INF/TE/IDP/RD/122 * 
 
31 March  2023 
(23-2265) Page: 1/4 
 Original: English/anglais/inglés  
 
  
UNOFFICIAL ROOM DOCUMENT1 
 
DIALOGUE ON PLASTICS POLLUTION AND  ENVIRONMENTALLY SUSTAINABLE 
PLASTICS TRADE  
STATEMENT BY CIEL 
Plenary Meeting – 13 March  2023 
 
DOCUMENT DE S ÉANCE NON OFFICIEL1 
 
DIALOGUE ON PLASTICS POLLUTION AND ENVIRONMENTALLY SUSTAINABLE 
PLASTICS TRADE  
STATE MENT BY CIEL 
Plenary Meeting – 13 March 2023  
 
DOCUMENTO DE SALA NO OF ICIAL1 
 
DIALOGUE ON PLASTICS POLLUTION AND  ENVIRONMENTALLY SUSTAINABLE 
PLASTICS TRADE  
STATE MENT BY CIEL 
Plenary Meeting – 13 March 2023  
_______________  
  
 
* In Original language only/En langue originale seulement/En el idioma original solamente.  
1 Documents issued in the RD series are not official WTO documents. They usually appear in their 
language of submission and will not be translated systematically into the working languages of the WTO. They 
are intended for use in WTO meeting rooms and are a ttributed an unofficial symbol for archiving purposes only.  
Les documents de la série RD ne sont pas des documents officiels de l 'OMC. Ils ne paraissent 
généralement que dans la langue dans laquelle ils ont été communiqués et ne seront pas systématiquemen t 
traduits dans les langues de travail de l'OMC. Ils sont destinés aux salles de réunion de l'OMC et une cote non 
officielle leur est attribuée à des fins d'archivage.  
Los documentos de la serie RD no son documentos oficiales de la OMC. Por lo general se d istribuyen en 
el idioma en que han sido presentados y no se traduce n sistemáticamente a los idiomas de trabajo de la 
Organización. Se distribuyen para su uso en las salas de reunión de la OMC y se les asigna una signatura no 
oficial a efectos de archivo ún icamente.  INF/TE/IDP/RD/122  
 
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WTO DIALOGUE ON PLASTIC POLLUTION  
 
CIEL’S WRITTEN STATEMENT  
 
13 March 2023  
 
STATEMENT FOR DISTRIBUTION  
 
 
Your excellencies,  
Ladies and gentlemen,  
Distinguished members of the WTO,  
 
1. Congratulations again for all the work you have accomplished in 2022. In order for 2023 to 
continue in the same tone, and transition into action for MC13, we would like to highli ght a few 
elements and provide concrete options for the Ministerial Declaration.  
2. As evidenced by the mere title of the UNEA resolution mandating the legally binding instrument 
to tackle the issue of plastic pollution, there is a need to end plastic polluti on.2  
3. While working towards that goal, recycling alone will not be enough to solve this problem. In 
part, because i) recycling perpetuates pollution due to the release of toxins in the environment; 
ii) very low percentage of plastics can actually be recyc led, and iii) even if it can be recycled, 
the quality of the plastic lessens over time.3  
4. As a group of scientists said in a paper published last week, “[a]lthough scientists continue to 
understand better the environmental fate of plastic pollution, there  is consensus  that global 
increases in plastic production  result in dramatic increases in plastic pollution ” (emphasis 
added).4 The science is clear: to meaningfully address this environmental and public health 
crisis, it is fundamental to start regulating plastic production to decrease pollution.  
5. In this line, it is essential to transition into a zero -waste path - which is consi dered to be the 
way forward.5 In fact, a few weeks ago, in a Resolution adopted on the 14th of December 2022, 
the U.N. General Assembly “[e]ncourage[d] Member States, organisations of the United Nations 
system and  other international and regional organisa tions  to implement zero -waste 
initiatives at all levels ”6 (emphasis added) and proclaimed the 30th of March as an 
International Day of Zero Waste , to be observed annually.7 In a similar tone, the Basel 
Convention recalls in its Preamble that “the most effective way of protecting human health 
 
2 UNEA, Resolution adopted by the United Nations Environment Assembly on 2 March 2022, End plastic pollution: towards an 
international legally binding instrument , UNEP/PP/OEWG/1/INF/1.  
3 See e.g.  CIEL Report, Plastic & Climate: the hidden costs of a plastic planet, (May 2019), https://www.ciel.org/wp -
content/uploads/2019/05/Plastic -and-Climate -FINAL -2019.pdf . 
4 Marcus Eriksen et. all. A growing plastic smog, now estimated to be over 170 trillion plastic particles afloat in the world’s oceans - 
Urgen solutions required, PLoS ONE (8 March 2023), https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0281596 . 
5 CIEL report - Glossary p. ix.  
6 UNGA, Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 14 December 2022, Promoting zero -waste initiatives to advance the 
2030 A genda for Sustainable Development, A/RES/77/161.  
7 UNGA, Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 14 December 2022, Promoting zero -waste initiatives to advance the 
2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, A/RES/77/161.  
INF/TE/IDP/RD/122  
 
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  and the environment from the dangers posed by wastes  is the reduction  of their 
generation to a minimum ” (emphasis added).8  
6. Measures t hat end the production and use of single use, disposable plastics; measures that stop 
the development of new oil, gas, and petrochemical infrastructure; measures that foster the 
transition to zero -waste communities; and ones that adopt and enforce ambitiou s targets to 
reduce plastic products are needed to drive the reduction of plastic pollution and transition 
towards a zero-waste  future.  
7. Regarding the WTO Dialogue on Plastic Pollution, out of the 75 DPP Members, 23 Members made 
submissions ahead of the sec ond session of the negotiations of the plastics treaty - including the 
European Union and the African Group who represent multiple DPP Members but submitted 1 
single submission each. Out of those 23 submissions, 16 support the inclusion of a provision 
that targets the reduction of either production, supply, trade or consumption of plastics 
precursors, materials and products.9 DPP Members are encouraged to replicate this level of 
ambition and target the reduction of production, supply, trade or consumption of plastic 
precursors, materials and products in the Ministerial Declaration.  
8. Another common element found in INC 2 submissions made by DPP members is the need to ban 
or reduce production of single -use plastics.10 The work of the DPP and the research done  
by the WTO Secretariat in this direction is of great value, and specific provisions targeting a ban 
or a commitment to reduce single use plastic products would be key in the Ministerial 
Declaration, which would consequently incentivise reusable, ‘multi -use’ circular 
replacements . 
9. Additionally, three other elements would be useful to be included in the Ministerial Declaration, 
namely :   
1) A mention of the need to end all trade in plastic waste ,  
 
2) The objective and commitment to end the export and import of pl astics precursors, 
materials, products and wastes that are restricted or banned in the exporting or importing 
countries, or by relevant multilateral environmental agreements.  
 
3) The need to improve country notifications on subsidies to plastics, so we can b etter 
understand plastics subsidies and effectively address that issue at the WTO and in the INC 
process. This is a key element for consideration.  
 
10. Next, regarding, substitutes, alternatives and technologies, it is very important to recall that:  
1) The need ed replacement is not one of material per material, but in many cases, a 
replacement of material per service.  
 
2) A big part of the solution is the development of replacement systems, which urgently need 
to be promoted: for example,  through the development o f reuse and refill systems, which 
have demonstrated to be more respectful of the environment, human health and more 
advantageous from an economic perspective.11 
 
3) A large majority of States have mentioned the need to include specific provisions on 
alternatives or substitutes to plastics and the wish of adding this subject matter as part of 
the scope of the treaty in their submissions for INC 2.12 The INC process will have to take 
 
8 Basel Convention, Preambule, p ara. 3.  
9 See e.g.  pre-session submissions for INC 2 of African Group, Cambodia, China, Colombia, Ecuador, EU, 
Japan, Mauritius, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, Philippines, Switzerland, Thailand, Tonga, Uruguay.  
10 See e.g.See for example the  pre -session submissions for INC 2 of African Group, Australia, Cambodia, 
Colombia,  EU, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Tonga.  
11 ZeroWasteEurope, Reusable VS single -use packaging: a review of environmental impact, 
https://zerowasteeurope.eu/library/reusable -vs-single -use-packaging -a-review -of-environmental -impact/ .  
12 See e.g.  pre-session submissions for INC 2 of Africa group, A ustralia, Cambodia, China, Colombia, EU, 
Japan, Mauritius, Morocco, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland, Thailand, Uruguay.  INF/TE/IDP/RD/122  
 
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  this on and to establish the criteria, definition and list of the best  possible replacement of 
plastics.  
 
4) Regarding technologies for environmentally sound management of plastic waste, the Basel 
Convention is currently working on a list of technologies to be promoted, which is expected 
to be established at its approaching BRS  COP 16 meeting in early May of this year.  
 
11. It will be essential to coordinate with these processes and ensure that the Ministerial Declaration 
and the WTO do not prejudge the outcome of the INC process as mentioned by the EU, by 
establishing environmenta l definitions or criteria on its own, but rather to coordinate as 
mentioned by Ecuador, the EU, Switzerland and others, and promote plastic replacements or 
technologies that follow the criteria and definitions to be established by the INC and the Basel 
Convention processes.   
12. Additionally, it is important to take into account that the treaty will not only address traditional 
plastics, but will also include bio based, biodegradable and compostable polymers as those are 
in fact still plastics and cause plasti c pollution.13  
13. Finally, as noted by the DPP in 2021, there is a large amount of unaccounted plastics in the 
trading system,14 such as plastic packaging, plastic in products etc. It is therefore crucial to 
increase efforts into identifying these ‘hidden’ plastics, to ensure that action steps can be taken. 
In this context, a suggestion would be to keep working on the amendments of  the HS system to 
include specific codes for plastic precursors, additives, packaging, plastics embedded in the 
products and importantly, plastic waste. This would strengthen and support the implementation 
of the Basel Convention. It will also work towards  the call to increase transparency and 
traceability of plastics polymers, products, additives, and wastes present in the INC2 State 
submissions, including DPP Members.15 
14. To conclude, the DPP has an opportunity to prepare the groundwork for the arrival of t he 
international legally binding instrument to end plastic pollution. The WTO holds a unique position 
in the process by having insight into the global international trade of plastics and  can therefore 
provide valuable support to the INC process. Therefore,  it would be very useful to reflect the 
mentioned content in the Ministerial Declaration for MC13, in order to achieve concrete, 
pragmatic and effective outcomes, as envisioned in the DPP’s Declaration of MC12.  
 
Thank you very much for your time and atten tion.  
 
Please accept, Excellencies and colleagues, the assurances of our highest consideration.  
 
 
 
__________  
 
13 See e.g. EU submission for the UNEP INC2 pre -session submissions, 
https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/41793/EUsubmission.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y ; 
See also Jan-Georg Rosenboom, Robert L anger, and Giovanni Traverso, Bioplastics for a circular economy , Nature 
Reviews Materials 7, 117 -137 (2022); CIEL, Plastic & Climate: the hidden costs of a plastic planet, (May 2019), 
https://www.ciel.org/wp -content/uploads/2019/05/Plastic -and-Climate -FINAL -2019.pdf , at p. 24, 84.  
14 WTO Informal Dialogue on Plastic Pollution and Environmentally Sustainable Plastic Trade, Ministerial 
Statement on Plastic Po llution and Environmentally Sustainable Plastic Trade , (10 December 2021) 
WT/MIN(21)/8/Rev.2: “Noting that recent research by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development 
(UNCTAD) indicates trade in plastics accounts for as much as 5 % of global trade – or more than 1 trillion US 
dollars in 2019 – almost 40% higher than previously estimated, with more trade in plastics still 
unaccounted .” (emphasis added).  
15 See e.g.  pre-session submissions for INC 2 of Africa Group, Australia, EU, Morocco, Philip pines, UK.