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A Resolution of the County of Allegheny, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, establishing a formal policy guideline for the execution of contracts or other agreements with entities located outside the United States for the conveyance of freight into or through Allegheny County from points located outside the United States.
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WHEREAS, Allegheny County has historically encouraged principles of fair employment, fair trade, and promoting the public's health and safety; and; and
WHEREAS, in 2007, Allegheny County Council and the Chief Executive enacted Ordinance 08-07, which created a mandatory County policy prohibiting the purchase of produces produced in sweatshop conditions; and
WHEREAS, since the enactment of Ordinance 08-07, media reports describing working conditions in foreign countries have indicated that the sweatshop employment practices which were the foundation for the enactment of the ordinance have not changed; and
WHEREAS, in addition, it has also come to light that many products manufactured in certain foreign countries contain levels of lead or other contaminants that render them unsafe for use; and
WHEREAS, in addition to industrial contaminants, it is also possible that products manufactured in other nations might contain organisms or other organic contaminants that could prove detrimental to the health and safety of the County's residents or to the County's ecosystem, if inadvertently introduced here; and
WHEREAS, the County is in the process of expanding freight carrying at Greater Pittsburgh International Airport as a means of stimulating economic development in the region, and this expansion may well result in products originating in foreign countries travelling to or through Allegheny County; and
WHEREAS, although customs and other inspections provide some measure of security from the potential detrimental effects described above, it is not clear that such inspections are narrowly tailored to or conducted by in...
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