AG Reyes and a Coalition Urge Secretary Blinken to Refrain from Multinational Plastic Regulation

SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH-Attorney General Sean D. Reyes joined ten attorneys general on a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken and Under Secretary Jose W. Fernandez to urge the federal government to refrain from "negotiat[ing] or enter[ing] an international agreement relating to regulating American-made plastics." The letter was led by the State of Iowa.

This communication from the state attorneys general comes just before the United Nation's Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution's meeting to negotiate an international accord on plastic pollution. The attorneys general argue that this agreement, if enacted, would "impose more burdensome obligations, risking harming the industry in our States; [and] may create conflicts with State law." The letter notes that the plastics industry ranks as the country's eighth-largest manufacturing sector and supports over one million jobs, making any agreement extremely consequential for the United States and its economy.

As the States write, "Americans particularly detest international agreements that impose harmful policy outside of the U.S. Senate's constitutional advice and consent responsibility. After the Kyoto climate treaty failed more than a quarter-century ago, global elites have designed agreements to impact American policy without submitting them to the U.S. Senate for approval, where they would need the support of two-thirds of senators. In its waning days, the Biden Administration should not negotiate any agreements calculated to evade the new Republican Senate majority."

Under General Reyes' watchful eye, the State of Utah has opposed efforts by international bureaucrats seeking to bind local jurisdictions to onerous policies. For example, General Reyes joined a comment letter to the Special Rapporteur on the right to education for the United Nations' Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, to defend parental rights of educational choice and freedom.

Joining Utah and Iowa on the letter were the States of Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Louisiana, Montana, Nebraska, South Carolina, and Texas.

Read the letter here.