WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONTN/TE/4
2 December 2002
(02-6631)
Committee on Trade and Environment
Special Session
REPORT BY THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE SPECIAL SESSION OF
THE COMMITTEE ON TRADE AND ENVIRONMENT
TO THE TRADE NEGOTIATIONS COMMITTEE
1. The fourth meeting of the Committee on Trade and Environment Special Session (CTESS)
was held on 12 November 2002 and was devoted to information exchange with the Secretariats ofvarious multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) and the United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP) on Paragraph 31 (ii) of the Doha Ministerial Declaration (DMD).  The meeting
was announced in the convening notice WTO/AIR/1954 and was convened in informal mode.
2. It was attended by the following MEAs, who were represented at high level:
- The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC);
- the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety;
- the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Info rmed Consent (PIC) Procedure for Certain
Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade and the Stockholm Convention on
Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs);
- the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO);
- the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF);  and
- the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and
their Disposal.
WTO and UNEP Presentations3. The meeting was started by a WTO Secretariat presentation on "Existing Forms of
Cooperation and Information Exchange between  UNEP/MEAs and the WTO"  (TN/TE/S/2).
1  UNEP
reported "UNEP-MEA Meeting on Enhancing MEA and WTO Information Exchange" that was held
on 11 November 2002.  The meeting had identified four areas for information exchange between
UNEP/MEAs and the WTO: (1) the promotion of sustainable trade; (2) integrated assessment of the
impact of trade policies on the environment;  (3) economic incentives, and (4) technology transfer.On observer status, the meeting had proposed that the granting of observer status on an ad hoc basis to
                                                     
1 On information exchange, the presentation addressed: (1) the "Global Arrangement between the
WTO and the United Nations," (2) the "Elements of Cooperation between the WTO and UNEP," (3) the WTO
trade and environment regional seminars in which UNEP, the United Nations Conference on Trade and
Development (UNCTAD), and MEAs participate, (4) the UNEP-UNCTAD Capacity-Building Task Force on
Trade, Environment and Development in which the WTO participates, (5) the WTO MEA Information Sessions,
(6) the WTO side-events organized at the Conferences of Parties (COPs) of MEAs, (7) the joint  preparation of
documents by the WTO, UNEP and MEAs, (8) the briefing sessions organized by the WTO for MEASecretariats (so far, only for the CBD), and (9) the meetings organized back-to-back by UNEP with the CTE,
and which allow capital-based environment officials from developing countries to participate, and (10) the new
WTO document derestriction procedure.  On observer status, the presentation explained that 25 international
intergovernmental organizations have observer status in the regular CTE, and that the WTO observes the COPsof MEAs on a regular basis.TN/TE/4
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MEAs in the CTE and other WTO bodies be explored, and that the consideration of future MEA
observership requests in WTO be expedited.  The need for further capacity building on the trade and
environment interface at the national and regional levels was also highlighted.
General Comments by MEAs on Information Exchange
4. A number of MEAs stressed that information exchange would be crucial to ensuring mutual
supportiveness between their agreements and WTO rules, and that cooperation between the WTO and
MEAs would contribute to sustainable developmen t.  The CBD indicated that information exchange
could ensure that the linkages between the CB D, the Biosafety Protocol and WTO rules were
addressed.  This could help avoid potential tensions between these different regimes.  In addition, it
argued that improved information exchange at the international level would eventually lead to better
national co-ordination between trade and environm ent officials.  The PIC and POPs Conventions
stressed that because the PIC Convention was a trade-related MEA, and the POPs Convention had atrade-related provision, coordination with the WTO would be important.  Information exchange
between the different legal regimes could address issues of compliance and dispute settlement, and
ensure that mutually supportive views on environmental and trade regimes were expressed in different
fora.  It argued that information could also be usefully exchanged on paragraph 31 (iii) of the DMD
which was relevant to the chemical Conventions.  The Conventions also mentioned best-available
technology (BAT) and best-environmental practice (BEP ), concepts that were inextricably linked to
environmental goods and services and to process and production methods.
5. The ITTO highlighted that Article 14 of Inte rnational Tropical Timber Agreement (ITTA)
called for information exchange with GATT.  A number of decisions which were subsequently taken
by ITTO confirmed the need to exchange inform ation with WTO, and participate in WTO meetings
when feasible.  Trade was a vital aspect of the ITTO's work, and thus close coordination with WTO
would be important.  Various aspects of the Doha Development Agenda were relevant to ITTO, such
as paragraph 32 (i) of the DMD on the effects of environmental measures on market access.  The
Basel Convention argued that information exchange with WTO would be crucial to review the impact
of the international movement of hazardous waste on the environment, in particular in developingcountries.  The UNFF also pointed to the many areas of common interest with WTO, such as
certification and labelling and illegal trade.
Specific Proposals by MEAs on Information Exchange
6. Specific proposals on information exchange were made by the UNFCCC and the UNFF.  The
UNFCCC proposed that (1) consultations between th e WTO and parties to MEAs (not just MEA
Secretariats) begin to take place, (2) all relevant WTO Committees, and not just the CTE, be
encouraged to engage in Information Sessions with MEAs, and (3) the WTO create opportunities forinformation exchange with MEAs at their COP m eetings.  The UNFF proposed that MEA Information
Sessions be given greater focus in future.  As not all MEAs shared the same interests, it suggested that
those which did be grouped together.  It proposed that an MEA Information Session be organized on
trade in illegally harvested wood, to which the CBD, the ITTO, the UNFF and the Convention on
International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) could be invited.  Other Sessions could focus ondangerous chemicals, or compliance and enforcement.TN/TE/4
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MEA Comments on Observer Status
7. On observer status, MEA representatives called for observer status to be granted in the
CTESS and other relevant WTO bodies.  They pointed to their own rules on observer status which
allowed other organizations to participate in their work by simply expressing an interest in doing so.
The CBD indicated that it had pending requests for observer status before the TRIPs Council, theAgriculture, SPS and TBT Committees, and the CT ESS.  The UNFF indicated that it would be
formulating a request for observer status in the CTE and its Special Session shortly.
Exchange with WTO Members
8. At the meeting, questions were posed by participants to UNEP and the MEAs, and vice versa.
Many different aspects of the presentations made were raised.  Thus, a number of WTO Members
benefitted from this opportunity to comment on and/or seek further clarification from theorganizations invited.
Direction for Future Work
9. To conclude, I believe that this Session was extremely useful.  It was the first such Session to
be held in the context of trade and environment negotiations in the WTO.  I strongly urge all
participants to now see how it can feed into the CTESS' work on the Paragraph 31 (ii) mandate.  I alsocall upon participants to address the question of observer status in the CTESS, whether on an ad hoc
basis or otherwise, as a matter of urgency.
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