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by Luis Cabrera, Associated Press

"It is the ultimate hypocrisy for the administration to purport to champion democracy while they close the doors to the chemical advisory committee to all but corporate interests," said Jim Puckett of the Asia Pacific Environmental Exchange.

The suit was filed in U.S. District Court by the Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund on behalf of the Environmental Exchange, the Washington Toxics Coalition and Global Trade Watch, an arm of Ralph Nader's Washington D.C.-based watchdog group, Public Citizen.

Earthjustice filed a similar suit last year to open two timber advisory panels. A judge ruled that an environmentalist must be allowed to sit on each panel. The ruling has been appealed by the Justice Department, but environmentalists are being appointed.

The chemical panel lawsuit also "is necessary to force the administration to bring some of (its) policies in line with its rhetoric about greater openness and balance in trade policy," Earthjustice lawyer Patti Goldman said.

"Hopefully they'll realize they should stop doing this," she said, referring to the industry-only approach.

The chemical panel currently is made up of industry representatives who advise U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky on chemical trade agreements. Similar panels advise Barshefsky on timber, energy and other issue areas.

Barshefsky's office did not immediately return a call for comment Thursday.

Earlier this month, Barshefsky's office announced it would seek public comment on the overall trade advisory system, which is comprised of more than 30 separate panels, some of which include environmental and labor groups. The office is seeking input on ways to improve "our efforts to obtain advice from non-governmental organizations on critical trade policy matters," it said in a release.

Last month, Barshefsky acknowledged that efforts to get public input on issues "may not be sufficient," and asked Congress to review the system.

President Clinton in November issued an executive order requiring review of the environmental impact of all trade agreements, saying such agreements "should contribute to the broader goal of sustainable development."

The same month, U.S. District Judge Barbara Rothstein in Seattle ruled that an environmentalist should be included on both the 19-member wood advisory panel and 12-member paper panel which had been composed only of industry producers and users of the products.

The Justice Department appealed Rothstein's ruling Jan.7 to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, based in San Francisco. However, the trade office did not seek emergency relief from Rothstein's order, meaning it has agreed not to have the panels meet again until environmental representatives are appointed.

Earthjustice recently presented its written arguments to the appeals court in the timber case, but no hearing has been scheduled.