DRAFT MC14 STATEMENT

Revision

_______________

Reaffirming the importance of international cooperation, including the WTO's Dialogue on Plastic Pollution and Environmentally Sustainable Plastics Trade (DPP) and its work since 2020, in efforts to reduce plastics pollution and promote the transition to more environmentally sustainable plastics trade.

Continuing to welcome the intergovernmental negotiations for an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution pursuant to the United Nations Environment Assembly Resolution 5/14, End plastic pollution: towards an international legally binding instrument.

Highlighting the importance of policies that seek to protect and preserve the environment, including global efforts to end plastic pollution.

Highlighting the progress of the collective work of the Dialogue, including:

·_              Increasing understanding of plastics trade flows through sessions on statistical approaches to measure plastic content and flows throughout the life cycle of traded goods, including relevant guidelines developed by the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and approaches shared by delegations and other international institutions, and by contributing to the 2028 revision of the World Customs Organization (WCO) Harmonized System (HS) codes to facilitate the identification of plastics trade flows.

·_              Enhancing the understanding of international standards applicable to non-plastic substitutes and alternatives, including related work by standardization bodies such as the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), the Codex Alimentarius, and others.

·_              Extensive mapping of Members' approaches on identifying and regulating single-use plastic (SUP) goods and opportunities for enhanced cooperation, including regional approaches.

·_              Supporting technical assistance and capacity building by identifying developing Members' needs and available resources and existing funding opportunities, including through a matchmaking event, and facilitating the delivery of existing trade-related projects.

We have accordingly reached the following shared understandings:

We will continue to build on the DPP's existing body of work on the trade-related aspects of plastic pollution to reduce plastics pollution and promote more environmentally sustainable plastics trade.

We further agree on the importance of Member-driven international cooperation and agree to further work building on the fruitful discussions reflected in the technical outcomes, including but not limited to the following areas, and to pursue potential actions, including voluntarily, while recognizing different domestic challenges and priorities:

·_              Improving monitoring and traceability of trade flows throughout the plastics value chain through sharing experiences on policies and statistical approaches, such as those reflected in technical outcome A, and on the implementation of plastic-related elements approved as part of HS2028 reform.

·_              Enhancing trade cooperation and policy coherence, including opportunities for potential alignment, on different approaches to address SUPs, as reflected in technical outcome B, including at the regional level, with a view to increasing policy effectiveness and reducing implementation costs for governments and businesses.

·_              Continue sharing experiences, including through case studies, to further develop a structured document of practices and elements Members may consider when adopting trade-related plastics measures, using technical outcome C as a starting point.

·_              Share experiences on innovations, technologies, and solutions, with an interest in the specific steps along the value chain of plastics that may facilitate access to and support trade in goods, services, and technologies to address plastic pollution, including for environmentally sound waste management and clean-up activities, using technical outcome D as a starting point.

·_              Share experiences on environmentally sound, safe, and effective non-plastic substitutes, alternatives and services, with a particular focus on local and regional nature-based solutions, including those that create opportunities for small and medium‑sized enterprises and rural development, and explore Members' perspectives and approaches to facilitate trade in such goods and services, using technical outcome E as a starting point.

·_              Draw on prior experiences and encourage trade-related technical assistance and capacity building, based on the needs of developing and least-developed country Members, with a focus on matching requests with existing resources, programmes and funding opportunities as well as potential solutions to address plastic pollution, while enhancing coordination among Members and stakeholders, avoiding duplication of efforts, identifying synergies, and maximizing impact.

We will continue to work in an open, inclusive, and transparent manner, and look for further concrete, pragmatic, and effective outcomes across the aforementioned actions and understandings by the Fifteenth Ministerial Conference.

Technical outcomes ATTACHED TO THE MINISTERIAL STATEMENT

·_              Technical outcome A: Analytical summary of statistical approaches to estimate trade flows of embedded plastics, packaging and single-use products discussed in the DPP.

·_              Technical outcome B: Analytical summary of the different approaches in regulating single-use plastic products discussed in the DPP.

·_              Technical outcome C: Synopsis of Member considerations in the adoption of trade‑related plastics measures raised in DPP discussions.

·_              Technical outcome D: Synopsis of services and technologies for waste management and clean-up activities identified in DPP discussions.

·_              Technical outcome E: Synopsis of non-plastic substitutes, alternatives and services to single-use plastic products identified in DPP discussions.

__________