WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/CTE/GEN/9
TN/MA/7
21 February 2003
(03-1119)
Committee on Trade and Environment
Negotiating Group on Market AccessOriginal:  English
ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECTS OF THE NEGOTIATIONS ON MARKET ACCESS
Statement by Mrs. Carmen Luz Guarda1 at the Regular Session
of the Committee on Trade and Environment of 14 February 2003
Paragraph 51
A. INTRODUCTION
1. As all Members are aware, the Negotiating Group on Market Access started its work with
some delay due to procedural questions which were only resolved in July 2002.  Since then the Group
has met four times and has held very substantive discussions.
2. Concerning the subject of environmental goods, the Negotiating Group took note of the broad
support in the CTE Special Session for the idea that negotiations on environmental goods, as foreseen
in paragraph 31(iii) of the Doha Declaration, be conducted in the Negotiating Group on Market
Access for Non-Agricultural Products.  This is refl ected in Ambassador Biké's first report to the TNC
contained in document TN/TE/1.  As a result this topic has been discussed in the Group's last fourmeetings and many references are made to it in participant's submissions.  Following are some of the
issues raised in the Negotiating Group.
1. Treatment of environmental goods
3. One rather basic issue to be raised concerns the treatment of environmental goods.  Some
participants are of the view that environmental g oods should not be the subject of special treatment
i.e. they should be treated in the same manner as other goods and subject to the same modalities.
However, some other participants view paragraph 31(iii) of the Doha Declaration as providing forspecial treatment to environmental goods in the form of, for example, deeper cuts.
2. Definition of environmental goods
4. Different suggestions have been put forward regarding the criteria to be used for defining
environmental goods. Among participants who have spoken on the subject, a few support using the
criteria of production and process methods.  Many other delegations favour the end-use criteria forsuch a definitional exercise.  One delegation made a reference to an approach aimed at promoting
trade in environmentally friendly goods in a manner which was voluntary, market based and WTO
compatible.
5. However, it should be noted that while some participants have supported the need to define
environmental goods, others have expressed the view that a definitional exercise is not required at thisstage.  According to them, for the moment priority should be given to reaching agreement on the
modalities for the reduction of tariffs on all goods.  Following completion of this exercise, the Group
could evaluate whether additional reductions were necessary on environmental goods.
                                                     
1 Director of the WTO Market Access Division.WT/CTE/GEN/9
TN/MA/7
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3. Who will benefit from cuts in environmental products?
6. A point made by certain participants has been that liberalisation in this sector could result in a
win-win-win situation for trade, the environment an d development.  However, the point has also been
made that given the high technological content of such products, one had to avoid the situation of thereal benefits going only to the more advanced Members.  The question of easier access to
environmental technology has also been raised.
4. Internal coordination
7. On a practical level, coordination between the CTE Special Session and the Negotiating
Group on Market Access has been good.  At the latter meeting of 12-13 September 2002, the
Negotiating Group agreed that: 1) the Chairman, on a more formalized basis, would keep the
Chairperson of the CTE Special Session informed of the ongoing discussions in the NegotiatingGroup concerning environmental goods.  The Chairman in turn would report to the Negotiating Group
any information of relevance provided to him by the Chairperson of the CTE Special Session; and
2) papers relating to environmental issues submitted in the Negotiating Group on Market Access were
also to be submitted to the CTE Special Session to enhance transparency.
8. However, within the Group there is some divergence of opinions as to which of the
Negotiating Groups should undertake the definitional exercise, if at all.  While some participants feel
that the CTE Special Session would be the appropriate body or the best equipped for such an exercise,
others feel that such an exercise should take place in the Negotiating Group on Market Access.
9. An additional issue raised in the Group rela tes to how agricultural environmental goods
should be treated
B. W
ORK DONE
10. Looking at the work done, many participants have in their submissions set out their views on
the subject of negotiations on environmental goods.  The most recent submission was from the State
of Qatar entitled "Negotiations on Environmental Goods: Efficient, Lower-Carbon and Pollutant-
Emitting Fuels and Technologies".
11. A document has been circulated in TN/MA/6 which presents an "Overview of Proposals
Submitted".  However, this document does not address the topic of environmental goods.  It was felt
that given the preliminary nature of  the discussion s in the Group on this subject, such an overview at
this time would be too premature.  However, the expe ctation is to do such an overview at a later stage.
12. The Group as such has begun some initial work  in this area.  For example, following a
proposal by the Chairman, the Group agreed that the Secretariat circulate the OECD and APEC list of
environmental goods (TN/MA/S/7).  While some participants considered these lists a good starting-point for discussions on environmental goods, others stated that these lists were contributions or
useful inputs, but could not be used as the basis for discussions on environmental goods.
13. Japan also circulated a list of environmental goods which is based on the OECD list with
some additions and deductions.  At the request of the Group, the Secretariat  generated trade statistics
on Japan's list of environmental goods in order to give an indication of the trade flows on theseproducts.  These data were circulated in TN/MA/S/8 and more detailed statistics have been posted on
Members' website.  However, I have to raise a note of caution regarding these statistics.  Japan's list of
environmental products were identified by a large number of ex-out HS 6-digit tariff lines.  However,
the Secretariat could only generate statistics at a six-digit HS tariff line level and could not be product
specific.  So the statistics for many of these products are inflated.WT/CTE/GEN/9
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14. In addition at the meeting of the Group on 4-5 November 2002, the Chairman encouraged
participants to submit their illustrative lists of environmental goods following the example of Japan.
But to date no other list has been received.
C. FINAL REMARKS
15. The Negotiating Group on Market Access is scheduled to meet on 19-21 February at which
time the subject of environmental goods will be addressed.  The expectation is to have a more
focussed discussion on many of the issues before the Group including those relating to such products.
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