FTAA negotiators have included services as one of the many items covered by the treaty's rules. Under the FTAA, trade in services would be "liberalized" to create "certainty and transparency" for investors. In practice, this means that government health, labor, and environmental regulations would be eroded, all under the guise of reducing "barriers to trade." The proposed FTAA rules would also speed up the process of deregulation and privatization already underway throughout the hemisphere, a process that is eliminating public oversight of essential services.