RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE WT/CTE/W/17
12December 1995
ORGANIZATION(95-4039)
Committee onTrade andEnvironment
SUMMARY OFACTIVITIES OFTHE
COMMITTEE ONTRADE AND ENVIRONMENT(1995)
PRESENTED BYTHE CHAIRMAN OFTHE COMMITTEE1
1. Asdirected bytheMinisterial Decision onTrade andEnvironment, theCommittee on
Trade andEnvironment (hereinafter "Committee") wasestablished bytheGeneral Council atits
firstmeeting on31January 1995. Atthatmeeting, theGeneral Council alsoagreed tothe
nomination ofAmbassador J.Sánchez Arnau (Argentina) astheChairman oftheCommittee.
2. Thefirstmeeting oftheCommittee washeldon16February 1995 (WT/CTE/M/1). The
Committee adopted aschedule ofmeetings andprogramme ofwork for1995 (Annex 1).The
Committee agreed thatmeetings would beorganized suchthat,oncediscussion oftheitem(s)
constituting thefocus ofthemeeting hadbeencompleted, delegations could address, ifthey
wished, theitem(s) thatwere discussed attheprevious meeting. Delegations could submit papers
onanyoftheitems atanytimewhich would bediscussed attheappropriate timeaccording tothe
agreed schedule ofwork.
3. Other formal meetings oftheCommittee were heldon6April, 21June, 12September and
26-27 October 1995 (WT/CTE/M/2 to5);theitems discussed atthese meetings were asperthe
work programme decided atthemeeting of16February 1995. With regard toitemtenofthe
work programme, i.e.appropriate arrangements forrelations withnon-governmental
organizations, theCommittee decided topostpone thediscussions pending results ofdiscussions in
theGeneral Council.
4. AttheOctober meeting, thestocktaking exercise wascompleted. Asaresult ofthis
exercise, theCommittee decided onitswork programme through toMay1996 (Annex 2).2
5. Thework oftheCommittee wasassisted bydocuments prepared bytheSecretariat
(WT/CTE/W/1, 3to10,12)anddocuments submitted bydelegations (WT/CTE/W/2 and11);
Annex 3liststhetopics covered bythese documents.3
6. Thediscussions intheCommittee meetings were wideranging andthere wasaveryhigh
levelofparticipation byWTO Members. Forty governments areobservers totheCommittee.
TheCommittee extended observer status tothose inter-governmental organizations (IGOs) which
hadhadobserver status intheSub-Committee onTrade andEnvironment, pending agreement by
theGeneral Council ontheconditions andcriteria forIGOobserver status. These IGOs were:
1Thissummary issubmitted bytheChairman oftheCommittee onTrade andEnvironment onhisownresponsibility.
2Thedates ofthemeetings in1996 aregoing tobereviewed atthemeeting oftheCommittee onTrade andEnvironment on
14-15 December 1995.
3TheCommittee 'swork alsotookintoconsideration several background documents prepared fortheEMIT Group andthe
WTO Preparatory Committee 'sSub-Committee onTrade andEnvironment.WT/CTE/W/17
Page2
theUnited Nations (UN), theUnited Nations Conference onTrade andDevelopment (UNCTAD),
theWorld Bank, theInternational Monetary Fund (IMF), theUnited Nations Environment
Program (UNEP), United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Commission forSustainable
Development (CSD), theFood andAgriculture Organization (FAO), theInternational Trade
Centre (ITC), theOrganization forEconomic Cooperation andDevelopment (OECD), andthe
European FreeTrade Association (EFTA).
7. TheCommittee noted thattheSecretariat hadreceived several requests forinformation and
advice from MEAs. There wasnoWTO procedure which would permit ittoadequately reply to
suchrequests andtheestablishment ofnewprocedures wentbeyond theCommittee 'smandate and
wasofinterest totheWTO ingeneral. Forthisreason, theChairman hadreferred thismatter to
theChairman oftheGeneral Council whowould beconsulting ontheissue.
8. Following adecision taken atthemeeting oftheCommittee onTechnical Barriers to
Trade (CTBT) on20October 1995, theCommittee agreed toconvene jointinformal meetings on
eco-labelling withtheCTBT. Itwasagreed thattheChairman would consult informally onthe
possibility ofholding ajointmeeting oftheCommittee andtheCTBT possibly around thetimeof
theDecember orFebruary meeting oftheCommittee.WT/CTE/W/17
Page3
Annex 1
Atitsmeeting on16February 1995, theCommittee onTrade andEnvironment adopted the
following schedule ofmeetings andprogramme ofwork:
6-7April: -Item4:"theprovisions ofthemultilateral trading system withrespect tothe
transparency oftrade measures usedforenvironmental purposes and
environmental measures andrequirements which havesignificant trade effects"
-Item5:"therelationship between thedispute settlement mechanisms inthe
multilateral trading system andthose found inmultilateral environmental
agreements"
-Item10:"appropriate arrangements forrelations withnon-governmental
organizations referred toinArticle VoftheWTO andtransparency of
documentation"
21-22 June: -Item8:"TRIPS"
-Item9:"Services"
-Item2:"therelationship between environmental policies relevant totrade and
environmental measures withsignificant trade effects andtheprovisions ofthe
multilateral trading system"
early
September: -Item6:"theeffect ofenvironmental measures onmarket access, especially in
relation todeveloping countries, inparticular totheleastdeveloped among them,
andenvironmental benefits ofremoving trade restrictions anddistortions"
late
October: -Item1:"therelationship between theprovisions ofthemultilateral trading
system andtrade measures forenvironmental purposes, including those pursuant to
multilateral environmental agreements"
-Item3:"therelationship between theprovisions ofthemultilateral trading
system and:
(a)charges andtaxes forenvironmental purposes
(b)requirements forenvironmental purposes relating toproducts, including
standards andtechnical regulations, packaging, labelling andrecycling
-Stocktaking andplanning program ofwork for1995/1996WT/CTE/W/17
Page4
Annex 2
TheCommittee onTrade andEnvironment
Theinformal consultations made evident thefollowing points:
Thatthestocktaking ismore aprocess-related exercise thanasubstance-related analysis
and,therefore, theresult ofthisexercise hastobeadetailed work programme toadvance the
CTE mandate, i.e.toproduce areport:
a) identifying therelationship between trade measures andenvironmental measures in
order topromote sustainable development;
(b) making recommendations onwhether anymodifications toWTO provisions are
required, compatible withtheopen, equitable andnon-discriminatory nature ofthe
system; and
(c) complying withthemandate oftheMinisterial Decision onTrade inServices and
Environment.
Inorder toestablish amore focused butwellbalanced work programme, theChairman
submits thefollowing proposals:
(a) tokeepallitems onouragenda, buttomove, whenever possible, from the
discussion ofagenda items totheanalysis ofthose issues identified during the
debate asthecoreofeachitemand,tothatend,toorganize ourfuture work
programme onthebasis oftheproposal submitted below;
(b) tocontinue theprocess ofanalysis ofthese issues untilMay1996, when anew
review ofthework programme willtakeplace;
(c) thelistofissues identified nexttoeachitemisnotnecessarily exhaustive. Once
thediscussion oftheidentified issues iscarried outbytheCommittee, Members
would befreetoraiseother related issues under eachagenda itematthesame
meeting;
(d) Aspartofthework programme:
(i) jointinformal meetings oftheCTE andtheCTBT areenvisaged, subject
totheagreement oftheCTBT, toanalyze theapplicability ofthe
TBTAgreement toeco-labelling andthepossible needforfurther
disciplines foreco-labelling;
(ii) allother issues identified inthetablebelow anditems intheagenda would
bediscussed inthePlenary butinformal open-ended meetings, backto
backtothePlenary, would beconvened when adetailed analysis ofatopic
isnecessary orapaper onaspecific issue issubmitted fordiscussion;WT/CTE/W/17
Page5
(iii) some fewstudies/reports tobeprepared bytheSecretariat havebeen
suggested inaddition tothose already incourse. TheSecretariat is
encouraged tocontinue tocooperate closely with, andtotakefull
advantage ofavailable andforthcoming studies in,UNCTAD, UNEP and
other intergovernmental institutions.WT/CTE/W/17
Page6
TheCommittee onTrade andEnvironment
Itemonthe
Work ProgrammeIssues Studies When tobe
discussed
Item one: "The relationship
between theprovisions of
themultilateral trading
system andtrade measures
forenvironmental purposes,
including those pursuant to
multilateral environmental
agreements"-ensuring the
compatibility oftrade
measures taken
pursuant toMEAs and
theWTO
-adequacy ofWTO
transparency
mechanisms
concerning trade
measures included in
relevant MEAs
-seeitem 526/27 October 95
early February 96
(7/8February 96)
26/27 October 95
early February 96
(7/8February 96)
Item three: "The
relationship between the
provisions ofthemultilateral
trading system and:
(a) charges andtaxes for
environmental
purposes-environmental taxes
which could be
adjusted attheborder
andtheir WTO-
consistency-gather information on
national environmental
taxes forthestudy26/27 October 95
early February 96
(7/8February 96)
(b) requirements for
environmental
purposes relating to
products, including
standards andtechnical
regulations, packaging,
labelling and
recycling"-applicability ofthe
TBT Agreement to
eco-labelling
-adequacy, from
boththetrade and
environmental
perspectives, ofWTO
rules regarding eco-
labelling andpossible
need forfurther
disciplines and
transparencyJoint Informal
Meetings ofthe
CTE +CTBT****
****Report totheCTE once work iscompleted.WT/CTE/W/17
Page7
Itemonthe
Work ProgrammeIssues Studies When tobe
discussed
Item three (b)cont'd -adequacy, from
boththetrade and
environmental
perspectives, ofWTO
rules regarding
packaging, handling,
andother
environmental
regulations,
requirements and
standards, including
thepossible need for
further disciplines and
transparency26/27 October 95
early February 96
(7/8February 96)
Item four: "The provisions
ofthemultilateral trading
system withrespect tothe
transparency oftrade
measures used for
environmental purposes and
environmental measures and
requirements which have
significant trade effects"-examination ofthe
proposal thatMembers
should establish
environmental enquiry
points
-seeitems 1and314/15 December 95
-item tobe
revisited in
May 96,inorder
todetermine
whether andwhere
further gaps in
transparency
existed
Item five: "The relationship
between thedispute
settlement mechanisms in
themultilateral trading
system andthose found in
multilateral environmental
agreements"-seeitem1
-environmental
expertise intrade
dispute settlement
-trade expertise in
environmental dispute
settlementearly February 96
(7/8February 95)
Item six: "The effect of
environmental measures on
market access, especially in
relation todeveloping
countries, inparticular to
theleast developed among
them, andenvironmental
benefits ofremoving trade
restrictions anddistortions"-theeffect of
environmental
measures onmarket
access
-theenvironmental
benefits ofremoving
trade restrictions and
distortions, including
tariff escalation,
subsidies, state
trading, excessively
hightariffs-environmental
measures onmarket
access andsetting up
ofamechanism to
survey environmental
measuresmidMarch 96
(13/14 March 96)
midMarch 96
(13/14 March 96)WT/CTE/W/17
Page8
Itemonthe
Work ProgrammeIssues Studies When tobe
discussed
Item seven: "The issue of
exports ofdomestically
prohibited goods"-DPGs, andwhether
there isaneed fora
DPG Agreement14/15 December 95
Item eight: "Trade-Related
Aspects ofIntellectual
Property Rights andthe
environment"-therelationship of
theTRIPs Agreement
toaccess toand
transfer oftechnology
andthedevelopment
ofenvironmentally-
sound technology
-therelationship
between theTRIPS
Agreement andMEAs
which contain IPR-
related obligations-analytical paper on
factors affecting
transfer of
environmentally-sound
technologyendApril 96
(17/18 April 96)
endApril 96
(17/18 April 96)
Item nine: "Services and
theenvironment"-sufficiency of
Article XIVofGATS
-possible points of
contact between
relevant MEAs and
GATSearly February 96
(7/8February 96)
early February 96
(7/8February 96)
Item two: "The relationship
between environmental
policies relevant totrade and
environmental measures
withsignificant trade effects
andtheprovisions ofthe
multilateral trading system"May 96
(21/22 May 96)
Item ten: "Appropriate
arrangements forrelations
withnon-governmental
organizations referred toin
Article VoftheWTO and
transparency of
documentation"intheCTE*****
*****Once adecision isadopted bytheGeneral Council.WT/CTE/W/17
Page9
Annex 3
WT/CTE/W/1 Environmental benefits ofremoving trade restrictions
anddistortions (background paper prepared bythe
Secretariat foritem 6)
WT/CTE/W/2 Submission byChile onrelationship between dispute
settlement inWTO andinmultilateral environmental
agreements, withspecial reference toConvention onthe
LawoftheSeawhich incertain parts emphasises the
provisions oftheGeneral Agreement onTariffs and
Trade (including dispute settlement)
WT/CTE/W/3 Report submitted bytheSecretariat onitsown
responsibility totheSecretariat oftheCommission on
Sustainable Development forthemeeting oftheThird
Session oftheCommission on11-28 April 1995
WT/CTE/W/4 Approaches totherelationship between theprovisions of
themultilateral trading system andtrade measures
pursuant tomultilateral environmental agreements
(background paper prepared bytheSecretariat for
item1)
WT/CTE/W/5 Provisions ofthemultilateral trading system with
respect tothetransparency oftrade measures used for
environmental purposes andenvironmental measures and
requirements which have significant trade effects
(background paper prepared bytheSecretariat for
item4)
WT/CTE/W/6 Adescription ofinternational agreements and
instruments dealing withtrade indomestically prohibited
goods andother hazardous substances (background
paper prepared bytheSecretariat foritem 7)
WT/CTE/W/7 Secretariat 'snoteontheresults ofthethird session of
theCommission onSustainable Development
WT/CTE/W/8 Environment andTRIPS (background paper prepared by
theSecretariat foritem8)
WT/CTE/W/9 Environment andservices (background paper prepared
bytheSecretariat foritem9)
WT/CTE/W/10 Negotiating history ofthecoverage oftheAgreement on
Technical Barriers toTrade withregard tolabelling
requirements, voluntary standards, andprocesses and
production methods unrelated toproduct characteristics
(background paper prepared bytheSecretariat for
item3)WT/CTE/W/17
Page10
WT/CTE/W/11 Communication from thedelegations ofNigeria and
Senegal regarding theissue ofdomestically prohibited
goods
WT/CTE/W/12 Trade measures forenvironmental purposes taken
pursuant tomultilateral environmental agreements:
recent developments (note prepared bytheSecretariat)