00-1156  MORE PRESS RELEASE 
 
TRADE AND ENVIRO NMENT BULLETIN 
 
PRESS/TE/032 
17 March 2000 
 
COMMITTEE  TACKLES MARKET ACCESS ISSUES 
 
 The Committee on Trade and Environment (CTE) , under the Chairmanship of Ambassador 
Major (Hungary), met on 29 Februa ry and 1 March 2000 to address the following items on its work 
programme:  market access issues;  the relationshi p between multilateral environmental agreements 
and the WTO;  the export of domestically proh ibited goods;  and the relationship between the 
Convention on Biological Diversity and the TRIPs Ag reement.  Several Members referred to the 
continuing role for the CTE in areas subject to the built-in agenda of the WT O, such as agriculture, 
trade-related aspects of intellectual pr operty rights (TRIPs) and services.   
 
 CTE Members thanked Ambassador Major for his direction of work in the Committee over 
the past year;  and welcomed Gabon's Ambassador  to the WTO, Ambassador Yolande Biké to the 
Chairship of the Committee.  Appreciation was also  expressed for the valuable contribution of Mr. 
Hector Torres, the delegate of Argentina, to the work of the CTE since its inception. 
 
 This Bulletin has been prepared by the WTO Secretariat, under its own responsibility.   
  Papers referred to in this Bulletin can be accessed through the WTO web site, and are 
available from the Trade and Environment Division of the WTO.  Readers are kindly requested to 
inform us if they wish to receive e-mail copies of  this and future copies of the Bulletin, or additional 
information about the WTO. 
 
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Chairman's statement and welcome of new CTE Chair 
  Before handing over the Chairship to Ambassa dor Biké, Ambassador Major reflected on work 
in the CTE in the past year.  The Chairman said  the Committee had continued to make a valuable 
analytical contribution to work  on trade and environment, which served to deepen Members' 
understanding of all the items on the CTE's age nda and build confidence among Members in this 
important area of WTO work.  Progress also had been made in building coherence and broadening 
participation in CTE work with respect to ot her intergovernmental organizations.  The MEA 
Information Session in July 1999 made a valuable contribution to increasing the awareness of trade-
related developments in multilateral environmenta l agreements.  The Chairman felt the CTE had 
benefitted from the High Level NGO Symposium on Tr ade and Environment in March 1999, which 
had included over 800 participants, ma ny from developing countries. He  thanked delegations for their 
continued cooperation and active pa rticipation and was confident th at this harmonious environment 
would continue throughout the Committ ee's deliberations this year.   
 
Summary of main points 
 
 The focus of the February/March meeting was on market access , with new papers from Iceland 
and New Zealand on trade, envir onment and development benefits  of removing environmentally-
harmful subsidies in the fisheries sector  - referred to as a "win-win-win" area in which future 
WTO negotiations could make a contribution. R ecognizing the likelihood of WTO negotiations in 
this sector, the EU and Japan questioned the need fo r a detailed debate in the WTO before work in 
the FAO and OECD has been completed.  The multif unctionality of agriculture was also raised by 
several delegations.   
 
 Reference was made to the importance of safeguarding market access  for developing country 
exports to allow these countries to obtain the necessary financial resources for sustainable 
development, including improving environmenta l quality.  Concern was expressed about the 
potential for eco-labels  to become an unnecessary trade barrier. The EU called for a clarification 
of the coverage of eco-labels under the TBT Agreement.  Reference was made to the 2
nd Triennial 
Review of the TBT Agreement which will discuss labelling.   
 
 Several delegations commented on th e importance of conducting national sustainability 
assessments/environmental reviews  of trade agreements and exchanging experiences in the 
CTE.  Caution was expressed by several developi ng countries against multilateral obligations to 
carry out such assessments, which are considered to be tools used at the national level.  Nor do 
they wish to see market access barriers emerge as a result of these assessments. 
 
 Reference was made to the recently concluded Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety  of the 
Biodiversity Convention and the need to ensure coherence between differe nt international legal 
regimes.  Several Members said that commitmen ts under the Protocol and the WTO should be 
implemented in a mutually supportive manner.  
 
 Costa Rica gave a detailed presentation of its Biodiversity Law.  Commenting on a Secretariat 
paper on the relationship between the Biodiversity Convention and the TRIPs Agreement , 
several delegations referred to the review of Ar ticle 27.3(b) of the Agreement on Trade-Related 
Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRI Ps), and emphasized the need for the TRIPs 
Agreement to explicitly recognize sovereign rights ove r genetic resources, as well as the rights of 
farmers and indigenous communities.  Other Members said that TRIPs Agreement and the CBD are mutually compatible. 
 
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MORE  Egypt and Nigeria reiterated their concern about the export of domestically prohibited 
cosmetics  containing mercury from the EU to developing countries. 
 
 The CTE agreed to hold two MEA Information Sessions  back-to-back with the 5-6 July and 24-
25 October meetings. 
 
 Informative statements were made by other intergovernmental organizations  (FAO, OECD, 
ITC, UNCTAD and UNEP) on their respective work  in the area of trade and environment.  
Support was expressed for the WTO and UNEP  cooperation arrangement agreed in Seattle. 
 
 Support was given for the Secretariat's work to improve the WTO website  on trade and 
environment, and to hold a second round of regional seminars  on trade and environment with 
developing country government officials. 
 
Detailed description of the issues addressed 
 
Item 2 - environmental assessment of trade agreements 
  The OECD presented a report on its work shop on "methodologies for environmental 
assessment of trade liberalization agreements" (WT/CTE/W/133).  The US, EC, Canada, Norway, 
Australia and the Czech Republic comme nted on the importance of conducting national 
environmental/sustainability assessments of trade agreements  and described their national efforts 
to carry out such assessments.  Several developing countries cautioned against the development of any 
obligation at the multilateral level to undertake such  assessments.  Malaysia, Brazil and several other 
developing countries added that they lacked the financial resources to carry out sustainability 
assessments and would require capacity building in this respect.  Argentina suggested that the 
environmental effects of categories of trad e measures (as opposed to trade agreements per se ) should 
be examined.  The Secretariat was requested to prepare a factual background paper on the approaches 
used in national sust ainability assessments. 
 Item 3(b) - eco-labelling 
  Although eco-labelling  is an effective tool to promote environmental policies, several 
Members felt these instruments can become unnecessary barriers to trade, i.e.  eco-labels should not 
be used as a guise for protectionism.  Japan made  reference to its Eco-mark progamme, which had 
advanced transparency by introducing public co mment and review.  Canada encouraged other 
Members to contribute their national experiences with the development of eco-labels, such as Canada 
had done for forestry and Colombia for cu t flowers.  Reference was made to the 2
nd Triennial Review 
of the TBT Agreement, which would address labelli ng issues.  The EU said coverage of eco-labels 
under the TBT Agreement should be clarified.  One Member said eco-labels that included non-
product-related production and processing methods were not cons istent with WTO rules.  The 
Secretariat was requested to up-date its stud y on the market access effects of eco-labelling. 
 Item 4 – The WTO Environmental Database 
 
 The Secretariat said the 1999 Environmental Database , which compiles the environment-
related notifications under WTO Agre ements, will be issued shortly. 
 Item 6 – effect of environmental measures on ma rket access and environmental benefits of trade 
liberalization 
 
There has been considerable discussion in  the CTE concerning the contribution of fisheries 
subsidies  to overcapacity and overfishing in the fisher ies sector, as well as distorting trade.  While   PRESS/TE/032 
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MORE several Members (including New Zealand, Iceland, and the US) have called for fisheries subsidies to 
be eliminated through the negotiation of WTO di sciplines, other Members (including the EU and 
Japan) feel that a more comprehensive factual analys is of fisheries subsidies is necessary.  At this 
meeting, there were several papers and presentations  on the fisheries sector.  Iceland presented its 
proposal (WT/CTE/W/132) for the Secretariat to c onduct a factual study on the impact of subsidies on 
fisheries, including trade and trade distortions, fi sheries management, overcapacity and overfishing, 
and environmental impacts. New Zealand presen ted its research (WT/CTE/W/134) on financial 
transfers to the fisheries sector, and encouraged ot hers to share their analyses and national experiences 
in this sector.  The FAO (WT/CTE/W/135) and the OECD  presented their work on fisheries subsidies.  
Following Iceland's proposal, the CTE requested the Secretariat to up-date its work on the 
environmental benefits of removing trade distortions  in the fisheries sector contained in document 
WT/CTE/W/67, with attention to the development dimension and in close cooperation with other 
relevant intergovernmental organizations.  
Argentina presented a report on an OECD/Net herlands Conference on the Multifunctionality 
of Agriculture (WT/CTE/W/127), and noted the trade-distorting and environmentally-damaging effects of agricultural subsidies  and the importance of reflecting the environmental cost in market 
prices (referred to as internalising environmenta l costs).  Switzerland and Japan were among the 
delegations which said that support to the agricultu re sector can address market failures, and reward 
positive externalities associated with agriculture, such as rural development, food security and 
landscape preservation.  In this respect, targeted and transparent agricultural support measures are key 
to reaching these objectives and to promote positive a nd reduce negative environmental externalities.  
The US, Argentina and others noted that pursuing th e multifunctional benefits of agriculture in some 
countries undercuts benefits for other countries, par ticularly developing countries.  South Africa, 
Costa Rica, the Philippines, and Uruguay were among the Members which said that agricultural 
policies, even when addressing other functions of agriculture, should not lead to distortions in 
production and trade in the agriculture sector. 
 Several Members noted the importance of safeguarding existing market access  and 
increasing this access for exports from developing co untries in order to allow these countries to obtain 
the necessary financial resources to put towa rds improving environmental quality.  There are 
important benefits of trade liberalization to impr oved environmental stewardship, which are facilitated 
by economic development, which is in turn achie ved through trade liberalization and open market 
access.  For example, support to the agricultural sect ors, particularly support which is linked with 
production or to exports, could lead to the intensif ication of agricultural production and associated 
environmental damage. 
 
The ITC put forward a proposal to organize, in cooperation with the WTO, seminars on the 
benefits of liberalizing trade in environmental goods and services  with the business community and 
government officials in developing countries.  
Items 1&5 - MEAs 
 
 Canada called for the CTE to clarify the relationship between WTO rules and trade 
measures pursuant to multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs).   Canada plans to submit a 
paper setting out its approach to this issue for th e 5-6 July meeting of the CTE.  Commenting on the 
recently concluded Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety to the Biodiversity Convention, the EU, US and 
Australia said commitments under the Protocol and the WTO should be implemented in a mutually 
supportive manner.  Reference was made to the precau tionary principle in this context;  the EU said it 
plans to present a paper on this co ncept for the 5-6 July meeting of the CTE.  For the information of 
Members, the Secretariat circulated an annotated bibliography of recent literature on trade-related 
developments in MEAs (WT/CTE/W/129). PRESS/TE/032 
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Item 7 – Domestically prohibited goods 
 
 Egypt and Nigeria reiterated their concern about the export of domestically prohibited 
cosmetics  containing mercury from the EU to developing countries.  The urgency of this issue had 
been brought to the attention of WTO Members in a recent letter from the World Health Organization.  
The EU said that although current EU legislation prohi bited the sale in the EU of such products, it did 
not ban their manufacture or export.  Exporters  were, however, required to notify the importing 
country of the intention to export.  The EU adde d that, when checking the EU companies cited as 
exporting mercury soaps, virtually all were found to  no longer exist or to have ceased production of 
the goods in question.  Item 8 – Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) 
 
 Costa Rica presented its Biodiversity Law, whic h aims to be compatible with obligations 
under the Convention on Biological Diversi ty (CBD) and the TRIPs Agreement .  Several 
Members commented on a Secretariat paper on TRIPs Article 27.3(b), which presents case studies of sui generis  intellectual property rights systems a nd legislation for CBD implementation 
(WT/CTE/W/125).  Reference was made to the FA O International Undertaking on Plant Genetic 
Resources, which recognizes sovereign rights over genetic  resources, and farmers' and plant breeders' 
rights.  ASEAN and Brazil were among those Members that referred to the review of TRIPs Article 27.3(b) and emphasized the need for the TRIPs Ag reement to explicitly recognize sovereign rights 
over genetic resources, as well as the rights of farmers and indigenous communities.  They said 
Article 27.3(b) should remain open for each Member to choose the most appropriate patent system.  
Norway said the CTE should consider whether th e TRIPs Agreement allows the necessary flexibility 
for countries to effectively implement the CBD.  The EU and the US were amo ng the delegations that 
said that the CBD and the TRIPs Agreement are mutually compatible.  Item 10 - relations with IGOs and NGOs 
 
 UNEP and UNCTAD  presented their work programmes on trade and environment, with 
particular reference to their recent joint capac ity building initiative agreed upon at the recent 
UNCTAD X meeting in Bangkok in February 2000.   Appreciation was expressed for the Secretariat's improvement of the WTO website  pages on 
trade and environment as set out in WT/CTE/W/131.  Support also was given for the Secretariat's 
plans to hold a second series of regional seminars  on trade and environment for developing country 
government officials.  Several delegations referre d to the importance of the ongoing discussions and 
proposals in the WTO General Council to improve the image of the WTO after the Seattle Ministerial 
Conference, particularly with respect to transpar ency, derestriction of documentation and relations 
with NGOs.   
 
MEA Information Sessions 
  In order to deepen CTE Members' understa nding of the linkages between the multilateral 
environment and trade agendas, and to build aw areness of the use of trade-related measures in 
multilateral environmental agreements  (MEAs), the CTE agreed to hold two MEA Information 
Sessions  on 5 July and 24 October, back-t o-back with the CTE's meetings. PRESS/TE/032 
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5th July MEA Information Session  
 - the Convention on Biological Diversity on the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety; 
- the Climate Change Convention on the Kyoto Protocol; - the International Commission for the Co nservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT); 
- the Convention for the Conservation of Anta rctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR); and  
- the Convention on International Trade in E ndangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna 
(CITES). 
 
24th October MEA Information Session  
 
- the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and 
their Disposal; 
- UNEP Chemicals on the Prior Informed Consen t (PIC) and Persistent Organic Pollutants 
(POPs) Conventions; 
- the Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer; - the Intergovernmental Forum on Forests (IFF); and  - the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO). 
 
 UNEP  as an observer to the CTE will participate at both MEA Information Sessions.  As 
requested by CTE Members, the Compliance and En forcement of Environmental Conventions Unit of 
UNEP will be invited to give a presentation on the Working Group of Experts on Compliance and 
Enforcement of Environmental Conventions at one of the MEA Information Sessions.  The Chairman 
noted that flexibility may be necessary with resp ect to how these two MEA Information Sessions are 
organized given the availability of the MEA Secretariats.  
 