. /.  
 WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  TN/TE/10 
6 December 2004 
 
 (04-5347) 
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 tenth meeting of the Committee on Trade and Environment Special Session (CTESS) was 
held on 12-13 October 2004. 
I. STATUS OF WORK 
2. Under Paragraph 31(i), Members discussed th e issue of national coordination in the 
negotiation and implementation of mu ltilateral environmental agreemen ts (MEAs), mainly in relation 
to submissions from the United States and Australia (TN/TE/W/40 and TN/TE/W/45).  Addressed in the discussion were, amongst other issues, the mech anisms established by various WTO Members for 
coordination between different governmental bodies;   the processes through which conflicting views 
were reconciled; the way in which stakeholders  were consulted; and the development of MEA 
implementing legislation.  The discussion allowed Me mbers to benefit from each other's experiences.  
3. In addition to coordination at th e national level, some delegati ons argued that coordination at 
the international level between the WTO and MEAs  would be just as important for the CTESS to 
explore.  Furthermore, a call was made for principles of good governance to be extracted from the national experience sharing, so that the factors th at have prevented WTO-MEA conflicts from arising 
thus far could be identified.  One delegation ar gued that the concepts of mutual supportiveness, 
no-hierarchy, and deference should underpin th e WTO-MEA relationship.  However, several 
Members maintained that a discussion on governance principles could not precede the identification 
of the problem which needed to be solved. 
4. Members recognized that many of the coordi nation issues raised under the Paragraph 31(i) 
mandate could also be relevant to the discussion un der Paragraph 31(ii).  The need to fully explore 
Paragraph 31(ii) was stressed, with reference bei ng made to the list of ideas that had been presented 
by Ambassador Yolande Biké to the TNC in document TN/TE/7. 
5. Under Paragraph 31(iii), a discussion was held on the preliminary list of environmental goods 
submitted by Chinese Taipei (TN/TE/W/44).  The list contained a total of 78 products, selected on the 
basis of two main criteria:  their contribution to  pollution control and the concept of predominant 
environmental end use.  Several Members calle d for an explanation to be provided of the 
environmental benefits of any pr oducts that were proposed under this  mandate, and for information on 
the extent to which the Member proposing the products  actually traded in them and the types of trade 
barriers it encountered. 
6. Some Members called for the definition of envir onmental goods to be discussed in parallel to 
the submission of national lists.  However, others  expressed reluctance at pursuing this suggestion, 
since agreement on a definition might be difficult to attain.  Finally, the United Nations Conference 
on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and TN/TE/10 
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Development (OECD) presented their work on environmental goods and services, and the World Customs Organization (WCO) explained the wa y in which the Harmonized System operates.  
These presentations were considered  useful for the work ahead. 
II. FUTURE WORK 
7. Members are engaging substantively on the ma ndate before the Committee. I expect that 
groups of Members will begin working togeth er to develop common positions.  Under 
Paragraph 31(i), the CTESS has two different appr oaches before it:  the "analytical, experience-based 
approach," and the "conceptual approach."  W ith a view to moving the process of negotiations 
forward, but without discouraging the emergence of new ideas, I have urged Members supporting 
either of the two approaches to identify common ground and to also address the reactions to their 
proposals.  I have also urged them to explore poten tial synergies between Paragr aphs 31(i) and (ii) of 
the Doha Ministerial Declaration. On Paragraph 31(iii), I have encouraged Members to continue 
submitting their lists of environmental goods to the CTESS, while explaining the methodology they 
used in constructing them.   
8. I look forward to a productive new year for the CTESS. 
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