigated international trade disputes before the World Trade Organization and negotiated and drafted texts for U.S. free trade agreements with Korea, Peru, Colombia, Oman, Panama, and Central America. Prior to USTR, Amy practiced international trade law as an associate at Stewart and Stewart, a law firm in Washington, DC. Amy is a graduate of American University Washington College of Law in Washington, DC and the Jackson School, University of Washington.
Alejandra Goyenechea
Alejandra Goyenechea is International Counsel at Defenders of Wildlife. Alejandra's primary focus is the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) and other international trade law issues, with an emphasis on Latin America. She has worked at several international institutions and organizations, and has experience in wildlife policy and broader experience in other environmental areas. During her work with the Mexican government, she represented the Environmental Enforcement Agency at the international level. She also has interned or worked at the Organization of American States, the UNEP North American office, and Baker Botts, a DC law firm. Alejandra earned her law degree at the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México, Mexico. In 2000, she came to DC on a Fullbright scholarship and completed her LL.M. at the American University Washington College of Law.
Ashley Amidon
Ashley Amidon is the Manager of Government and Public Affairs for the
International Wood Products Association (IWPA) where she is the chief
lobbyist and handles the IWPA PAC. Prior to joining IWPA she worked for
Hammond & Associates in Washington, D.C where she handled fundraising for
five members of Congress, which built upon her previous fundraising
experience at the Republican National Committee (RNC). She has also worked
on numerous political campaigns, and is a graduate of the Jennifer Byler
Institute of Virginia.
She holds a BA in International Affairs and History from George Mason
University in Virginia, and an MA in Globalisation & Governance from the
University of Hull in the United Kingdom.
June 20-24, 2011
The Environmental Law Summer Session and the Organization of American States Department of Sustainable Development are hosting a joint seminar focusing on capacity-building in the area of Trade and Environment in the Americas. The Seminar will consist of a series of modules taught by leading practitioners from the Americas and will conclude with a trade simulation exercise. Here is a Draft Agenda.
For a detailed schedule of the seminar including links to descriptions of each module and the readings that accompany each module, please visit the Trade and Environment Seminar website. The modules focus on a variety of topics including: Trade and Environment - Law and Policy; the Intersection between Trade and the Environment; Negotiating Agreements; Environmental Dimensions of International Trade; Enforcement of Trade-Related Environmental Obligations; and Post-Negotiation Issues. The seminar will conclude with a Negotiation Simulation Exercise.
During the course of the seminar, the participants will have an opportunity to go on a Site Visit to the Domino Sugar Company in Baltimore, Maryland.
The course will also include two receptions, a welcome reception (more details below) and a closing reception that will be held in conjunction with WCL's Conference on "Challenges of International Accountability: Lessons from Independent Accountability Mechanisms," which was co-sponsored by the World Bank Inspection Panel. At the closing reception, participants will have the opportunity to interact with other lawyers and experts who serve as panel members of the accountability mechanisms at the multilateral development banks.
Please visit the photo gallery to see participants and lecturers from the WCL-OAS Trade and Environment Seminar.
Albert R. Ramdin, OAS Assistant Secretary General
Date: June 21, 2011
Place: Washington, DC
Credit: Patricia Levia/OAS
Welcome Reception
Additionally, participants had a chance to interact with lawyers, trade and environment specialists, and other professionals at a Welcoming Reception on Tuesday, June 21 at the Organization of American States. Participants were welcomed by the OAS Assistant Secretary General Albert R. Ramdin. This reception also allowed participants to interact with participants in another OAS-sponsored course on the WTO. Read the press release. See pictures from the event.
Lecturers
Lecturers include the following leading practitioners from government and non-governmental organizations from throughout the Americas (lecturers are listed in chronological order of the seminar):
Gustavo Alanís Ortega
Gustavo Alanís Ortega is President of the Mexican Environmental Law Center (Centro Mexicano de Derecho Ambiental (CEMDA)). Mr. Alanís, a practicing lawyer, teaches environmental law the Universidad Iberoamericana's law school in Mexico City. He is also co-director of the university's post-graduate diploma program in environmental law and policy. Since August 1993, he has been president of CEMDA, a public interest environmental law organization based in Mexico City. He is also active as a columnist for "Reforma," one of Mexico's most read and influential newspapers. He is a member of the seventh cohort of the Leadership of Environment and Development Program (LEAD) and part of the Joint Public Advisory Committee (JPAC) under the North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation. Mr. Alanís has an LL.M. in international law from the Washington College of Law.
David Hunter
David Hunter is a Professor of Law and the Director of the International Legal Studies Program and the Program on International and Comparative Environmental Law at American University Washington College of Law. He is also the Director of the Environmental Law Summer Session. He is the former Executive Director of the Center for International Environmental Law and was previously an Associate with the law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher, and Flom. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide-US, EarthRights International, the Project on Government Oversight, the Bank Information Center, Greenpeace-US, and the Center for Progressive Reform. His research and advocacy work covers a broad range of global environment and development issues. Mr. Hunter is a co-author of International Environmental Law and Policy, currently in its 4th edition. He holds a B.A. in economics and political science from the University of Michigan and a J.D. from Harvard Law School.
Rodrigo Martinez
Rodrigo Martinez was born in Colombia and started working for the Department of Sustainable Development at the Organization of American States in late 2007. He holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from Universidad Javeriana in Bogotá, Colombia, and a Graduate Certificate of Advanced Financial Management, and a Master in Natural Resource Economics from the University of Queensland, Australia. He has experience in areas such as policy analysis, business plan development, information systems, website and database development, e-business and e-commerce, cost-benefit analysis of private reserves, marketing research, trade of natural products, and ecotourism among others. He has worked in IT private companies, environmental NGO's, the Ministry of Environment, Housing and Territorial Development of Colombia, as a consultant for UNDP, and as a trade and environment researcher at the Faculty of Environmental and Rural Studies of Colombia. Prior to joining DSD, he was coordinating the National Biotrade Watch of Colombia within the Alexander von Humboldt Institute where he developed the Markets Information System and designed the Technology Transfer System of Biotrade for Colombia. He speaks fluent English and Spanish and has working knowledge of Portuguese. Rodrigo's work at the DSD is focused in environmental economics, in particular supporting member States as they develop payment for ecosystem services and also in the linkages of trade and environment.
Claudia de Windt
A lawyer graduated from Universidad Iberoamericana (UNIBE) in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic with a LL.M. in International Legal Studies from American University Washington College of Law, Ms. de Windt has been with the OAS since 2001 as a Legal Specialist for the Department of Sustainable Development and Environment. She leads the Department's work in Environmental Law, Policy, and Good Governance. Her work mainly focuses on the governance aspects of sustainability and on the environmental sustainability of free trade agreements; supporting member States identify the challenges and opportunities for sustainable development derived from economic integration. In addition to supporting the strengthening of institutional-legal frameworks in the hemisphere towards sustainability in trade. Ms. de Windt has experience in legal drafting, negotiations, and international development cooperation projects in different areas, such as international project financing, foreign investment, environmental law, and environmental corporate social responsibility. Prior to coming to OAS, Ms. de Windt was an Associate Attorney for the firm Headrick Rizik Alvarez & Fernández in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, where she worked as Counsel for International and local organizations mainly in the areas of contracts, banking, maritime, corporate, and investment law. She was appointed in 1999, by the President of the Dominican Republic as Judicial Interpreter of The Court of First Instance in Santo Domingo. Ms de Windt is admitted to practice in the Dominican Republic and a member of the Dominican Bar Association. She also served as Vice-President of the LL.M. student association at the Washington College of Law in 2000. Her native language is Spanish and she is fluent in English and has working knowledge of French and Portuguese.
Fernando Ocampo
Fernando Ocampo is the Vice Minister of Trade of Costa Rica. He is an accredited lawyer and has a graduate degree in Public Law from the Universidad de Costa Rica. He has a masters degree in International Economic Policy from the London School of Economics and he has continued his studies at the Centre for Trade, Policy and Law in Ottawa, Canada, and at the World Trade Institute in Berne, Switzerland. Mr. Ocampo is a university professor and an international consultant on topics such as international trade and commercial integration. He has offered conferences in more than fifteen countries and has published numerous articles related to international trade He is currently working at the Ministry of International Trade in Costa Rica as the Deputy Chief for Commercial Matters in the negotiation of the Central America-European Union Association Agreement. Fernando Ocampo has engaged in a number of professional activities. He has done research for different national and international institutions such as the Inter-American Development Bank, the Organization of American States, the World Bank, the Academia de Centroamérica, among others, on topics related to international trade, economic integration, and commercial policy. He has been a panelist in seminars and conferences organized by different institutions, and he also provides assessment to governments in areas related to international trade. Mr. Ocampo served as General Director of International Trade of Costa Rica from 2001 to 2005. His main responsibilities included: participation as Chief of the Group of Access to Markets in the framework of the negotiations for the Free Trade Agreement between the Dominican REpublic, Central America, and the United States; coordination of the definition of the national position in the negotiations for the subscription of the free trade agreements with the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and Panama. He has also been the public officer in charge of coordinating the technical participation of Costa Rica in the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas conformation process and of chairing, in the same forum, the Negotiation Group for Public Sector Procurement. He also led the definition and defense of the Costa Rican position in the Central American integration process with the objective of creating a regional customs union. During 2004, Mr. Ocampo also served as Director of Implementation of International Trade Agreements, where he launched an internal restructuring focusing on internal enforcement. He was responsible for managing and monitoring the functioning of the commercial agreements in place in the country, which include free trade agreements with Mexico, Chile, Canada, and the Dominican REpublic.
César Parga
César Parga is a Senior Trade Specialist at the Department for Trade, Tourism, and Competitiveness of the Organization of American States. Mr. Parga provides technical and analytical support in the fields of intellectual property rights and dispute settlement issues in matters relevant to the work of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) and other regional trade arrangements. He also coordinates and participates in training and capacity building initiatives for Latin America and the Caribbean. He is a lawyer who graduated from the University of Guadalajara, Mexico, where he also served as adjunct professor on civil law. He received a LL.M. on Patent and Intellectual Property Rights at the Law School of the George Washington University in Washington, DC.
Geoffrey Garver
Geoffrey Garver is an environmental consultant and lecturer in law in Montreal. From 2000 to 2007, he was a senior official at the North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation as Director of the Submissions on Enforcement Matters Unit. THe Unit handles assertions by North American citizens that one of the NAFTA countries -- Mexico, the United States, and Canada -- is failing to effectively enforce its environmental law. Previously, he spent nine years with the U.S. Justice Department's Environment and Natural Resources Division as a trial attorney and then an Acting Assistant Chief, handling cases concerning land and natural resource management, water rights, and environmental impact assessment. His major cases included suits dealing with Everglades water quality, winter use and bison management in Yellowstone National Park, and water rights in Idaho and Oregon. He was also part of the U.S. team negotiating with Canada and Mexico toward an agreement on transboundary environmental impact assessment, and he helped develop federal agency guidelines for conducting environmental reviews of trade agreements. From 1993 to 1995, he was special assistant and Senior Policy Counsel to the Assistant Administrator for Enforcement and Compliance Assurance at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. While with U.S. EPA, he directed the process for revising the U.S. EPA's environmental auditing policy. Before joining the U.S. Justice Department in 1989, he was a judicial clerk for the Hon. Conrad Cyr in the U.S. District Court in Maine. He received his B.S. in chemical engineering from Cornell University in 1982 and a J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School in 1987.
Panelists
The discussion of Post-Negotiation Issues will be enhanced by the participation of expert panelists. Panelists include:
Amy Karpel
Amy Karpel is the Director for Environment and Natural Resources at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. Since 2004, Amy Karpel has worked in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), where she has also served as Associate General Counsel. USTR is part of the Executive Office of the President and the U.S. federal agency responsible for developing and implementing U.S. international trade policy. Among other responsibilities, Amy has litigated international trade disputes before the World Trade Organization and negotiated and drafted texts for U.S. free trade agreements with Korea, Peru, Colombia, Oman, Panama, and Central America. Prior to USTR, Amy practiced international trade law as an associate at Stewart and Stewart, a law firm in Washington, DC. Amy is a graduate of American University Washington College of Law in Washington, DC and the Jackson School, University of Washington.
Alejandra Goyenechea
Alejandra Goyenechea is International Counsel at Defenders of Wildlife. Alejandra's primary focus is the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) and other international trade law issues, with an emphasis on Latin America. She has worked at several international institutions and organizations, and has experience in wildlife policy and broader experience in other environmental areas. During her work with the Mexican government, she represented the Environmental Enforcement Agency at the international level. She also has interned or worked at the Organization of American States, the UNEP North American office, and Baker Botts, a DC law firm. Alejandra earned her law degree at the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México, Mexico. In 2000, she came to DC on a Fullbright scholarship and completed her LL.M. at the American University Washington College of Law.
For more information about the Trade and Environment Seminar, please contact Erika Lennon.
