. /.WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/CTE/W/155
7 July 2000
(00-2800)
Committee on Trade and Environment Original:  English
UNEP STATEMENT AT THE INFORMATION SESSION WITH MULTILATERAL
ENVIRONMENTAL AGREEMENTS (MEAS)
5 JULY 2000
Communication from UNEP
1. UNEP welcomes this MEA Information Session w ith WTO Members, as well as the planned
MEA Information Session on 24 October, and commends the WTO for making these sessions a
regular event.  We are convinced that the information exchange and informal cooperation built around
these sessions will enhance synergies between these legal regimes.  However, we are also convinced
of the need to deepen this collaboration, so as to contribute to a smooth evolution and development of
these bodies of international law.
2. UNEP places great emphasis on promoting a positive relationship between MEAs and the
WTO, particularly as trade-related issues are increasingly relevant to MEAs.  The transboundary and
global interface of trade and environmental policies is growing, therefore promoting trade, protecting
the global environment and realizing sustainable development requires a renewed commitment to
international cooperation.  Cooperation has many benefits, including:  ensuring that MEAs areimplemented effectively;  reducing pressure on the WTO’s dispute settlement system;  and
guaranteeing that Member countries gain the most from trade liberalization and environmental
protection.
3. Since the last CTE Information Session with MEAs, and the agreed elements of cooperation
between WTO and UNEP, drawn up last December between UNEP, the UNEP-administered
Conventions and the WTO Secretariat have increased their joint activities and analysis focused on the
MEA-WTO interface.
4. Informal meetings between MEAs, UNEP and WTO secretariats have been held in April and
July 2000, in addition to the one that was held in June 1999.
5. UNEP and the MEAs continue to participate in WTO regional seminars on trade and
environment – UNEP, the Basel Convention and the Mediterranean Blue Plan were present in the
WTO Regional Seminar on Trade and Environment held in Malta in May 2000.  UNEP and theBasel Convention will again be represented at the Gabon regional seminar in July 2000.
6. Dr. Töpfer, the Executive Director of UNEP, hosted a high-level panel discussion, which
included senior representatives from UNEP-administered MEAs, the WTO Secretariat and
environment ministers at the Eighth Session of  the Commission on Sustainable Development in
April 2000 in New York.  This panel explored the WTO-MEA relationship in an open, frank andconstructive manner, providing further insights into this complex relationship.
7. These activities will feed into the longer-range goals of better integrating trade and
environment policies, reducing tensions and expl oiting the synergies between them.  These are
important preliminary steps to enhancing the mutual  supportiveness of the legal regimes of the WTO
and MEAs, but more needs to be done.WT/CTE/W/155
Page 2
8. Recent international meetings have called for re newed efforts to increase cooperation on the
trade and environment interface.  The eighth session of the Commission on Sustainable Development
identified priority areas for future work.  These are making trade and environment policies mutually
supportive, and undertaking system-wide efforts to strengthen institutional cooperation, build capacity
and promote trade and environment partnerships.  Similarly, the Global Ministerial Environment
Forum in Malmö, Sweden in May 2000 identifi ed strengthening cooperation on trade and
environment issues as a priority.  Enhanced collaboration between the WTO, MEAs and UNEP will
also help governments to prepare for the ten-year  review of the implementation of Rio Earth Summit
agreements in 2002.
9. Granting MEAs and UNEP observer status in relevant WTO bodies will undoubtedly
facilitate the inter-agency information exchange, which must underpin such cooperation.  There are
pending requests for the Convention on Biological Diversity to become an observer to the TRIPsCouncil and the Committee on Agriculture, and for UNEP to be admitted as an observer to the TRIPs
Council, the General Council, and the Committee on Trade and Development.  We hope that these
requests will soon be granted, in order to enhance information flows and deepen collaboration.
10. UNEP and a number of MEA Secretariats met on 4 July 2000 to jointly plan activities to
contribute to these short and long-term goals.  The meeting was attended by four UNEP-administeredconventions, which were later joined by colleagues from the WTO Secretariat.  Discussions between
UNEP and the MEAs revealed the need to move into a more proactive phase of cooperation with the
WTO.  As a result of that meeting it was agreed by UNEP and the MEAs to initiate a process to do
this.
11. Consequently, UNEP wishes to invite interested delegations, as well as the Chair of the CTE,
to an informal UNEP and MEA-sponsored meeting to be convened in late September or early
October 2000 to examine trade and environment synergies and potential tensions.  The goal of the
meeting will be to initiate a process whereby the MEAs and UNEP identify measures to increase
those synergies and decrease tensions.  Throughout this process UNEP and the MEAs will remain in
close consultation with the WTO Secretariat and interested governments.
12. UNEP believes that such a process will serve to support the objectives of the WTO, MEAs
and UNEP, and enhance their mutual supportiv eness.  UNEP looks forward to working with
governments, the WTO and other relevant institutions to help achieve this overarching goal.
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