                        TITLE 19--CUSTOMS DUTIES
 
               CHAPTER 22--URUGUAY ROUND TRADE AGREEMENTS
 
 SUBCHAPTER I--APPROVAL OF, AND GENERAL PROVISIONS RELATING TO, URUGUAY 
                            ROUND AGREEMENTS
 
          Part A--Approval of Agreements and Related Provisions
 
Sec. 3512. Relationship of agreements to United States law and 
        State law
        

(a) Relationship of agreements to United States law

            (1) United States law to prevail in conflict

        No provision of any of the Uruguay Round Agreements, nor the 
    application of any such provision to any person or circumstance, 
    that is inconsistent with any law of the United States shall have 
    effect.

                          (2) Construction

        Nothing in this Act shall be construed--
            (A) to amend or modify any law of the United States, 
        including any law relating to--
                (i) the protection of human, animal, or plant life or 
            health,
                (ii) the protection of the environment, or
                (iii) worker safety, or

            (B) to limit any authority conferred under any law of the 
        United States, including section 2411 of this title,

    unless specifically provided for in this Act.

(b) Relationship of agreements to State law

                   (1) Federal-State consultation

        (A) In general

            On December 8, 1994, the President shall, through the 
        intergovernmental policy advisory committees on trade 
        established under section 2114c(2)(A) of this title, consult 
        with the States for the purpose of achieving conformity of State 
        laws and practices with the Uruguay Round Agreements.

        (B) Federal-State consultation process

            The Trade Representative shall establish within the Office 
        of the United States Trade Representative a Federal-State 
        consultation process for addressing issues relating to the 
        Uruguay Round Agreements that directly relate to, or will 
        potentially have a direct effect on, the States. The Federal-
        State consultation process shall include procedures under 
        which--
                (i) the States will be informed on a continuing basis of 
            matters under the Uruguay Round Agreements that directly 
            relate to, or will potentially have a direct impact on, the 
            States;
                (ii) the States will be provided an opportunity to 
            submit, on a continuing basis, to the Trade Representative 
            information and advice with respect to matters referred to 
            in clause (i); and
                (iii) the Trade Representative will take into account 
            the information and advice received from the States under 
            clause (ii) when formulating United States positions 
            regarding matters referred to in clause (i).

        The Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not 
        apply to the Federal-State consultation process established by 
        this paragraph.

        (C) Federal-State cooperation in WTO dispute settlement

            (i) When a WTO member requests consultations with the United 
        States under Article 4 of the Understanding on Rules and 
        Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes referred to in 
        section 3511(d)(16) of this title (hereafter in this subsection 
        referred to as the ``Dispute Settlement Understanding'') 
        concerning whether the law of a State is inconsistent with the 
        obligations undertaken by the United States in any of the 
        Uruguay Round Agreements, the Trade Representative shall notify 
        the Governor of the State or the Governor's designee, and the 
        chief legal officer of the jurisdiction whose law is the subject 
        of the consultations, as soon as possible after the request is 
        received, but in no event later than 7 days thereafter.
            (ii) Not later than 30 days after receiving such a request 
        for consultations, the Trade Representative shall consult with 
        representatives of the State concerned regarding the matter. If 
        the consultations involve the laws of a large number of States, 
        the Trade Representative may consult with an appropriate group 
        of representatives of the States concerned, as determined by 
        those States.
            (iii) The Trade Representative shall make every effort to 
        ensure that the State concerned is involved in the development 
        of the position of the United States at each stage of the 
        consultations and each subsequent stage of dispute settlement 
        proceedings regarding the matter. In particular, the Trade 
        Representative shall--
                (I) notify the State concerned not later than 7 days 
            after a WTO member requests the establishment of a dispute 
            settlement panel or gives notice of the WTO member's 
            decision to appeal a report by a dispute settlement panel 
            regarding the matter; and
                (II) provide the State concerned with the opportunity to 
            advise and assist the Trade Representative in the 
            preparation of factual information and argumentation for any 
            written or oral presentations by the United States in 
            consultations or in proceedings of a panel or the Appellate 
            Body regarding the matter.

            (iv) If a dispute settlement panel or the Appellate Body 
        finds that the law of a State is inconsistent with any of the 
        Uruguay Round Agreements, the Trade Representative shall consult 
        with the State concerned in an effort to develop a mutually 
        agreeable response to the report of the panel or the Appellate 
        Body and shall make every effort to ensure that the State 
        concerned is involved in the development of the United States 
        position regarding the response.

        (D) Notice to States regarding consultations on foreign 
                subcentral government laws

            (i) Subject to clause (ii), the Trade Representative shall, 
        at least 30 days before making a request for consultations under 
        Article 4 of the Dispute Settlement Understanding regarding a 
        subcentral government measure of another WTO member, notify, and 
        solicit the views of, appropriate representatives of each State 
        regarding the matter.
            (ii) In exigent circumstances clause (i) shall not apply, in 
        which case the Trade Representative shall notify the appropriate 
        representatives of each State not later than 3 days after making 
        the request for consultations referred to in clause (i).

                         (2) Legal challenge

        (A) In general

            No State law, or the application of such a State law, may be 
        declared invalid as to any person or circumstance on the ground 
        that the provision or application is inconsistent with any of 
        the Uruguay Round Agreements, except in an action brought by the 
        United States for the purpose of declaring such law or 
        application invalid.

        (B) Procedures governing action

            In any action described in subparagraph (A) that is brought 
        by the United States against a State or any subdivision 
        thereof--
                (i) a report of a dispute settlement panel or the 
            Appellate Body convened under the Dispute Settlement 
            Understanding regarding the State law, or the law of any 
            political subdivision thereof, shall not be considered as 
            binding or otherwise accorded deference;
                (ii) the United States shall have the burden of proving 
            that the law that is the subject of the action, or the 
            application of that law, is inconsistent with the agreement 
            in question;
                (iii) any State whose interests may be impaired or 
            impeded in the action shall have the unconditional right to 
            intervene in the action as a party, and the United States 
            shall be entitled to amend its complaint to include a claim 
            or cross-claim concerning the law of a State that so 
            intervenes; and
                (iv) any State law that is declared invalid shall not be 
            deemed to have been invalid in its application during any 
            period before the court's judgment becomes final and all 
            timely appeals, including discretionary review, of such 
            judgment are exhausted.

        (C) Reports to congressional committees

            At least 30 days before the United States brings an action 
        described in subparagraph (A), the Trade Representative shall 
        provide a report to the Committee on Ways and Means of the House 
        of Representatives and the Committee on Finance of the Senate--
                (i) describing the proposed action;
                (ii) describing efforts by the Trade Representative to 
            resolve the matter with the State concerned by other means; 
            and
                (iii) if the State law was the subject of consultations 
            under the Dispute Settlement Understanding, certifying that 
            the Trade Representative has substantially complied with the 
            requirements of paragraph (1)(C) in connection with the 
            matter.

    Following the submission of the report, and before the action is 
    brought, the Trade Representative shall consult with the committees 
    referred to in the preceding sentence concerning the matter.

                      (3) ``State law'' defined

        For purposes of this subsection--
            (A) the term ``State law'' includes--
                (i) any law of a political subdivision of a State; and
                (ii) any State law regulating or taxing the business of 
            insurance; and

            (B) the terms ``dispute settlement panel'' and ``Appellate 
        Body'' have the meanings given those terms in section 3531 of 
        this title.

(c) Effect of agreement with respect to private remedies

                           (1) Limitations

        No person other than the United States--
            (A) shall have any cause of action or defense under any of 
        the Uruguay Round Agreements or by virtue of congressional 
        approval of such an agreement, or
            (B) may challenge, in any action brought under any provision 
        of law, any action or inaction by any department, agency, or 
        other instrumentality of the United States, any State, or any 
        political subdivision of a State on the ground that such action 
        or inaction is inconsistent with such agreement.

                       (2) Intent of Congress

        It is the intention of the Congress through paragraph (1) to 
    occupy the field with respect to any cause of action or defense 
    under or in connection with any of the Uruguay Round Agreements, 
    including by precluding any person other than the United States from 
    bringing any action against any State or political subdivision 
    thereof or raising any defense to the application of State law under 
    or in connection with any of the Uruguay Round Agreements--
            (A) on the basis of a judgment obtained by the United States 
        in an action brought under any such agreement; or
            (B) on any other basis.

(d) Statement of administrative action

    The statement of administrative action approved by the Congress 
under section 3511(a) of this title shall be regarded as an 
authoritative expression by the United States concerning the 
interpretation and application of the Uruguay Round Agreements and this 
Act in any judicial proceeding in which a question arises concerning 
such interpretation or application.

(Pub. L. 103-465, title I, Sec. 102, Dec. 8, 1994, 108 Stat. 4815.)

                       References in Text

    This Act, referred to in subsecs. (a)(2) and (d), is Pub. L. 103-
465, Dec. 8, 1994, 108 Stat. 4809, known as the Uruguay Round Agreements 
Act. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short 
Title note set out under section 3501 of this title and Tables.
    The Federal Advisory Committee Act, referred to in subsec. 
(b)(1)(B), is Pub. L. 92-463, Oct. 6, 1972, 86 Stat. 770, as amended, 
which is set out in the Appendix to Title 5, Government Organization and 
Employees.
