This week Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller was appointed to serve on a special federal advisory panel that shares the concerns of local and state governments with the US Trade Representative as it shapes the nation’s trade policy.

Zoeller was appointed by Ambassador Michael Froman, the US Trade Representative, to serve on the 28-member Intergovernmental Policy Advisory Committee. Composed of government officials representing various states and municipalities and from all three branches of government, the committee meets on an occasional basis to offer local and state perspectives to the USTR on the federal government’s trade policy.

Zoeller will serve on the advisory committee as representative of the National Association of Attorneys General, or NAAG. State attorneys general enforce the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement whereby tobacco companies pay multimillion-dollar settlement payments each year to reimburse states for the health care costs of smoking-related diseases. As the representative of state AGs collectively, Zoeller said he wants to underscore the importance of protecting states’ abilities to regulate tobacco sales in the interest of public health when the USTR enters into trade negotiations with other nations.

Zoeller said international trade is a subject that has interested him since his time serving on US Senator Dan Quayle’s staff in the 1980s and later working as the executive director of the Indiana World Trade Center association in Indianapolis in the 1990s before joining state government.

“Indiana is an important exporter of agricultural products and manufactured goods, and the regular frequent interaction with other nations who buy and sell is not just of economic importance; it also helps our nation foster good international relationships with other countries and encourages development of and respect for the rule of law there. Serving on the USTR advisory committee is an honor through which we can advocate for consumer protection, public health and state government authority,” Zoeller said.

Zoeller receives no compensation for serving on the Intergovernmental Policy Advisory Committee as its NAAG representative, and there is no taxpayer cost incurred by the AG’s Office for Zoeller’s membership. The committee’s occasional meetings are primarily by teleconference, and serving on the part-time board will not distract from the Attorney General’s official duties enforcing Indiana’s consumer protection laws, representing state government in court and representing the prosecution in criminal appeals. Zoeller also has previously served on other volunteer boards in various capacities, including the joint Executive Working Group on Prosecutorial Relations (EWG) between the US Department of Justice and NAAG. Zoeller chairs an Indiana task force against human trafficking and co-chairs another task force on preventing prescription drug abuse.

NAAG long has had a seat on the Intergovernmental Advisory Policy Committee, along with other associations representing state-level officeholders, legislators, state court judges, counties, cities, mayors, port authorities and other public entities.

The United States Trade Representative is a federal agency that represents the US government in trade negotiations with other nations, such as regarding access of American goods to foreign markets. The Intergovernmental Policy Advisory Committee, created 40 years ago, helps advise the USTR on trade matters that impact local and state governments. More information is here:  https://ustr.gov/about-us/advisory-committees/intergovernmental-policy-advisory-committee-igpac