WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/CTE/7
16 October 2002
(02-5599)
REPORT (2002) OF THE COMMITTEE ON TRADE AND ENVIRONMENT
1. At its first meeting in March 2002, the Committee on Trade and Environment (CTE)
confirmed the appointment of Ambassador O ğuz Demiralp (Turkey) as its Chairman, and agreed to
hold three meetings during 2002, back-to-back with the meetings of the Special Sessions of the CTE.
2. The CTE continued its analysis of the items of the Marrakesh Ministerial Decision on Trade
and Environment.  Following the Doha Ministeria l Declaration, the CTE restructured its work along
the lines of the mandate in Paragraph 321 so as to focus, in particular, on market access, the relevant
provision of TRIPS, and labelling requirements for environmental purposes.  Members also discussed
technical assistance, capacity building and environm ental reviews, pursuant to Paragraph 33.  Under
Paragraph 51, Members discussed how to approach the mandate of identifying and debating
developmental and environmental aspects of the negotiations, in order to help achieve the objective of
having sustainable development appropriately reflected.  Paragraphs 33 and 51 were discussed at each
of the three meetings while one meeting was dedicated to each of the three specific issues under
Paragraph 32.
3. The meeting on 21 March 2002  addressed the cluster of market access in the framework of
Paragraph 32(i).  The CTE discussed the market access effects of environmental measures and the
importance of maintaining market access, in particular for developing countries.  The CTE was
informed of activities undertaken by the UNCTAD and the OECD on this issue.  The CTE also
addressed the sectors of agriculture and energy and deepened its analysis of the fisheries sector on the
basis of a paper submitted by New Zealand (WT/CTE/W/204).  The UNEP and the FAO briefed the
CTE on their activities on fisheries and the UNEP distributed a paper (WT/CTE/W205).  Under thecluster of the linkages between the multilateral environmental and trade agendas (items 1 & 5), the
Secretariat prepared a revised note on GATT/WTO dispute settlement practice relating to
GATT Article XX paragraphs (b), (d) and (g) (WT/CTE/W/203).  Discussions were also held on
Paragraph 33, primarily on technical assistance and capacity building.  The UNEP and UNCTAD
informed the CTE of their capacity building activities in this regard.  Finally, Members commented onthe mandate under Paragraph 51 and agreed to include it as a standing item on the agenda of the CTE.
4. The focus of the meeting held on 13-14 June 2002  was on Paragraph 32(ii) regarding the
relevant provisions of the Agreement on Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS).  The
United States introduced two papers in contributi on to this discussion (IP/C/W/257 and IP/C/W/341).
The CBD Secretariat circulated a paper on the relationship between the TRIPS Agreement, the CBDand protection of traditional knowledge an d folklore (WT/CTE/W/210-IP/C/W/347/Add.1).
UNCTAD presented a Communiqué on its international seminar on systems for the protection and
commercialization of traditional knowledge (W T/CTE/W/214-IP/C/W/350).  Discussion also took
place on Paragraph 32(i) on the basis of a paper circulated by India on environmental requirements
and their effect on market access for developing  countries (WT/CTE/W/20 7).  The OECD and UNEP
updated the CTE on their work in this area.  Under the sectoral review, Japan contributed a paper on
forestry issues (WT/CTE/W/211) and the representative of Saudi Arabia (Observer) made a
                                                     
1 Paragraph numbers refer to those of the Doha Ministerial Declaration unless otherwise stated.WT/CTE/7
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presentation on Energy taxation in OECD countries and their potential economic impacts.  And, on
Paragraph 32(iii), the European Communities presented a paper on labelling (WT/CTE/W/212-
G/TBT/W/174).
5. Under item 4 on transparency, the Secretariat updated the WTO Environmental Database
(EDB) for the year 2001 (WT/CTE/EDB/1 and Corr.1).
6. On Paragraph 33, the CTE discussed technical assistance and capacity building and
UNCTAD drew the attention of the CTE to its activities on this issue.  Also, the European
Communities presented its work on Sustainability Impact Assessment (WT/CTE/W/208-
WT/COMTD/W/99-TN/TE/W/3).  On Paragraph 51, the Chairman reported on the informal
consultations that had been held.  The importance of Paragraph 51 was stressed and Members decided
to have an overview of the environmental aspects of the negotiations as a whole at the October
meeting.
7. On 13 June 2002, the CTE held an Information Session with Secretariats of MEAs focusing
on technical assistance, capacity building and information exchange.  UNEP circulated its report on
how to enhance synergies and mutual supportivene ss among trade and environmental policies, rules
and institutions  (WT/CTE/W/213) as well as the Chairman's summary of the workshop on capacity
building convened by UNEP back-to-back with the meeting of the CTE in March 2002(WT/CTE/W206).  The WTO and UNEP Secretariats, in cooperation with MEA Secretariats,
prepared a background paper on technical assistance, capacity building and enhancing information
exchange (WT/CTE/W/209).  Representatives of the following MEA Secretariats presented their
technical assistance and capacity building activities:
- Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES);
- UNEP Chemicals (on the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for
Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade and the Stockholm
Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants);
- UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC);
- Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD);- Basel Convention on Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal;
- International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO);
- UN Forum on Forests (UNFF);  and
- UN Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea (on the Convention on the Law of the
Sea and the Fish Stocks Agreement).
8. At the 8 October 2002  meeting of the CTE, Members focused discussions on Paragraph
32(iii) concerning labelling requirements for environmental purposes.  The debate included
discussions on a non-paper submitted by Switzerland on labelling for environment purposes.
1  Under
Paragraph 32(i), Members continued their discussion of the paper circulated by India (in June) on
environmental requirements and their effect on market access for developing countries
(WT/CTE/W/207).  Under the sectoral review, Members discussed a paper circulated by Saudi Arabiaon energy taxation, subsidies and incentives in OECD countries and their economic and trade
implications on developing countries, in particular developing oil producing and exporting countries
(WT/CTE/W/215-TN/TE/W/9).  Discussions were also held on Paragraph 32(ii).  Under the cluster of
the linkages between the multilateral environmental and trade agendas (items 1 & 5), UNEP and
CITES made a statement.  Under item 2, the OECD  briefed the CTE on its report on “Uncertainty and
Precaution: Implications for Trade and Environmen t”.  Under item 9, the Secretariat prepared a
discussion paper on the environmental effects of services trade liberalization (WT/CTE/W/218).
                                                     
1 This non-paper was subsequently circulated as document WT/CTE/W/219.WT/CTE/7
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9. Under Paragraph 33, the Secretariat reported on its technical assistance and capacity building
activities in 2002 (WT/CTE/W/216) and discussions took place on the national environmental
reviews’ aspect of Paragraph 33.  The CTE held a general discussion under Paragraph 51.
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