RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE WT/CTE/W/78
9March 1998
ORGANIZATION(98-0942)
Committee onTrade andEnvironment
ITEM 4:PROVISIONS OFTHE MULTILATERAL TRADING SYSTEM WITH RESPECT TO
THE TRANSPARENCY OFTRADE MEASURES USED FOR ENVIRONMENTAL
PURPOSES AND ENVIRONMENTAL MEASURES AND REQUIREMENTS
WHICH HAVE SIGNIFICANT TRADE EFFECTS
PROPOSAL FOR THE ENVIRONMENTAL
DATABASE
Note bytheSecretariat
1. TheReport (1996) oftheCommittee onTrade andEnvironment (WT/CTE/1) contains a
recommendation thattheSecretariat "compile from theCentral Registry ofNotifications (CRN) all
notifications oftrade-related environmental measures andcollate these inasingle database which can
beaccessed byWTO Members" (Paragraph 192). Following thisrecommendation andbuilding on
theoptions setoutinWT/CTE/W/46 concerning theorganization anddelivery ofadatabase, thisNote
briefly describes theissues involved inthecollation anddissemination oftheEnvironmental Database
(EDB) andputsforward proposals fortheEDB forconsideration byMembers.
I. SEARCH METHODOLOGY USED INTHE ENVIRONMENTAL DATABASE
2. Onaverage, more than2,000 notification documents containing over15,000 pages areissued
eachyearunder the203notification provisions oftheWTO. Electronic searches were usedbythe
Secretariatastheprinciplemeansforcollatingandupdatinginformationonenvironment-relatedmeasures
fortheEDBascontained inWT/CTE/W/77.1Other search methods, suchasthephysical examination
ofnotifications andusing in-house records maintained bysome Divisions have supplemented the
electronic search results.2
3. Bearinginmindthecomplexityofdeterminingwhatconstitutesanenvironment-relatedmeasure,
thesearch andlisting ofmeasures intheEDB isascomprehensive aspossible. Moreover, creating
aglossary ofsearch words thatcaptures "more" rather than"less" andwhich isperiodically modified
tomeetthechangingdimensionsofwhatconstitutesanenvironment-relatednotificationwillbenecessary.
1Asearch through allWTO documents (maintained inelectronic format intheelectronic archive Document
Filing System (DFS)) wassupplemented bydrawing onother existing databases liketheCRN andDocument
Database (DDB) maintained bytheTranslation andDocumentation Division.
2Forexample, pursuant totheDecision onNotification Procedures forQuantitative Restrictions (G/L/59),
allquantitative restrictions whether already notified toother WTO bodies ortaken under GATT Article XXor
XXI, arenotified totheMarket Access Division which maintains records available forconsultation.WT/CTE/W/78
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4. Alargevariety ofsearch words havebeenusedtoidentify environment-related trademeasures
andprovisions inWTO notifications.3These words include: environment, waste, energy, wildlife,
pollution, conserv(ation), preserv(ation), natural resources, flora, fauna, packag(ing), ecolog(y), bio,
recycle, toxic, hazardous, eco-label, renewable, endangered, ozone, sustainable, forest, desertification,
soilerosion, green, clean, extinct, CITES, Montreal Protocol andBasel Convention.
5. Inusing search words, twotypes ofreservations remain: (a)search words mayfailtocapture
anenvironment-related notification; and(b)search words mayidentify notifications asenvironmental
when they arenot.4Theformer isthemore serious ofthetwosearch-related concerns as
non-environmental "search-hits" canberemoved onexamination ofthespecific notification. Doing
sohasmade theclassification ofmeasures intheEDB atimeconsuming process. TheSecretariat
estimates thatthetaskifundertaken annually would require 6-8weeks ofwork byaprofessional staff
member.
II. DISSEMINATION OFTHE ENVIRONMENTAL DATABASE
6. Theclassification efforts needed fortheidentification ofenvironment-related measures in
WTO notifications arenotafeature ofanyoftheexisting WTO electronic databases. Oncethescreening
andfiltering ofalltherelevant environment-related measures andprovisions hasbeenundertaken, the
available options5fortheelectronic delivery oftheEDB are:
(a) Central Registry ofNotifications (CRN): Aprevious Secretariat note(WT/CTE/W/34) set
outthemainfeatures andcoverage oftheCRN. AstheCRNfocuses exclusively onnotifications
andisconstantly being updated, itcould beusedasaplatform onwhich tobuild theEDB.
However initsexisting format, theCRN isnotdesigned topickup:(i)environment-related
measures orprovisions thatform asubsidiary partofanotification; and(ii)some ofthe
notifications thatareprincipally environment-related butmaynotberecorded assuch.6Even
iftheformat ofCRN records ismodified slightly toidentify environment-related measures
(through, forexample, theuseofacheck box), theissueofdissemination toMembers remains.
Currently, onrequest theSecretariat gives hardcopies ofCRN records orsearch results to
3Many ofthesearch words were deliberately usedinshortened forms orasstrings ofletters sothatvariants
oftheword could becaptured inthesearch. Forexample, using theword "waste" or"energy" captures terms
like"wasteminimization,wasterecovery,recyclablewaste,wastereduction...;energyefficiency,energysaving,
conservation ofenergy ...".Theuseofstrings ofletters like"bio", "ecolog" etc.picked upvariants ofcertain
environment-related words orterms like"biodiversity, biodegradable ...;ecology, ecological ...". While these
techniques reduce theprobability ofmissing outonenvironment-related measures, theoccurrence of
non-environmental "search hits" increases.
4Eventhesearchword"environment"hasbeenusedindifferentcontextslike"macroeconomicenvironment".
5Other options liketheuseoftheIntegrated Database (IDB) andtheuseofdatabases maintained bysome
Divisions suchasMarket Access havenotbeenexamined astheywould require significant modifications totheir
coverage, datacontent, structure andelectronic delivery capabilities before theycanbeconsidered aspossible
means ofdisseminating theEDB electronically.
6Thedesign anddimensions ofenvironment-related measures thathave andcontinue toevolve canpartly
account forthis.WT/CTE/W/78
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Members.7Forthisinformation tobeavailable more readily forMembers, theCRN database
would needtobeshifted toother platforms liketheInternet tomake itmore convenient to
use(CD-ROM could alsobeusedaccording tothequantum ofinformation).
(b) Document Dissemination Facility (DDF): Thisinternet based package withitsownsearch
facilities, available toWTO Member countries only(through useofpasswords forindividual
Members), iseasytouseandcanbeaconvenient method fordisseminating theEDB
electronically. Ahyperlink oftheEDB could becreated andappended totheDDF butthe
costimplications ofdoing soneedtobeconsidered.8
(c) "Stand Alone" EDB: Members maynotethatWT/CTE/W/77 istheequivalent ofanEDB
which isavailable electronically through theDDF. While itwould bepossible toconduct further
search andanalysis withoneoftheother options listed above, theadditional benefits tobe
derived must beweighed against theestablishment costs aschanges orupgrading would be
required totheirelectronic delivery capabilities orexisting format.
III. PROPOSAL FOR THE ENVIRONMENTAL DATABASE
7. After examining thefeasibility oftheavailable options fortheelectronic delivery ofanEDB,
andinlightoftherelative merits ofachieving cost-effectiveness andavoiding duplication, Members
maywishtoinstruct theSecretariat to:
(a) onanannual basis, undertake aComprehensive Review ofallenvironment-related notifications
tocontinuously up-date theEDB, suchashasbeencompleted for1997 inWT/CTE/W/77.
TheComprehensive Review would beavailable toMembers electronically through theDDF
asaWT/CTE/W/-- document.
(b) onanannual basis, conduct anInterim Review oftheappropriateness ofthesearch words used
inthecompilation oftheEDB. Modifications totheglossary ofsearch words would bemade
asandwhen deemed necessary.
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7TheMarrakeshMinisterialDecisiononNotificationProceduresstatesthat"informationinthecentralregistry
regarding individual notifications shall bemade available onrequest toanyMember entitled toreceive the
notification concerned".
8Allthemeasures identified inWT/CTE/W/77 would befiltered andlisted withdifferent search possibilities.