WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONTN/TE/S/4
31 January 2003
(03-0656)
Committee on Trade and Environment
Special Session
OBSERVER STATUS
Note by the Secretariat
This document has been prepared under the Secretariat's own responsibility and
without prejudice to the positions of Members and to their rights and obligations
under the WTO.
I. OBSERVER STATUS IN WTO NEGOTIATING BODIES
A. SPECIAL SESSIONS OF THE COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE AND COUNCIL FOR TRADE IN
SERVICES
1. Following a decision by the General Council on 7-8 February 20001, the negotiations on
agriculture under Article 20 of the Agreement on Agriculture and the negotiations on services under
Article XIX of the General Agreement on Trade in Services were conducted in Special Sessions of the
Committee on Agriculture and of the Council for Trade in Services respectively.  At its first meeting
on 28 January and 1 February 2002, the Trade Negotiations Committee (TNC) established byMinisters at Doha to supervise the overall conduct of the negotiations and to establish appropriate
negotiating mechanisms, agreed that the agriculture and services negotiations would be pursued in
these bodies.
2
2. At the time these two negotiating bodies were established, no formal decision was taken on
the granting of observer status to international intergovernmental organizations.  However, in practice,the organizations that already had observer status in the Committee on Agriculture and in the Council
for Trade in Services were invited to formal meetings of these two bodies in Special Session.
3
3. Since February 2000, the Committee on Agriculture has not granted observer status to any
additional organizations.4  The Council for Trade in Services has, for its part, granted observer status
on an ad hoc basis to the following organizations:  the World Health Organization (WHO), theInternational Civil Aviation Organization (I CAO) and the World Tourism Organization
(WTO/OMT).
5  Moreover, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has been granted
regular observer status in the Council for Trade in Services pursuant to a Cooperation Agreement with
                                                     
1 See WT/GC/M/53.
2 See TN/C/M/1.
3 The organizations which had observer status in the Committee on Agriculture at the time are listed in
document G/AG/W/29/Rev.5.  For the Council for Trade in Services, the relevant organizations are theUnited Nations, UNCTAD, the IMF and the World Bank.
4 The organizations whose requests for observer status are pending in the Committee on Agriculture are
listed in G/AG/W/29/Rev.5.
5 See Report (2000) of the Council for Trade in Services to the General Council in S/C/12.  These
organizations are invited to meetings of the Council when the agenda contains an item of interest to them.  The
list of organizations whose request for observer status in the Council for Trade in Services has not been decidedupon is contained in document S/C/W/19/Rev.6.TN/TE/S/4
Page 2
the WTO.6  These organizations have been invited to meetings of the Special Session of the Council
for Trade in Services when issues of interest to them have been discussed.
B. OTHER NEGOTIATING BODIES ESTABLISHED PURSUANT TO THE DOHA MANDATE
4. Although no general decision has been taken at the level of the TNC regarding observer status
for international intergovernmental organizations, under the Guidelines on observer status containedin Annex 3 of the Rules of Procedure for meetings of the General Council
7, which apply,
mutatis mutandis , to the TNC and to the bodies established by it8, each negotiating body may take a
decision, as appropriate, regarding arrangements for observer status for international
intergovernmental organizations.
II. PENDING REQUESTS FOR OBSERVER STATUS FROM MULTILATERAL
ENVIRONMENTAL AGREEMENTS (MEAS)/UNEP IN THE
CTE SPECIAL SESSION
1. Basel Convention on the Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal
(Basel Convention)
2. Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)
3. Convention on International Trade in Endanger ed Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)
4. International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO)5. United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
III. REQUESTS FOR OBSERVER STATUS FROM MEAS/UNEP IN THE COMMITTEE
ON TRADE AND ENVIRONMENT (CTE)
9
A. GRANTED
1. Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)
2. Convention on International Trade in Endanger ed Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)
3. International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT)
4. United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP)
5. United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
B. PENDING
1. International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO)
2. Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (Montreal Protocol)
                                                     
6 See S/C/11 for the text of the agreement, as approved by the General Council at its meeting
on 10 October 2000.  According to Paragraph 3 of this agreement, "The WTO shall invite the ITU Secretariat as
an Observer to meetings of the Ministerial Conference and the Council for Trade in Services.  The ITUSecretariat shall also be invited as an Observer to meetings of other relevant WTO bodies (excluding theCommittee on Budget, Finance and Administration, the Dispute Settlement Body, the Appellate Body anddispute settlement panels) where that body considers that matters of common interest to both organizations willbe under discussion."
7 See WT/L/161.
8 See TN/C/M/1.
9 The complete list of international intergovernmental organizations who have been granted observer
status, or whose request is still pending in the CTE, is contained in document WT/CTE/W/41/Rev.10.TN/TE/S/4
Page 3
IV. PENDING REQUESTS FOR OBSERVER STATUS FROM MEAS/UNEP IN OTHER
WTO BODIES
WTO Body MEA/UNEP
General Council10United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
TRIPS Council11Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
Committee on Agriculture12Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)
SPS Committee13Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)
TBT Committee14Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)
Committee on Trade and Development15United Nations Environment Programme
(UNEP)16
V. STATE OF PLAY ON OBSERVER STATUS FOR MEAS/UNEP THAT HAVE
PARTICIPATED IN MEA INFORMATION SESSIONS IN THE CTE
MEAs Observer Status in
the CTEPending Request for
Observer Status in the
CTE Special Session
1.  Basel Convention on the Control of
Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastesand their Disposal (Basel Convention)No Yes
2.  Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic
Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR)No No
3.  Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) Yes Yes
4.  Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species (CITES)Yes Yes
5.  International Commission for the Conservation
of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT)Yes No
6.  International Tropical Timber Organization
(ITTO)Request pending Yes
                                                     
10 WT/GC/W/51/Rev.9.
11 IP/C/W/52/Rev.9.
12 G/AG/W/29/Rev.5.
13 G/SPS/W/78/Rev.2.
14 G/TBT/M/28.
15 WT/COMTD/W/22/Rev.5.
16 Although UNEP does not formally have observer status in this Committee, it has nonetheless been
granted observer status on an ad hoc, meeting-by-meeting, basis.TN/TE/S/4
Page 4
MEAs Observer Status in
the CTEPending Request for
Observer Status in the
CTE Special Session
7.  Montreal Protocol on Substances that Depletethe Ozone Layer (Montreal Protocol)Request pending No
8.  Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed
Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous
Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade
(Rotterdam Convention)No No
9.  Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic
Pollutants (Stockholm Convention)No No
10.  United Nations Convention on the Law of the
Sea (UNCLOS)No No
11.  United Nations Environment Programme
(UNEP)Yes Yes
12.  United Nations Fish Stocks Agreement No No
13.  United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF) No No
14.  United Nations Framework Convention on
Climate Change (UNFCCC)Yes No
__________