WASHINGTON, DC, July 6, 2004 (ENS) – The official U.S. export credit agency has approved a new version of its environmental guidelines, which set minimum standards for environmental impact studies of projects it finances.
The Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) said in a statement Thursday it has revised its guidelines to make them consistent with an international agreement on the procedures and standards for environmental impact studies of projects financed by export credit agencies.
The agreement was approved in 2003 after several years of negotiations conducted under the auspices of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which includes the world's industrialized democracies. In fiscal year 2003, the Ex-Im Bank authorized financing to support $14.3 billion of U.S. exports. The bank helps finance the sale of U.S. exports to emerging markets by providing loan guarantees, export credit insurance, and direct loans.
The bank's Engineering and Environment Division will evaluate the environmental effects of projects on factors such as air and water quality within nine industrial sectors. One guideline, for instance, requires that management, recycling, and disposal of solid, hazardous, and toxic materials and wastes be conducted in a manner that safeguards human health and the environment.
The new guidelines will apply to upcoming projects such as Turkey's Zorlu Combined Cycle Power Plant; the Uttam Steel Galvanizing Line in Mumbai, India; and the Vitro AFG Float Glass Plant in Mexacali, Mexico.
"Ex-Im Bank is proud to maintain its high environmental standards by insuring that the environmental impact of projects is carefully reviewed," Ex-Im Bank Chairman Philip Merrill said. "At the same time, we are working to provide a level playing field for U.S. exporters in the international marketplace."
The Ex-Im Bank underwrites exports to Iraq such as short-term insurance of a $15 million export sale of fogging machines and accessories for insect abatement manufactured by Tifa Ltd. of Millington, New Jersey, for the Iraqi Ministry of Health, State Company for Marketing Drugs and Medical Appliances. The new environmental standards may apply to Iraqi projects as well as those in other countries.
In a December 2003 statement, the U.S. Treasury Department said that the OECD agreement ensures the use of appropriate environmental standards and creates a level playing field for U.S. exporters who have had to comply with Ex-Im Bank's environmental guidelines while exporters from some other countries had not faced similar requirements.
Under the new guidelines, the Ex-Im Bank will conduct environmental impact assessment of a broader range of transactions and make these studies publicly available.
The Bank also approved a new version of its Nuclear Procedures and guidelines to make them consistent with the Common Approaches. For more information, visit www.exim.gov. The guidelines are available at: http://www.exim.gov/products/policies/environment/environment.html
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