In the face of the ever-expanding global economy and its resulting increase in the movement of goods and services across borders, wildlife, habitat protection, and farm animal welfare are often forgotten in the interest of increasing wealth.

For this reason, Humane Society International (HSI) actively advocates for the protection of wildlife and their habitat, as well as for the humane treatment of farm animals, in the global economy through negotiations of international trade agreements and economic policy at the World Trade Organization and other international organizations. In addition, as a member of the Trade and Environment Policy Advisory Committee in the United States, HSI advises the U.S. Trade Representative and the Environmental Protection Agency on international trade policy throughout the negotiation of free trade agreements between the United States and other countries.

At the local level HSI, along with our Central American affiliate Global Alliance for Humane Sustainable Development, implements a number of trade capacity-building and technical assistance programs in developing WTO member countries—nations such as Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. We help these countries support sustainable economic policies, including humane agricultural practices and wildlife and habitat protection initiatives.

For more information on our ongoing policy initiatives and local capacity-building projects in developing countries, please follow the links below.