REPORT (2015) OF THE COMMITTEE ON TRADE AND ENVIRONMENT
1.
In 2015, the Committee on Trade and
Environment in Regular Session (CTE)
met twice under the Chairmanship of the Permanent Representative of Hong Kong,
China, Ms. Irene Young, on 22 June[1] and 6 October 2015[2] (formal meetings).
2. The work of the CTE was organized in accordance with the mandate
established by the Doha Ministerial Declaration, Paragraphs 32, 33
and 51.[3]
Discussions took place mainly on environmental requirements and market access
issues under Paragraph 32(i) ("The effect of environmental measures on
market access, especially in relation to developing countries, in particular
the least-developed among them, and those situations in which the elimination
or reduction of trade restrictions and distortions would benefit trade, the
environment and development"). Other
items addressed by the CTE were Paragraph 32(iii) on labelling requirements for
environmental purposes, and item 1.[4]
3. No discussion took place under Paragraph 32(ii) (relevant provisions
of the TRIPS Agreement); Paragraph 33 (technical assistance, capacity
building and environmental reviews); and Paragraph 51 (developmental and
environmental aspects of the negotiations).
"The effect of environmental measures on
market access, especially in relation to developing countries, in particular
the least-developed among them, and those situations in which the elimination
or reduction of trade restrictions and distortions would benefit trade, the
environment and development."
4. One delegation recalled that topics placed on the agenda for the meeting needed to be
discussed in line with the mandate of the CTE under paragraphs 32(i), (ii),
(iii), 33 and 51 of the Doha Ministerial Declaration, in particular the effect
of measures on market access of developing countries. This concern was
supported by another delegation.
1.1.1.1 Energy Efficiency
5.
At the June
meeting, seven delegations shared their experience related to domestic
initiatives to further energy efficiency. The European Union (EU)
presented two elements of its broader energy efficiency policy framework:
eco-design, which refers to mandatory requirements that eliminate the least
energy efficient products from the market; and energy labelling, which seeks to
pull the market towards the most energy efficient products by helping consumers
make informed choices. The European Union indicated that its rules in this area
were developed in close cooperation with both EU and non-EU stakeholders. In
response to concerns expressed by some Members on the trade impact of its
energy efficiency policies on developing countries, the European Union said that
a recent study had found no negative market access impacts from both
initiatives. Singapore explained that, as a small island, it had
limited options to harness renewables, which made energy efficiency a core
strategy to reduce carbon emissions. Singapore indicated that its efforts
included: promoting adoption of energy efficient measures and technologies by
addressing market barriers to energy efficiency; building capacity to sustain
and drive energy efficiency efforts; raising awareness; and supporting research
and development.
6.
Thailand presented its energy efficiency policy and implementation, noting
that energy efficiency was a key aspect of its energy policy. Other elements
included financial incentives, standards and regulations, awareness raising
efforts and tackling energy subsidies. Chile expressed its
commitment to improving energy efficiency and to increasing the use of
renewable energy, and identified some of the challenges and opportunities Chile
faced in both areas. Pakistan explained the importance of ensuring
adequate access to energy for the population, and the contribution that solar
and wind energy could make to achieve this goal and help overcome the country's
dependence on fossil fuels. Pakistan also identified the cost of capital as the
biggest challenge in improving energy security.
7.
Chinese Taipei presented its efforts to establish an energy efficient economy and
create a "win-win-win" solution for energy, environment and the
economy. Canada presented the ecoENERGY efficiency program, which aimed to
improve energy efficiency in Canada. Investments under this programme had
helped Canadian consumers reduce energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions.
8.
Several delegations
expressed interest in these experiences and commented on various related
issues, including: capacity building and assistance for implementation; market and
structural barriers to energy efficiency; internal coordination challenges;
domestic energy efficiency labelling schemes; efficiency of energy saving
programs; methodology for energy pricing and consumption measurement; and
international cooperation in renewable energy projects.
9.
In addition to domestic
experiences, delegations were also briefed by the Organisation for Economic
Co-operation and Development (OECD) on the broad
array of measures that were being used worldwide to improve energy efficiency
and their possible trade implications. The International Organization for
Standardization (ISO) provided an overview of the standards relating to
energy efficiency, including ISO 50001, which sought to support
organizations in using energy more efficiently. Several delegations expressed
interest in various aspects of ISO's work on energy efficiency standards
and their implementation. One delegation noted that standards should not be
used as a protectionist trade tool. Several delegations asked whether the
effect of the standard on market access, particularly for developing countries,
had been analysed.
10. At the June meeting, China explained its Ecological
Civilization Strategy, which sought to: intensify environmental
protection and resource conservation; promote the ideals of green, circular and
low-carbon development; deepen reform and encourage innovation; and raise
public awareness. The Strategy's general requirements called on the government
at all levels to support environmental protection and resource conservation
along with economic and social development.
11. At the October meeting, on behalf
of Canada, the International
Hydropower Association briefed the CTE on the Hydropower
Sustainability Assessment Protocol, which
was a tool for assessing the sustainability of hydropower plants or projects.
Several delegations showed interest in the subject and supported the use of
hydropower as a sustainable energy source. Some delegations indicated that the
additional cost of assessing and ensuring the sustainability of particular
hydropower projects should be taken into account when determining their
financial viability, and recalled the need to give due consideration to the
special conditions of developing countries.
12. Finally, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
(UNCTAD) briefed delegations on the benefits of promoting organic
agriculture in developing countries as it could support rural
communities while improving environmental sustainability. The United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP) described some of its relevant projects and highlighted
the trade opportunities and other benefits of organic farming in South Africa. The
International Trade Centre (ITC) presented initiatives for helping
agricultural exporters in developing countries to meet carbon standards and
increase their resilience to climate change. Chinese Taipei shared its
own initiatives in the field of organic agriculture, based on the principles of
tradition and innovation.
1.1.2 Second part of Paragraph 32(i) – "[S]ituations in which the
elimination or reduction of trade restrictions and distortions would benefit
trade, the environment and development"
1.1.2.1 Illegal Logging
13. At the June meeting, delegations continued their
discussion initiated in June 2014 and shared their experiences
in combatting illegal logging and their efforts to promote legally harvested
timber.[5]
14. Malaysia presented the Malaysian Timber
Certification Scheme, noting that Malaysia was a major producer and exporter of
tropical timber. The scheme covered the Forest Management Certification and
Chain of Custody Certification. Malaysia also presented its other initiatives
to combat illegal logging, including its cooperation efforts with other
countries. Russia shared its national experience in this area and indicated that the
2013 Roundwood Act sought to provide a system to track the life cycle of timber
from the moment it was harvested until it was processed or exported. Russia
also emphasized that illegal logging and related trade pushed legal producers
out of the market, undermining forest conservation and surveillance efforts
while also causing irreparable damage to the environment.
15. In the discussion, several delegations underscored the importance of
cooperation and transparency in tackling illegal logging activities.
16. At the June meeting, on behalf of the Friends of Fossil-Fuel Subsidy Reform[6] (FFFSR), New Zealand and Norway presented the
efforts and benefits of tackling inefficient fossil fuel subsidies. Recent
developments included: the launch of a peer review process under which
countries volunteered to have measures related to fossil fuel subsidies reviewed
by a panel; and the publication of a Communiqué aimed at accelerating action to
eliminate subsidies.
17. Some delegations supported the
initiative and shared their related experiences. Some other delegations
highlighted that the fossil fuel subsidy peer review
was a voluntary process, without any linkage to the WTO, and were of the view that the
CTE was not the appropriate venue to discuss those reforms. Some other delegations supported
continued discussions on the topic in
the CTE.
18. At the October meeting, several
delegations provided an overview of their countries'
initiatives and measures to fighting Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated
(IUU) fishing. Ecuador underscored
the importance of the fisheries sector and provided information on its action
plan to combat IUU fishing and the efforts to strengthen institutional
capacity in this area. The United States described the work of
its Presidential Task Force on Combating IUU Fishing and Seafood Fraud and
announced plans to finalize rules for a traceability program by August 2016. Mexico presented
specific actions and programmes to address IUU fishing, including vessel
registration, satellite monitoring and on-board observation, and noted that
regional and multilateral cooperation was the best way to reinforce efforts
against IUU fishing. The European Union described the EU policy on
IUU fishing, emphasizing the importance of creating a culture of compliance,
ensuring traceability throughout the supply chain and promoting international
cooperation, among other goals.
19. The Philippines, Sri Lanka, the Republic of Korea, Norway, Chinese
Taipei, Australia, New Zealand, and Papua New Guinea
also shared their experiences in combatting IUU fishing.
20. Several
delegations underscored the environmental and
socio-economic impacts of IUU fishing, while urging Members to take the
interests of developing country exporters into consideration in their measures
to combat IUU fishing. Some other delegations noted the importance of
respecting the principles of non-discrimination and avoiding the creation of
unnecessary barriers to trade when implementing such measures. Some delegations
recalled the connection between efforts to combat IUU fishing and the ongoing
negotiations to address fisheries subsidies in the WTO. One delegation
expressed concern regarding measures which were intended to identify at-risk
species instead of focusing on regions where IUU fishing activities were known
to occur.
21. At the June meeting, China presented its environmental
labelling scheme which was established in 1993. It covered 97 categories of
products and aimed at: raising awareness among consumers of the importance of
environmental protection; inspiring enterprises to manufacture in an
environmentally friendly way; and enhancing the competitiveness of
environmentally friendly products. Products covered by the scheme included
automobiles, electronic products and textiles, as well as some service sectors.
Chinese Taipei provided an overview of its Green Mark Programme launched
in 1992. It comprised 133 product criteria across 14 product groups and more
than 10,000 products and services had already been certified. Since 1997,
10 bilateral mutual recognition agreements with trading partners had been
concluded and green requirements had been incorporated into its procurement
law.
1.3 Other items on the CTE's work programme (Items 1, 2, 3(a), 4, 5, 7, 9,
and 10)[7]
"The relationship between
the provisions of the multilateral trading system and trade measures for
environmental purposes, including those pursuant to multilateral environmental
agreements."
22.
The WTO
Secretariat introduced at the October meeting the updated "Matrix on
Trade‑related Measures Pursuant to Selected Multilateral Environmental
Agreements".[8]
23. At the June and October meetings, Australia provided updates
on the negotiations of an Environmental Goods Agreement (EGA) among a group of
WTO Members. Australia explained that the
full list of product nominations had been compiled in April 2015, covering
around 650 tariff lines at the HS6 level, and that the focus of the
EGA negotiations continued to be on building a list of products that would
be covered by the EGA. EGA members were also discussing ways both to make the
EGA a living agreement and to consider related issues such as services and
non-tariff barriers. Several delegations welcomed this transparency exercise and
further information sharing was encouraged. Several delegations expressed
concern regarding the status of the initiative including its genesis outside
the WTO and pursuant to a mandate separate from the Committee on Trade and
Environment in Special Session (CTESS) negotiations under
Paragraph 31 (iii) of the Doha Ministerial Declaration. These delegations
also stated that the negotiation of plurilateral arrangements could undermine
efforts at the multilateral level.
24. At the June meeting, China provided an overview of the environmental provisions contained in
China's free trade agreements (FTAs), with a focus on the China-New Zealand,
China-Iceland, China-Switzerland and China-Korea FTAs. China's approach
to environmental provisions in FTAs had evolved from references to
environmental protection mostly in preambles, exceptions and sections on
transparency and market access for environmental services to independent
chapters on trade-related environment issues in more recent FTAs.
25.
At the June and
October meetings, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
(UNFCCC) provided updates of the state-of-play of the climate change
negotiations.
26.
At the June meeting,
the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) presented
its report on "Aligning Policies for the Transition to a Low-carbon
Economy". The report emphasized the
need for additional efforts to better align measures in different policy areas,
including trade, in order to fully support the transition to a low-carbon
economy.
27.
Some delegations
welcomed and endorsed the conclusions of the OECD report, stressing the need to
transition to a low carbon economy. One delegation expressed concern that the
OECD study lacked appropriate references to the UNFCCC, and stressed that
certain policy measures, such as the establishment of carbon markets, would not
be effective in tackling the fundamental causes of global warming and would
have negative consequences for developing countries. The delegation was not
convinced that the reduction or elimination of tariffs on environmental goods
would facilitate the transition to a low carbon economy.
28.
At the October
meeting, as requested by some delegations, a representative of the UN Department
of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) briefed the CTE on Agenda 2030,
which was formally launched at a UN Summit held from 25 to 27 September 2015 in
New York, and the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, which was adopted in July 2015.
This followed a WTO Secretariat briefing at the CTE meeting in June on
the main trade-related elements under consideration in these processes. Some
delegations welcomed the clear link between trade and sustainable development
reflected in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the recognition in
Agenda 2030 of the importance of the multilateral trading system and the
conclusion of the Doha round as a means to implement SDGs.
29. Following requests by several delegations, the CTE received at the
October meeting an informal presentation by the WTO Secretariat on
"Selected GATT Article XX (b) and (g) Cases: the
United States – Shrimp case and the Brazil – Retreated Tyres case".
_______________
Annex
1: Items of the CTE Work Programme
Item 1: The relationship between the
provisions of the multilateral trading system and trade measures for
environmental purposes, including those pursuant to multilateral environmental
agreements.
Item 2: The relationship between
environmental policies relevant to trade and environmental measures with
significant trade effects and the provisions of the multilateral trading
system.
Item 3(a): The relationship between the provisions
of the multilateral trading system and charges and taxes for environmental
purposes.
Item 3(b): The relationship between the provisions
of the multilateral trading system and requirements for environmental purposes
relating to products, including standards and technical regulations, packaging,
labelling and recycling.
Item 4: The provisions of the multilateral
trading system with respect to the transparency of trade measures used for
environmental purposes and environmental measures and requirements which have significant
trade effects.
Item 5: The relationship between the dispute
settlement mechanisms in the multilateral trading system and those found in
multilateral environmental agreements.
Item 6: The effect of environmental measures
on market access, especially in relation to developing countries, in particular
to the least developed among them, and environmental benefits of removing trade
restrictions and distortions.
Item 7: The issue of exports of domestically
prohibited goods.
Item 8: The relevant provisions of the
Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights.
Item 9: The work programme envisaged in the
Decision on Trade in Services and the Environment.
Item
10: Input to the relevant bodies
in respect of appropriate arrangements for relations with intergovernmental and
non-governmental organizations referred to in Article V of the WTO.
_______________
Annex 2: Parts of the Doha MINISTERIAL DECLARATION that relate to the work
of the CTE Regular
32. We
instruct the Committee on Trade and Environment, in pursuing work on all items
on its agenda within its current terms of reference, to give particular
attention to:
(i) the effect of environmental measures on market access,
especially in relation to developing countries, in particular the
least-developed among them, and those situations in which the elimination or
reduction of trade restrictions and distortions would benefit trade, the
environment and development;
(ii) the relevant provisions of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects
of Intellectual Property Rights; and
(iii) labelling
requirements for environmental purposes.
Work on these issues should
include the identification of any need to clarify relevant WTO rules. The
Committee shall report to the Fifth Session of the Ministerial Conference, and
make recommendations, where appropriate, with respect to future action,
including the desirability of negotiations. The outcome of this work as well as
the negotiations carried out under paragraph 31(i) and (ii) shall be
compatible with the open and non-discriminatory nature of the multilateral
trading system, shall not add to or diminish the rights and obligations of
members under existing WTO agreements, in particular the Agreement on the
Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures, nor alter the balance of
these rights and obligations, and will take into account the needs of
developing and least-developed countries.
33. We
recognize the importance of technical assistance and capacity building in the
field of trade and environment to developing countries, in particular the
least-developed among them. We also encourage that expertise and experience be
shared with members wishing to perform environmental reviews at the national
level. A report shall be prepared on these activities for the Fifth Session.
51. The Committee on
Trade and Development and the Committee on Trade and Environment shall, within
their respective mandates, each act as a forum to identify and debate
developmental and environmental aspects of the negotiations, in order to help
achieve the objective of having sustainable development appropriately
reflected.
__________
[1] Available through WT/CTE/M/59,
"Report of the Meeting held on 22 June 2015", Note by the
Secretariat.
[2] To be circulated through WT/CTE/M/60,
"Report of the Meeting held on 6 October 2015", Note by the
Secretariat.
[3] The CTE Work Programme and the parts of the Doha Development Agenda
that are relevant to the work of the CTE Regular are included in Annexes 1 and
2 respectively.
[4] Item 1 of the CTE Work Programme
reads: "The relationship between the provisions of the multilateral
trading system and trade measures for environmental purposes, including those
pursuant to multilateral environmental agreements."
[5] See the minutes of the CTE meetings held on 30 June 2014
(WT/CTE/M/57) and on 23 October 2014 (WT/CTE/M/58).
[6] The Friends of Fossil Fuel Subsidy Reform is a group of non-G20
countries that support the reform of inefficient fossil fuel subsidies. The
Friends group (New Zealand, Costa Rica, Denmark, Ethiopia, Finland,
Norway, Sweden and Switzerland) was formed in June 2010 to support G20 and APEC
leaders' commitments to phase out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies.
[7]
See Annex 1, the original CTE
work programme which includes these items.
[8] "Matrix on Trade‑related Measures Pursuant to Selected
Multilateral Environmental Agreements", Note by the Secretariat, WT/CTE/W/160/Rev.7,
TN/TE/S/5/Rev.5, circulated on 4 September 2015.