INF/TE/IDP/RD/2 9 
 
29 March  2022 
(22-2584) Page: 1/5 
  Original: English  
 
 
UNOFFICIAL ROOM DOCUMENT1 
 
INFORMAL DIALOGUE ON PLASTICS POLLUTION AND ENVIRONMENTALLY SUSTAINABLE 
PLASTICS TRADE  
WORKSTREAM S MEETING HELD ON 18  MARCH 2022  
Aide Memoire  by the Facilitator s2 
_______________  
 
 
1. The first of four workstream s meetings of the Informal Dialogue on Plastics Pollution and 
Environmentally Sustainable Plastics Trade (IDP) planned for 2022  was held on 18 March  2021.  The 
session titled “Starting the Conversation - the IDP in 2022” was co -chaired by IDP workstream s 
facilitators  – the United Kingdom , the Philippines, and Colombia . The session was held in hybrid 
format through Zoom and brought over 100 participants online  and about 30 in person.  
2. The session was organized as a workshop focused on technical presentations from invited 
stakeholders from international organizations, civil society, academia and the private sector . As had 
been informed prior to  the meeting, the floor was opened for interventions and reactions by other 
stakeholders, but not delegations.  
1  INTRODUCTORY REMARKS BY COORDINATORS  
3. Australia  welcomed participants and inform ed that the IDP Ministerial Statement  
WT/MIN(21)/8/Rev.2, launched in December 2021 , was currently supported by 70 WTO Members 
and welcomed Angola, Bolivia and the Maldives who had recently joined as co-sponsors . The IDP 
had also agreed on a work plan to structure its efforts in 2022 towards implementing t he Ministerial  
Statement. T he workstream s sessio n marked the first step in this direction and  preceded a plenary 
meeting scheduled for 30 March. Both IDP's work plan and Ministerial Statement recognised the 
need to  collaborate closely with a broad list of stakeholders, including international organizati ons, 
civil society, NGOs, private sector, and academia.  
4. Ecuador briefly introduced the three workstreams  set up by the work plan  and their respective 
facilitators : Workstream on cross-cutting issues  (facilitated by Fiji, the UK and China ) looked at  
capacity building and technical assistance , fostering international cooperation on transparency and 
data, and collaboration with international institutions ; Workstream on  promoting trade to tackle 
plastic pollution (facilitated by Australia and the Philippines ) looked at environmentally sustainable 
waste management technologies , environmentally sustainable and effective substitutes and 
alternatives , reused and recycled plastics, including by incentivizing increased reuse and recycling 
of plastics  and technologies for environmentally sustainable and effective substitutes and 
alternatives ; and  Workstream on  circularity and reduction to tackle plastic pollution  (facilitated by 
Colombia and Ecuador ) looked at how  trade -related cooperation could help t o support efforts to 
 
1 Documents issued in the RD series are not official WTO documents. They usually appear in their 
language of submission and will not be translated systematically into the working languages of the WTO. They 
are intended for use in WTO meeting rooms and are a ttributed an unofficial symbol for archiving purposes only.  
2 This aide memoire  is being shared to provide delegations with a brief overview  of the discussions and 
assist t hem in reporting back to their capitals  as well as to the IDP plenary meeting . It provides a non -exhaustive, 
illustrative review of the issues addressed by Members at the meeting.  INF/TE/IDP/RD/2 9 
 
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  reduce unnecessary or harmful plastics and plastic products, including single -use plastics and plastic 
packaging associated with international trade , and sharing experiences of effective approaches to 
move towards more circular resourc e-efficient and environmentally sustainable plastics trade.  
5. China shared its views on the work of the Workstream on cross-cutting issues by underscoring 
the importance of trade -related capacity building and technical assistance (TA) to support least 
develo ped countries (LDCs) and small island developing states (SIDS). The WTO and the IDP were 
a global platform seeking to address transboundary challenges through trade. Therefore, IDP was 
of relevance to all the present Members and invited stakeholders and could demonstrate WTO's 
relevance in addressing pressing contemporary global challenges.  
2  SUMMARY OF PRESENTATIONS BY INVITED STAKEHOLDERS  
6. Ms. Brenda Koekkoek, Programme Manager, at UNEP provided  an u pdate on 
the 5th UN Environment  Assembly (UNEA -5) and the launch of negotiations on a global agreement 
on plastic pollution .3 4 The UNEA -5 adopted a resolution on 2  March  2022 establishing an 
Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC). The INC w ould work from the second half of 2022 
to 2024 on forging a legally binding global agreement to end plastic pollution addressing the full 
lifecycle of plastics, including its production, design, and disposal , including in the marine 
environment . UNEP w ould convene an ad hoc open -ended working group (OEWG)  in May/June  2022 
to prepare for the work of the INC.  The UNEA -5 resolution gave  guidance on what  elements  the INC 
should consider, including , inter alia , the promot ion of sustainable production and consumption of 
plastics  (including  product design; enviro nmentally  sound waste management  and through  resource 
efficiency and circular economy approaches ); technical and capacity means of implementation ; 
finance mechanism to support the implementation ; dedicated multilateral fund ; data, monitoring 
and reporting ; compliance ; National Action Plans  as well as  scientific and socio -economic information 
and assessment . She underscored that IDP's Ministerial Statement had sent an important political 
message and called for the continuation of this effort. UNEP urged IDP to reflect on how to further 
engage in the UNEA negotiating process.  
7. Ms. Diana Barrowclough, Senior Eco nomist , Mr. David Jose Vivas Eugui, Legal Officer and 
Mr Henrqique Pacini, Economic Affairs Officer , from the United Nations Conference on Trade and 
Development ( UNCTAD ) presented on  "Trade flows, plastics substitutes and UNCTAD’s TA on plastic 
pollution ( SMEP and the Oceans Forum) ."5 Trade in plastics accounted for over USD 1 trillion per 
year and 344 MM tons which were at least 40% more than previous estimates.  Trade accounted for 
a major share of  all plastic produced.  At the same time,  70% of all plasti cs produced ended up as 
waste which was  a recognized problem by  the IDP Ministerial Statement  and by the 
UNEA  5.2 resolution.  Finance was an important part in terms of responding and promoting changes  
such as substitutes  in the plastic sector. UNCTAD investigated financial flows into the petrochemical 
industries and looked at the importance of global treaties . The findings revealed that the Paris 
Agreement  was helping to contribute  to a reduction of finance  for petrochemi cals, especially in state 
finance . However , the covid -19 pandemic  turned things around very dramatically because  of surplus 
funds. UNCTAD identified potential areas for further research to support the IDP process including : 
expanding a list and analysis of  plastic substitutes, including HS codes and related life -cycle analysis; 
producing an illustrative list of plastic alternatives; analysing production, trade flows and 
employment  related to plastic substitutes and alternatives ; proposing a list of  environm ental services 
and policies contributing  tackling plastic pollution  and identifying financial and industrial policies 
currently  supporting the status quo as well as policies  to support  the new sustainable changes 
needed.  
8. Dr Shardul Agrawala, Head of Environment and Economy Integration Division of Organisation 
for Economic Co -operation ( OECD ) presented the OECD Global Plastic  Outlook .6 The study was  a 
comprehensive  mapping of the lifecycle of plastics globally  and gave d etailed insights on leakage to 
land, water and air. It was a n ovel analysis of the effects of the COVID -19 pandemic  and a n ovel 
empirical analysis of plastics innovation. It included d omestic plastics policy landscape covering 
50 countries  as well the f irst quantification of global costs to halt leakage.  The research had found 
 
3 All presentations and interventions can be found in the IDP WTO Website: 
 https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/ppesp_e/ppesp_e.htm . 
4 See INF/TE/IDP/RD/16 . 
5 See INF/TE/IDP/RD/25 . 
6 See INF/TE/IDP/RD/17 . INF/TE/IDP/RD/2 9 
 
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  that pl astics production had more than doubled between 2000 and 2019, soaring to 460 Mt . Global 
annual plastic waste ha d also more than doubled from 156 Mt in 2000 to 353 Mt in 2019 and  almost 
two-thirds of it was from applications with lifespans of less than five years . The Global Plastics 
Outlook  had identified four critical levers for “bending the plastic curve”  which included bolstering  
recycled (secondary)  plastics markets, technological innovation for more circular plastics value 
chains, greater international co -operation and more coherent and ambitious domestic policy 
measures . 
9. Ms. Claire Delpeuch, Head of Unit, Fisheries & Aquaculture, OECD presented the  Ghost Gear 
Study .7 The report found that trade and trade policy could contribute to addressing the issue of 
ghost gear. Trade c ould enable the efficient allocation of end-of-life fishing gear by facilitating the 
movement of material to markets with a comparative advantage in waste processing while also 
allowing for efficient production and trade of gear with the best design . Trade policy could  in turn 
facilitate the trade of less harmful plastics and substitutes and dis -incentivize (or even forbid) trade 
in the most harmful  plastics . Information and awareness -raising concerning end -of-life challenges 
were important, such that issues related to the trade of recyclable components were addressed at 
the design stage . Furthermore,  harmonization or joint development of trade polic y, regulation, and 
product standards c ould also bolster trade’s role  in tackling this issue.  
10. Ms. Kei Ohno -Woodall, Programme Officer, B asel Rotterdam Stockholm (BRS) Conventions 
Secretariat presented plastic work to implement the BRS Conventions .8 In 2019,  the Basel  
Convention Conference of  the Parties (CoP) had adopted an amendment relating to plastic waste. 
The amendment had modified Annex es II, VIII and IX of the Convention  to clarify which plastic 
waste was su bject to Prior Inform ed Consent (PIC) Procedure  and to ensure that only recyclable 
plastics  could be traded without such procedure. She noted  that about 3377  chemicals were 
potentially associated with plastics ( 148 considered most hazardous) , some of which were persistent 
organic pollutants (POPs) listed in the Stockholm Convention  for elimination or restriction . Plastics 
contained  five main types of additives ( functional, colorants, fillers, reinforcements and NIAS – 
chemicals which arrived at the products as pa rt of processes or breakdown) . A new project was 
underway in 2022 to map the global governance of substances  of concern in plastics and how the 
new global agreement could support addressing these health concerns . The BRS Secretariat had just 
submitted a proposal  to the World Customs Organization (WCO)  for amending some relevant HS 
codes to facilitate the implementation of the plastic waste amendment. She also presented a number 
of specific technical assistance programmes the BRS was currently involved in. The BRS Secretariat 
expressed its readiness to cooperate with the IDP towards addressing plastic pollution and to 
continue bridging gaps between the trade and environment communities , which included better 
coordination between delegates covering BRS and WTO topics respectively.  
11. Ms. Gael Grooby, Deputy Director of Tariff and Trade Affairs Directorate  at the World Customs 
Organization ( WCO) made  a presen tation on the role of the WCO in enabling the better identification 
of plastics in the HS and in supporting the implementation of environmental policies by Customs 
Administrations .9 She briefed participants about some challenges related to the HS codes an d 
developing more granular definitions for plastics products. Using  the definition of biodegradable  
plastics  as an example, she noted that in the absence of an existing agreed global definition  and 
technical chall enges (e.g. would only 100% degradation cou nt? Would only non -industrial 
composting be acceptable?) , any such provision would probably need to include a legally binding 
Note to define what was meant by biodegradable plastics agreeable to Contracting Parties.  She also 
noted definitions had to be tec hnically verifiable and enforceable at the border, which  for plastics 
would require effective and efficient technologies.  For plastics biodegradability it usually involved 
controlled environments and 28 days  to six months. She noted the implications of HS reform  – which 
usually took multiple years - for tax collection and statistical data, noting plastics packaging was one 
of the largest areas of hidden plastics in the HS.  She noted that for the next reform – HS 2027 – 
there we re only a few meetings of the relevant committees left, who should finalise their work by 
March 2024. Still, she stressed useful changes could be made  and that WCO work on plastic was not 
restricted to the HS.  She informed about the Asia -Pacific Plastic Wa ste Project (APPW ) and Statement 
aimed at strengthening the capacity of selected Customs Administrations to mitigate and 
appropriately respond to environmental threats in the Asia -Pacific region, with a focus on the 
 
7 See INF/TE/IDP/RD/18 . 
8 See INF/TE/IDP/RD/19 . 
9 See INF/TE/IDP/RD/20 . INF/TE/IDP/RD/2 9 
 
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  implementation of the Basel Convention, and specifically on matters related to plastic waste and the 
illegal shipment thereof.   
12. Ms. Carolyn Deere Birkbeck, Director, Forum on Trade, Environment and the SDGs (TESS)  
and Mahesh Sugathan , Senior Research Fellow, TESS presented on the topic of trade flows 
transparency10 and possibilities for Aid for Trade .11 The presentation noted that t rade-related 
cooperation on plastic pollution would require reliable and relevant trade data across the full lifecycle 
of plastics. Ms. Birkbeck identified  some shortcomings of the existing HS classification concerning 
information needs for tackling plasti c pollution, which included  (i) insufficient differentiation of 
primary plastics by polymer type and by feedstock (e.g. fossil fuel feedstocks, bio -based feedstocks, 
and recycled feedstocks) ; (ii) insufficient differentiation of POPs and other harmful chem ical 
additives; (iii) gaps in the scope of products that are classified as plastics; (iv) varying detail on the 
share of plastics embedded in products ; (v) inadequate information on the material composition of 
plastic products and waste, including polymer types and the presence of harmful chemical 
substances of high environmental and health concern ; (vi) failure to capture plastic packaging that 
is an integral part of other traded products; and (vii) inadequate classifications of plastic waste 
(including poor alignment with Basel Convention amendments) . Next, Mr. Mahesh Sugathan  gave 
initial suggestions for Aid for Trade discussions in the IDP, which included , inter alia , integration of 
priorities related to trade -dimensions of plastic pollution and environmentally sustainable plastics 
trade in the next work programme of the A4T Initiative; thematic events on plastic pollution in the 
Aid for Trade Global Review; specific technical assistance and training initiatives by the WTO 
Secretariat on legislati ve and regulatory aspects of trade and plastic pollution;  and e nhance d 
technical assistance for customs authorities in regard cross -border flows of plastics and plastic waste, 
including for implementation  
13. Mr. Carsten Wachholz, Senior  Policy Manager, Ellen  MacArthur Foundation spoke  about the 
role of trade policies in the transition to a circular economy for plastics .12 The new plastics economy  
was supported by 1000+  organi zations and  based on  a 6-pronged vision : i) elimination of 
unnecessary or problematic plastic packaging ; ii) application of reuse models;  iii) 100% of plastic 
packaging is re usable, recyclable or compostable by design; iv) as well as in practice; v)  plastic use 
if fully decoupled from consumption o f finite resources; and vi) plastic packaging is free of hazardous 
chemicals.  The 2021 Global Commitment Report had provided three  key findings:  virgin plastic use 
seemed to have peaked for signatories of the commitment; much more focus had to be put on 
single-use plastics; and  voluntary pledges alone would not be enough.  His presentation then noted  
that policymakers should promote circular outcomes by establishing design standards to reflect and 
stimulate the upstream considerations for a circular economy;  shifting market incentives to make 
the economics work at scale and facilitating the necessary investments; and  catalysing collective 
industry action recognizing that individual circular solutions offered by leading companies will alone 
not achieve a system change.  
14. After the presentations, t he floor was  opened to three  other stakeholders - the International 
Institu te for Sustainable Development (IISD)13, the Center for International Environmental Law 
(CIEL)14 and the Quaker United Nations Office (QUNO ).15 IISD noted that  UNEA 5.2 sent a clear 
signal encouraging international organizations to join forces around the c ommon goal in the fight 
against global plastics pollution. There was a substantial role for WTO Members and IDP to play  in 
bringing more clarity about plastics trade and taking necessary measures to impact the international 
trade flows and shape global mar kets for the plastic -less future.  CIEL inform ed that it was developing 
a paper, which it would circulate to all IDP Members and stakeholders, and which aim ed to (i) clarify 
the concept of circular economy and (ii) provide guidance on how - and if - policymakers could apply 
it to plastics , with the proper precautions and true focus on sustainable outcomes . Finally, QUNO  
noted the importance of addressing the tr ade-related capacity building and technical assistance 
needs of developing members , but also to implement national policy mechanisms that are informed 
by human rights impact assessments, and involving full participation – throughout the planning, 
decision -making, and implementation process – of affected sectors and impacted communities , 
 
10 See INF/TE/IDP/RD/21 .  
11 See INF/TE/IDP/RD/22 .  
12 See INF/TE/IDP/RD/23 . 
13 See INF/TE/IDP/RD/27.  
14 See INF/TE/IDP/RD/24 . 
15 See INF/TE/IDP/RD/ 28. INF/TE/IDP/RD/2 9 
 
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  including gender gaps. QU NO offered its support as a trusted presence at the multi -lateral level  to 
facilitate IDP discussions on difficult issues.  
3  NEXT STEPS  
15. Facilitators of the workstreams w ould report the discussions to the first IDP plenary meeting 
which w ould take place on 30 March 2022. Three more plenary meetings were tentatively scheduled 
for the following dates: 25 May, 6 October, and 7 December 2022 . 
 
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