. /.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/CTE/GEN/16 
29 April 2004  
 
(04-1914) 
Committee on Trade and Environment Original:   English 
   
UNEP STATEMENT 
 
Statement by UNEP at the Regular Session
 
of the Committee on Trade and Environment of 20 April 2004  
 
 
1. I would like to brief the CTE on current and future activities UNEP is planning to undertake 
in the field of trade and environment.   
2. UNEP, in collaboration with UNCTAD under the Capacity Building Task Force on Trade, 
Environment and Development, has held workshops  and seminars back-to-back with WTO regional 
seminars on trade and environment in Fiji, Cape  Town and Jamaica.  The workshops focused on 
specific issues of importance to countries in th ese regions, such as MEA-WTO interactions and 
integrated assessments of trade-related policies.  This collaboration between the WTO and the CBTF 
provides a powerful and cost effective tool for bringing trade and environment officials together to explore and enhance synergies on specific policies and issues.   
3. A UNEP/UNCTAD workshop on environment, tr ade, and sustainable development for 
Anglophone African countries is planne d to be convened in Nairobi in July 2004.  The main objective 
of the workshop is to respond to the capacity build ing needs identified in the CBTF workshop held in 
Cape Town in May 2003, including training on issu es such as integrated assessment, market access 
and WTO-MEA interactions.   
4. UNEP is engaged in a number of capacity building programmes relevant to trade and 
environment.  In order to improve its effectiven ess in this regard, UNEP recently co-hosted a meeting 
with the Korea Ministry of Environment on 27-28 March in Jeju Island on capacity building in 
support of sustainable development through the deve lopment of mutually supportive and integrated 
trade and environment policies.  The meeting brou ght together over 140 participants from 48 national 
governments, four multilateral envir onmental agreements, six UN agencies, the WTO Secretariat, 15 
academic institutions, and 55 intergovernmental , international, regional, national and non-
governmental organizations.  At the meeting, partic ipants discussed ways to improve the effectiveness 
of capacity building programmes in support of integrated policy design and implementation in the 
areas of economics, trade and the environment.  Am ong other things, participants at the meeting re-
emphasized that development of mutually supporti ve economic, trade and environmental policies is 
essential to maximizing the contribution of trade and other economic activities to sustainable development.   
5. Since 1997, UNEP has carried out three rounds of country projects in a total of eighteen 
countries focusing on integrated assessment of trade -related policies.  These country projects have 
been entirely country driven – conceived, desi gned and conducted by national institutions and 
governmental ministries.  The projects have b een shown to improve hor izontal and vertical 
coordination between policy sectors and government mi nistries and held to improve the understanding 
of inter-linkages between social, econom ic and environmental policies.   WT/CTE/GEN/16 
Page 2  
 
6. In addition to these past projects, UNEP r ecently launched a new initiative to build the 
capacities of developing countries to use integrated assessment and planning as a means of promoting 
sustainable trade and poverty alleviation.  These projects are being conducted in eight countries from 
various regions around the world.       
7. Based on the experiences gained through the c ountry projects and further thematic research, 
UNEP produced a Reference Manual on Integrated Assessment of Trade-Related Policies.  The 
reference manual is tailored to help polic y-makers and practitioners assess the economic, 
environmental and social impacts of trade policy and trade liberalization. Given the central importance of the agricultural sector to poverty allevi ation and its ultimate links with the environment, 
UNEP is currently developing a specific manual for inte grated assessment of policies in this sector.   
8. UNEP is also in the process of developing a nu mber of training modules relevant to trade and 
environment under the auspices of the CBTF.  The fi rst in this series entitled, “Introduction into 
Capacity Building for Environment, Trade and Sust ainable Development,” has been finalized and will 
be disseminated soon.  The aim of this introductory  module is to train people about capacity building 
tools and approaches and help countries identify trade-related capacity building priorities.  
9. UNEP continues to work on other issues relevant to the Doha Declaration.  UNEP is currently 
in the process of developing a paper that examines the use of trade-related measures in multilateral 
environmental agreements.  Specifically, the paper will provide a preliminary categorisation of trade-related measures in MEAs in order to aid in the discussion and negotiation of this topic.  UNEP has 
already circulated an initial draft of this paper to  MEA Secretariats for their comment and will work 
closely with them in its finalization.  UNEP also  welcomes the collaboration of the WTO Secretariat 
in development of this paper.   
10. As you are likely aware, UNEP is also hosting a Workshop on Fisheries Subsidies and 
Sustainable Fisheries Management to be held on 26- 27 April 2004 at the Palais des Nations here in 
Geneva.  The Workshop is intended to promot e a deeper understanding of technical issues 
surrounding the impacts of fishing subsidies and the means for improving fishing policies.  
Specifically, this workshop seeks to  provide an open forum for in teraction among governmental and 
non-governmental experts in the areas of both fi sheries management and trade policy given that 
successful integration of policies in these fields is  essential to the adoption of mature and effective 
solutions.  The Workshop will also examine current  international efforts to reform and discipline 
fishing subsidies, both within the WTO and within  intergovernmental bodies responsible for fisheries 
policy and management.     
11. Finally, UNEP, in cooperation with  the International Institute for Sustainable Development, is 
in the process of updating the UNEP-IISD Enviro nment and Trade Handbook.  The purpose of the 
Handbook is to foster a clearer understanding of the inter-linkages between trade and environment, 
and is being updated to reflect new developments in the field.  We anticipate that the new version will 
be available in the summer.   
 
 
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