RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/CTE/M/28
31 October 2001
(01-5360)
Committee on Trade and Environment
REPORT OF THE MEETING HELD ON 4 OCTOBER 2001
Note by the Secretariat
1. The Committee on Trade and Environment (CTE) met on 4 October 2001 under the Chairship
of Ambassador Alejandro Jara.  The agenda in WTO/AIR/1617 was adopted.
Report of the CTE for 2001
2. The CTE adopted the Report of the Committee for 2001 (WT/CTE/6) and its work
programme and schedule of meetings for 2002 (See Annex I).  The representative of Switzerland
indicated that his country attached importance to the precautionary principle, which had previously
been discussed in the CTE in relation to the submission by the European Communities (EC) on "The
European Council Resolution on the Precautionary Principle"(WT/CTE/W/181 ).  He wanted the CTE
to continue discussing this principle in order to keep up with developments in other international fora,
such as the Biosafety Protocol.  He believed that further discussions could prevent the use of
precaution in a way that would create barriers to trade.
Observer status for intergovernmental organizations
3. The Chairman indicated that a new request for observer status in the CTE had been made by a
multilateral environmental agreement (MEA), the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO).
It was agreed to postpone discussion of the requests for intergovernmental observer status pending
discussions in the General Council, including th e latest request from the ITTO (WT/CTE/COM/9).
The list of pending requests is contained in WT/CTE/W/41/Rev.8.
Item 9: The work programme envisaged in the Decision on Trade in Services and the Environment
4. The Chairman recalled that the Decision on Trade in Services and the Environment instructed
the CTE to examine and report on the relationship between services, trade and the environment,
including on whether the provisions of Article XIV of the General Agreement on Trade in Services
(GATS) required any modification.
5. The representative of Switzerland indicated that based on the guidelines for negotiation on
trade in services, adopted in March 2001 by the Council for Trade in Services, negotiations in the
services area were proceeding.  Members had not examined, however, the impact of services trade
liberalization on the environment.  At the CTE meeting of October 2000, delegations pointed out four
services sectors in which liberalization could have environmental consequences; namely, tourism,
transport, energy and environmental services.  Wi th regard to environmental services, Switzerland
said that it was generally assumed that liberalization in this sector benefited the environment.  For
tourism, transport and energy services, on the other hand, some believed that liberalization could have
adverse environmental effects.  Several studies had been conducted to better understand the nature of
this impact.  At the international level, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
(OECD) prepared a study on the benefits of trade liberalization in environmental services.  Otherorganizations, such as the World Tourism Orga nization, may have also carried out studies on
environmental impacts of services liberalization in the tourism sector.  At the national level, severalWT/CTE/M/28
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Members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) had conducted their own environmental impact
assessments.  Norway, Canada and the European Union (EU), for instance, had referred to ongoing
studies on the environmental effects of services liberalization.  Finally, several non-governmental
organizations (NGOs) had conducted interesting studies.  For example, the World Wide Fund for
Nature (WWF) had assessed the environmental effects of liberalization in tourism services.  Given thelarge body of literature which now existed on the environmental impact of services liberalization,
Switzerland requested the Secretariat to compile the results of the studies that have been conducted in
a document for the CTE.  Such a compilation would also  help the Council for Trade in Services in its
deliberations.  Switzerland questioned whether liberalization in the services area was taking place due
to further GATS commitments, or as a result of Me mbers having already liberalized their respective
services sectors and enshrined this liberalization in GATS.  If liberalization took place at the national
level, prior to being given any specific direction by GATS, then corrective environmental measureswould also be needed at the national level.  Switz erland insisted that it was important to ensure that
new GATS rules would not prevent Members from adopting appropriate environmental measures.
6. The representative of the European Communities (EC) supported the Swiss request.  He
recalled that the last substantive discussions in the services area were held in November 1998 in
relation to a Secretariat Note prepared in 1995 (WT/CTE/W/9).  This Note could usefully be updatedand combined with the Swiss request.
7. The representative of Japan supported the Swiss request.
8. The representative of the United States (US) supported the Swiss request, indicating that the
US was conducting its own review of the WTO's built-in negotiating agenda in the services area, as
per its Executive Order on environmental reviews.  The review would consider the potentiallysignificant environmental effects of services liberalization, both positive and negative.  The US
believed that services liberalization could and should proceed in a manner consistent with national
regulatory objectives.  New GATS obligations should continue to ensure the right of Members to set,
maintain and enforce high levels of protection for consumer health, safety and the environment.  In
the energy sector, the US had indicated to the GATS Committee on Specific Commitments that it wasregulating, and would continue to regulate energy services in a manner consistent with objectives of
environmental protection, the conservation of natural resources, and sustainable development.  The
US considered it important not to prejudge the results of any of the reviews that would be conducted
and looked forward to further discussions in the CTE on this item.
9. The representative of the Czech Republic supported the Swiss request.
10. The representative of Canada supported the Swiss request.  He confirmed that Canada was
indeed conducting an assessment of ongoing GATS negotiations, and recalled that the Secretariat had
itself prepared a factual Note on the different approaches used in environmental assessment
(WT/CTE/W/171).  Canada's framework for conducting environmental assessments of trade
negotiations, which outlined the process and analytical requirements for conducting environmental
assessments, linked each stage of the environmental assessment to the negotiating process.  This was
designed to make environmental assessments run parallel to the actual negotiations.  The Canadianassessment would culminate in the issuance of a report at the conclusion of the negotiations,
summarizing the outcomes.  Canada's assessment of GATS was still at an early stage, as were the
GATS negotiations themselves.  Whatever had been completed could already be shared with the
Secretariat.  Canada believed that it was important not to operate on the assumption that the
environmental impact of services negotiations would be negative;  it could also be positive.  Theobjective of environmental assessments should be to determine whether the impacts would be positive
or negative, as well as to enhance and build upon positive elements.
11. The representative of Norway also expressed his support for the Swiss proposal.WT/CTE/M/28
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12. The representative of Switzerland agreed with the EC on the need to update document
WT/CTE/W/9.
13. It was agreed that the Secretariat would respond to both the Swiss and EC requests through a
single document.
MARKET ACCESS
Item 4: The provisions of the multilateral trading sy stem with respect to the transparency of trade
measures used for environmental purposes relating to products, including standards and
technical regulations, packaging, labelling and recycling
14. The Chairman indicated that the Environmental Database (EDB) for the year 2000 had been
prepared and was contained in document WT/CTE/W/195.
15. The representative of Canada thanked the secretariat for the EDB.  He referred to paragraph
40 of this document on the Canadian Trade Policy Review (WT/TPR/S/78), which related to the
Biosafety Protocol.  He informed the Committee that this part of Canada's Trade Policy Review had
been corrected.  The EDB referred to document WT/TPR/S/78, although a corrigendum to that had
been issued (WT/TPR/S/78/Corr.1), and had changed the paragraph of the Review relating tobiosafety.  He asked the Secretariat to make a corresponding change to document WT/CTE/W/195.
As a further update, he confirmed that Canada signed the Biosafety Protocol on 19 April 2001.  In
addition, he pointed out that significant developments had taken place with respect to the issue
addressed in paragraph 43.  The first part of paragraph 43 referred to a notification under the
Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) on the introduction of an environmental assessmentprocess for food, drugs and cosmetics that are micro- organisms, cultured cells, or products derived
from "transgenic" animals or plants, under the Canadian Food and Drug Act.  The paragraph stated
that these regulations were expected to come into force in 2001.  A decision had been reached by
Canada to revise the draft environmental regulation s, and to include regulations for the environmental
assessment of chemicals and polymers.  As a result, the regulations specified in the notification neveractually came into force, and the general regu lations, already in force under the Canadian
Environmental Protection Act of 1999, remained  applicable.
Item 6: The effect of environmental measures on market access, especially in relation to
developing countries, in particular to the least developed among them, and environmental
benefits of removing trade restrictions and distortions
Sectoral analysis
Agriculture
16. The representative of Costa Rica presented a paper on the growing importance of the organic
agricultural sector for the Costa Rican economy.1  In the last fifteen years, small agricultural
producers in Costa Rica have been shifting into organic agriculture because of the high costs of
agrochemicals and their loss of effectiveness, th e health and environmental problems associated with
traditional agriculture, and their desire to capture new niche markets.  Costa Rica noted that there
were more than 4,000 organic agricultural producers in Costa Rica today, and over 9,400 hectares
devoted to organic production.  Most of organic agriculture in Costa Rica was structured in avertically integrated system, where producers, as well as indigenous communities, were organized
according to products and regions.  Costa Rica indicated that it was presently producing a vast range
of organic products such as bananas, coffee, sugar beet, mangoes, pineapples, and oranges.  Many of
these products had been exported to the US and EU.  In 1998, Costa Rica exported 84,968 tons of
                                                     
1 WT/CTE/W/202 (8 October 2001).WT/CTE/M/28
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bananas, 12,000 tons of coffee and 15,692 tons of sugar.  Costa Rica had developed legislation as well
as national standards in the field of organic agriculture, and had a rigorous system of inspection and
certification.  It hoped to be included in the near future in the list of third countries under EU
regulation 2092/91, which would enable it to substant ially increase exports to the Union.  In Costa
Rica, the Ministry of Agriculture was in charge of supporting and promoting organic agriculture and
of supervising and controlling standards and procedures established for the sector.  Three bodies were
in charge of controlling and promoting organic agriculture: the phytosanitary service of the state, the
national commission of organic agriculture, and the national programme of organic agriculture.  In
addition to these bodies, the Costa Rican Foreign Trade Corporation had developed a training
programme for producers to help them promote their products on the international market.
17. Despite the growth of this sector, problems were encountered due to the small size of
production units, geographically dispersed production, the high cost of certification, the lack ofinformation on market opportunities, and insufficient research, transfer of technology and financial
resources.  She indicated that many efforts had been undertaken at the national level to address these
problems, and that NGOs, universities, and developm ent agencies were all su pportive of this sector.
She welcomed the support given by developed countries and various international organizations.  For
instance, a project by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), onStrengthening Research and Policy-Making on Trade and Environment in Developing Countries ,
attempted to promote organic agricultural exports from the developing world.
18. The representative of Paraguay thanked Costa Rica for its document on organic agriculture,
which was relevant to the agriculture sector of many developing countries.  Paraguay agreed with the
concerns expressed by Costa Rica and emphasized the importance of designing governmental support
programmes for this sector, and for developing effective inspection and certification systems for
organic agriculture as well as marketing strategies.
19. The representative of Chile shared the concerns expressed by Costa Rica.  Chile also had a
growing organic agricultural sector (producing orga nic tea, honey and wine).  He highlighted the
important role the private sector played in the transition to organic agriculture, indicating that manyconsumers were willing to pay price premiums for organic products.  He also emphasized the
importance of greater international cooperation in this field between governmental and international
bodies such as UNCTAD, as well as c ooperation with NGOs and consumer groups.
20. The representative of the European Communitie s thanked Costa Rica for its paper.  The EC
recognized that organic agriculture was of growing importance and offered a considerable number of
economic opportunities.  The sector was a good and concrete example of the synergies that could exist
between trade, development and the environment.  He emphasized the importance of havingtransparent certification systems for organic agricultural produce so as to allow for market access, and
welcomed the growing size of this sector in the developing world.
21. The representative of India argued that when  Item 6 was put on the agenda of the CTE by
developing countries, their intention had been to increase market access for the developing world in
sectors such as agriculture and textiles, in which there had been a long history of protectionism.  Thisprotectionism prevented developing countries from obtaining, through trade, the financial resources
required for environmental protection.  However, India felt that gradually Item 6 had been narrowed
down to only those market access opportunities that c ould lead to "win-win" situations (for trade and
the environment).  While the emphasis on win-win situations was not wrong and it was a welcome
development that developing countries could export environmentally friendly goods (such as organicproducts), India stated that the original focus of this item was on granting greater market access to
developing countries in all areas of comparative advantage, since any form of trade could generate
desperately needed financial resources for environmental protection.WT/CTE/M/28
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Energy
22. The Chairman indicated that the Secretariat had prepared a new study on this sector entitled
The Environmental Benefits of Removing Trade Restrictions and Distortions: the Energy Sector
(WT/CTE/W/200).
23. The representative of the Czech Republic welcomed the Secretariat Note, highlighting the
importance of the energy sector for all countries.  He stated that the production of energy was the
greatest polluter of the environment, and that attention needed to be given to energy savings and the
use of renewable sources.  The objective of the State Environmental Policy developed by the
Czech Ministry of the Environment consisted of increasing energy supply in accordance with the
principle of sustainable development.  This required the sound use of non-renewable energy sources
and energy savings.  In this context, the Czech Republic welcomed the recent Directive by theCouncil of the European Union on the promotion of renewable sources of energy in the electricity
market.  In the energy sector, the internalization of negative environmental externalities (to do with
the environmental damage caused by acid rain, greenhouse gases, etc.) was important.  Such
internalization would reduce the competitiveness of traditional sources of energy, making renewable
sources more attractive.  He indicated that the State Programme on Energy Conservation and Use ofRenewable Sources of Energy for 2002 would be endorsed by the Czech Government in the near
future.  The main long-term objective was to increase the ratio of renewable energy use to primary
energy by 4-6 % by the year 2010.  He pointed to another problem in the development of renewable
energy; namely,  the fact that investments in energy savings and the use of renewable resources were
uneconomical and required state support.  To address this problem it was necessary to correct energyprices.
24. The representative of the European Communities welcomed the Secretariat Note, indicating
that it would provide written comments on it in future.  It found the energy sector to be particularly
challenging because of the wealth of information that existed on it.  It indicated that energy was
particularly challenging from a trade and environment point of view because of the issue of climatechange.  On the Secretariat Note, the EC indicated that many of the aggregate figures which it
contained for groups of countries hid the effects of subsidies at the grassroots level.  The elasticity of
demand for energy was also important to consider in looking at environmental effects.  On
paragraph 32 of the Note, the EC stated that th e Committee had to distinguish between good and bad
subsidies, and argued that there would be a need to carefully define subsidies.  Subsidy reform was
needed, it argued, so that energy prices could reflect their environmental cost.  It argued that the Note
would benefit from additional information on clean and renewable forms of energy.
25. The representative of the United States thanked the Secretariat for its useful paper and agreed
with the central premise of the paper that energy development and use should be environmentally and
economically sustainable.  Although the subject was very complex, overall the paper had been well
prepared.  The US would provide more detailed comments on it in future.
26. The representative of Norway thanked the Secretariat for its update of the energy section of
document WT/CTE/W/67.  Norway agreed with a number of statements made in the study.  First,
there were both good and bad subsidies;  second, subsidy reform did not equal subsidy removal;
third, subsidies had to be carefully targeted to have real environmental benefits because there was an
array of measures in the energy sector that had trade-distortive as well as environmentally harmful
effects;  and fourth, certain taxes and subsidie s were important for social and developmental
objectives (examples of such subsidies had been given in the paper).  And finally, referring to
paragraph 74 of the Note, Norway highlighted the fact that carefully formulated environmental
policies would always be necessary.
27. The representative of Canada joined the othe r delegations in thanking the Secretariat for
preparing this study which synthesised the work carried out in various fora on energy and theWT/CTE/M/28
Page 6
environment.  Canada cautioned that while the Note (paragraph 74) suggested that carbon taxes were
a useful remedy for the environmental proble ms associated with energy consumption, it was
important to bear in mind that they were not the only instrument.  Recent work by the  OECD and the
International Energy Agency (IEA) had highlighted this.
28. The representative of Egypt raised the issue of the transfer of technology as crucial for
developing countries in the energy sector.
29. The representative of India supported the Egyptian statement.  In addition, he argued that
energy consumption, as opposed to production, need ed to be given greater attention, since energy
consumption could also be environmentally harmful.
30. The observer of the OECD presented the results of a recent study conducted by the OECD on
the Environmental Effects of Liberalising Foss il Fuels Trade: Results from the OECD GREEN
Model.2  The study was initiated by the OECD Joint Working Party on Trade and Environment
(JWPTE).  It identified the price gaps in the pricing of energy in various OECD and non-OECD
countries, and simulated the effects of eliminating th ese price gaps both in the OECD and the rest of
the world.  While all the effects of government interventions could not be addressed with price gaps,
many of the important ones were captured by the study.  The environmental variable that was
modelled was carbon dioxide (CO 2), mainly because of its international interest.  The OECD used a
general equilibrium model, called the GREEN model to undertake this analysis.  The result of this
study showed that with trade liberalization there would be net reductions in global carbon emissions
and that there would be relatively small changes in welfare, i.e. less than +/- 1%.  There would also be
some shifts in the energy trade, although not huge ones overall, more in the form of a rearrangement
of trade patterns.  In some countries, where domestic prices were considerably above world prices,there would be an increase in demand through liberalization which suggested a need for
environmental measures that would prevent emissi ons from rising.  In countries where domestic
prices were lower than world prices, the expected result was a reduction in consumption.  One of the
interesting results of the study was that most of the simulated carbon emissions reductions would
result almost entirely from liberalization outsi de the OECD region.  The OECD representative
supported the statements made by several delegations on the need to distinguish between good and
bad subsidies.  However, he cautioned against the simplistic classification of subsidies into "good"
and "bad", since subsidies that were good in some situations could be bad in others.  Much of the
OECD work, whether on energy, agriculture or fisheries, tried to stay away from branding particular
subsidies as either good or bad.
31. The Chairman thanked the Secretariat on behalf of delegations for its Note, and indicated that
it would be reverted to at the next meeting.
Environmental Services
32. A representative of the Secretariat said that environmental and energy services were included
in the new round of services negotiations.  With respect to environmental services, the United States,
the European Communities, Canada, Switzerland and Australia had presented writtencommunications to the Special Session of the Council for Trade in Services.
3  These communications
were based on the assumption that increased liberalization in this sector had the potential to generate
economic gains (such as technological developments and increased availability of environmental
services), as well as to contribute to environmental protection, provided that appropriate
environmental policies and instruments were in place.  They also suggested that negotiations shouldproceed on the basis of a list of "core" environmental services, as well as a list of services that were
not environmental per se , but had been identified as having an environmental end-use (such as
                                                     
2 COM/TD/ENV(2000)38/FINAL (September 2001).
3 See documents S/CSS/W/25, -/38, -/51, -/76 and -/112.WT/CTE/M/28
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consultation, engineering, research and development).  The latter category could be included in a
checklist which might be used in the market access negotiations.  One of the main issues in
environmental services remained that of classification.  Various Members were of the view that the
current WTO classification4 was obsolete, mainly because it focused on end-of-pipe pollution control
whereas the industry was now focusing on pollution prevention.  The communication presented by theEuropean Communities proposed to revise the current classification in order to better reflect trade and
sectoral realities.  The European Communities proposed the creation of seven sub-sectors, instead of
the current four, based on the environmental media (air, water, soil, waste, noise, etc.).  The
communication presented by Switzerland was close to the EC proposal.  The United States and
Australia were in favour of a revised classification.  Canada proposed to conduct negotiations on the
basis of the existing classification.  Members continued to hold various views with respect to these
proposals.
33. Concerning energy services, this sector had not been negotiated as such during the
Uruguay Round and did not appear as  a distinct sector in the WTO Services Sectoral Classification
List.  Until recently, energy production, transportation, and distribution had been dominated by state-
owned vertically integrated enterprises.  Ther e was, however, an increasing trend towards
privatization and liberalization.  In the context of the services negotiations, the United States, Canada,Norway, the European Communities, Venezuela, Chile and Japan had presented communications on
energy services.
5  Classification was also one of the main issues in this sector and proposals ranged
from creating a new category for energy services to identifying energy-related services in the existing
Services Sectoral Classification List.  The communications referred to above also addressed
regulatory issues, including rules on transparency and pro-competitive disciplines, but underlined thatliberalization did not mean deregulation.  Most proposals stressed that liberalization in this sector
could not impair governments' ability to ensure objectives such as the protection of consumers and of
the environment, or the conservation of natural resources.  Nearly all the proponents explicitly stated
that the question of ownership of natural resources was outside the scope of the negotiations.
34. The representative of India stated that it should come as no surprise that developing countries
had not made a single proposal on environmental services, because from a developing country
perspective, the definition of environmental services was itself an unresolved issue in the GATS
Committee on Specific Commitments, and because developed countries were the main suppliers of
these services and would be the main ones to benefit from their liberalization.  He acknowledged,
however, that environmental benefits could accrue to both developed and developing
countries.  Concerning the cluster approach referred to by the Secretariat representative, these were
fine for developing countries as long as they remained only guidelines.  A problem would arise ifdeveloping countries making commitments in one sub-sector had to make commitments in other
related sub-sectors, because they formed part of the cluster.
LINKAGES BETWEEN THE MULTILATERAL ENVIRONMENTAL AND TRADE AGENDAS
Items 1 and 5: The relationship between the provisions of the multilateral trading system and trade
measures for environmental purposes, including those pursuant to MEAs;  and the
relationship between the dispute settlement  mechanisms in the multilateral trading
system and those found in MEAs
35. A representative from the  United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) updated the CTE
on UNEP's work on trade and environment.  He indicated that UNEP had developed three central
elements to its work programme including:  e nhancing mutual supportiveness between MEAs and the
WTO;  assessing the environmental benefits of trade-related policies and capacity-building on the
                                                     
4 Services Sectoral Classification List (MTN.GNS/W/120):  (A) Sewage services;  (B) Refuse disposal
services;  (C) Sanitation and similar services;  (D) Other environmental services .
5 See documents S/CSS/W/24, -/58, -/59, -/60, -/69 + Add.1, -/88 and -/42/Suppl.3.WT/CTE/M/28
Page 8
trade and environment policy interface.  He indicated that at the WTO's Fourth
Ministerial Conference, UNEP would present the results of its work on environmental assessment at a
side event, which would take place on the morn ing of 11 November.  Moreover, a second synthesis
report on the outputs of five meetings on the WTO-MEA relationship, which UNEP had organized
since June 1999, would also be released in advance of the Ministerial Conference.  The documentwould outline next steps in the enhancement of sy nergies between the WTO and MEAs.  Prior to the
first CTE meeting in 2002, UNEP announced that it would hold a second workshop on Subsidies and
Sustainable Fisheries Management.  It would cont inue to complement the work of the CTE, and
participate in the WTO's regional seminars on trade and the environment.
Item 8: The relevant provisions of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property 
Rights
36. The representative of Brazil updated the CTE on two events which had recently taken place of
relevance to Item 8:  (i) an event co-sponsored by the Brazilian government and the EC on The
Protection of Biodiversity, Traditional Knowledge and Intellectual Property , which took place in
Brazil from 9-11 September 2001;  (ii) a semina r organized by UNCTAD and the Foundation for
International Environmental Law and Development (FIELD) on Strengthening Research and Policy-
Making Capacity on Trade and Envi ronment in Developing Countries , which took place in Tanzania
from 4-6 April 2001.  In Brazil, fruitful discussions were held on how developing countries could
grant access to their genetic resources in a sustainable manner and in fulfilment of their development
objectives.  It was noted that patents could be an important tool in promoting sustainable access to
genetic resources.  However, the meeting highlighted the importance of ensuring that the Agreement
on Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights (T RIPS) and the Convention on Biological Diversity
(CBD) were implemented in a mutually supportive fashion.  While the CBD refered to the
TRIPS Agreement, the TRIPS Agreement made no similar reference to the CBD.  The meeting
indicated that certain elements of the CBD needed to be incorporated in Article 27.3(b) of the
TRIPS Agreement.
37. In Tanzania, a working group on biodiversity held discussions on issues relevant to Item 8.
The working group emphasized the need to maintain the existing flexibility in Article 27.3(b), but
indicated that the Article should to be adapted to developmental and environmental needs.  It noted
that there was ambiguity in some of the terms used in the Article (such as the term
"micro-organisms") which had to be addressed.  It drew attention to the importance of protecting
traditional knowledge and preventing biopiracy, as well as cooperating at the international level on
these issues.
38. The representative of India expressed his country's hope that Ministers at the WTO's Fourth
Ministerial Conference would give some direction to the CTE and the TRIPS Council in this area.WT/CTE/M/28
Page 9
ANNEX I
Work Programme and Schedule of Meetings for 2002
1. The 2001 Report of the Committee on Trade and Environment (WT/CTE/6) sets out that the
CTE will continue to analyse all the items on its work programme based on the "cluster approach"
under the themes of market access and the linkages between the multilateral environmental and trade
agendas.  Building on the contribution of Members, including where possible their national
experience, on the items of the work programme, the following tentative schedule of meetings is
proposed.  At each meeting, time will be allotted for Members, if they so wish, to return to itemsdiscussed at the previous meeting, and to raise other issues of relevance to the fulfilment of the
Committee's mandate.
2. At a meeting to be held on 21-22 March, the Committee will address those items relevant to
the theme of market access, including:
Item 2: the relationship between environmental policies relevant to trade and environmental
measures with significant trade effects and the provisions of the multilateral trading
system;
Item 3: the relationship between the provisions of the multilateral trading system and:
(a) charges and taxes for environmental purposes;
(b) requirements for environmental purp oses relating to products, including
standards and technical regulations, packaging, labelling and recycling;
Item 4: the provisions of the multilateral trading system with respect to the transparency of
trade measures used for environmental purposes and environmental measures and
requirements which have significant trade effects;  and
Item 6: the effect of environmental measures on market access, especially in relation to
developing countries, in particular to the least developed among them, andenvironmental benefits of removing trade restrictions and distortions.
3. On 12-13 June, the CTE will meet to discuss the items related to the linkages between the
multilateral environmental and trade agendas, including:
MEA Information Session;
Item 1: the relationship between the provisions of the multilateral trading system and trade
measures for environmental purposes, including those pursuant to multilateral
environmental agreements;
Item 5: the relationship between the dispute settlement mechanisms in the multilateral trading
system and those found in multilateral environmental agreements;
Item 7: the issue of exports of domestically prohibited goods;  and
Item 8: the relevant provisions of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual
Property Rights.
4. Discussions at the CTE meetin g on 9-10 October will include:
Item 9: the work programme envisaged in the Decision on Trade in Services and the
Environment;
Item 10: input to the relevant bodies in respect of appropriate arrangements for relations with
intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations referred to in Article V of the
WTO;
Review of the two thematic clusters of market access (Items 2, 3, 4 and 6) and the linkages between
the multilateral environmental and trade agendas (Items 1, 5, 7 and 8);  and adoption of the 2002
Report.
__________