World Trade Organization WT/CTE/COM/12 11 April 2006 (06-1688) Committee on Trade and Environment Original: English request for observer status by the energy charter conference The following information has been received from the Energy Charter Conference requesting observer status in the Committee on Trade and Environment. _______________ The Energy Charter Conference is an international organization which is based on the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT). The ECT came into force in 1998 and is now signed by 51 countries (and the European Communities), and ratified by 46 countries. Eight of the Charter member countries are not WTO Members, while seven of them are engaged in the WTO accession process. The ECT covers investment protection in the energy sector as well as the terms under which energy can be traded and transported across national borders to international markets. In this regard, the Energy Charter process has a natural and in-built af