INF/TE/SSD/R/3  
 
28 July 2021  
(21-5861) Page: 1/4 
Trade and Environmental Sustainability Structured 
Discussions  Original: English  
 
WTO TRADE AND ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY STRUCTURED DISCUSSIONS  
MEETING HELD ON 19 JULY 2021  
Informal Summary by the Coordinators1 
The third plenary meeting of the Trade and Environmental Sustainability Structured Discussions 
(TESSD) was held on 19 July 2021. The meeting was chaired by the TESSD Coordinators, Ms  Ana 
Lizano (Costa Rica) and Mr  Carlos Vanderloo (Canada) . The agenda for the meeting was contained 
in WTO document INF/TE/ SSD/CN/ 3/Rev.1 , circulated on 13 July  2021. In keeping with TESSD's 
open, transparent and inclusive approach, all WTO Members had been invited to attend the meeting.  
1  INTRODUCTORY REMARKS BY THE COORDINATORS  
1.1.  The Coordinator s recalled the purpose of the meeting, which was to hear the views and 
perspectives of Members on the draft elements paper for a TESSD Ministerial Statement , which had 
been circulated by the TESSD Coordinators in advance of the meeting  and w as contained in 
document INF/TE/SSD/W/14 . The meeting was not intended to be a drafting session.  Nonetheless , 
it would be important to understand from Members if and how the draft elements paper might fulfil 
TESSD's first expected outcome, which would cons ist of a Ministerial Statement on trade and 
environmental sustainability for MC12. The draft elements paper was a  preliminary attempt by the 
Coordinators to include different issues and priorities that Members had identified orally during 
meetings or in writing. The discussion would serve to assess if the draft elements paper was on the 
right track in terms of the parameters that needed to be mentioned in a Ministerial Statement. The 
discussion would provide a clearer picture on the way forward. The Co ordinators encouraged 
Members to be pragmatic and realistic considering the short time remaining until MC12.  
1.2.  The Coordinator s underscored  the value they attached to the participation of stakeholders in 
TESSD meetings. Stakeholder participation was at the c ore of what TESSD was about. TESSD 
participants had already benefitted significantly from stakeholders' expertise on many of the 
cross-cutting and multi -faceted issues that TESSD was  seeking to address. For this meeting, the 
views of stakeholders would hel p inform Members' discussions on what to include in a Ministerial 
Statement . 
2  STAKEHOLDER VIEWS AND PERSPECTIVES  
2.1.  Stakeholder  representatives welcomed the opportunity to provide views and perspectives on 
the draft elements paper  and underscored the value of multi-stakeholder collaboration within TES SD. 
They also welcomed the recognition in the draft elements paper of the contribution of stakeholders 
to TESSD work  and stated their willingness to continue collaborating with TESSD participants.  
2.2.  It was noted that an MC12 Ministerial Statement was an opportunity to rebuild trade after the 
pandemic  and to make it more resilient and sustainable. In this regard, WTO work was fully aligned 
with efforts across the international system to promote coheren t global governance frameworks to 
achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and to make trade greener, cleaner and more equitable.  
Stakeholders welcomed the recognition in the draft elements paper of the scale of global 
 
1 This summary, prepared and circulated under the Coordinators' responsibility, is being shared with a 
view to providing delegations with a record of the discussions and assisting them in reporting back to their 
capitals. It provides a non -exhaustive, illus trative review of the issues addressed by Members at the meeting.  INF/TE/SSD/R/3  
 
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  environmental challenges and the need for an inclusive agenda that reflect ed the circumstances and 
priorities of developing countries.  In this regard, it would be imp ortant to craft the Ministerial 
Statement in ways that would attract co -sponsors from the widest possible cross -section of the WTO 
membership  while provid ing different opportunities for stakeholder s from around the world to  
engage . Some stakeholder represe ntatives noted the need for flexible approaches to allow WTO 
Members to work on issues at different speeds and modalities, including through enhanced dialogue 
and "soft -law" approaches such as voluntary policy coordination.  TESSD also had an important role  
to play in reinforcing multilateral discussions in WTO bodies with a view to mainstreaming 
environmental considerations across the work of the WTO.  
2.3.  Stakeholder representative s highlighted a broad range of areas where TESSD participants could 
add value , including : trade and climate change, including a proposal to set up a WTO working group 
on this issue; trade liberalization in environmental goods and services, including the need to address 
non-tariff barriers and the key impact of standards on green techno logy investment; the role of 
digital technologies in emission reduction efforts; protection of biodiversity, including through the 
launch of dedicated discussions on how WTO Members could support the achievement of global 
biodiversity goals; and the transi tion to a circular economy , among others.  It was noted that TESSD 
could contribute to improve the transparency of trade -related environmental measures, including 
their impact on developing countries.  Stakeholder representatives also noted the importance of  
strengthening cooperation among trade and environmental ministries and supporting the 
implementation of Multilateral Environmental Agreements.  
3  EXCHANGE OF VIEWS ON "DRAFT ELEMENTS FOR A TESSD MINISTERIAL STATEMENT 
AT MC12" (CONTAINED IN DOCUMENT INF/TE/SSD/W/14)  
3.1.  Members welcomed the draft elements paper and broadly agreed that it served as a good basis 
for further work towards a Ministerial Statement on trade and environmental sustainability at MC12. 
Several Members said that the Ministerial State ment should be short, operational,  ambitious and 
forward -looking , and that it should aim to attract broad support from WTO Members.  Several 
Members indicated that the Ministerial Statement  should  strike a balance between delivering 
concrete results on the one hand and providing space for  discussion  and the development of new 
ideas on the other . Some Members said the y preferred the  Ministerial Statement to focus more 
narrowly on a commitment to deepen discussions . Several Members said that the Ministerial 
Statement should underscore the mutual supportiveness between trade and  environmental policies  
and should send a strong signal regarding the  positive contribution of trade and trade policy to 
address global environmental challenges, including climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution . 
3.2.  Several Members called for the Ministerial Statement to consider the social and economic pillars 
of sustainable development  in addition to the environmental pillar , and to be based on multilaterally 
agreed principle s and terminology, including the concept of Common but Differentiated 
Responsibilities . Moreover, it was noted that the Ministerial Statement should build on 
WTO Agreements  and should reflect  the needs, priorities and legitimate development  needs of 
develo ping country Members, especially the least developed countries and the economically and 
environmentally vulnerable . It was noted that TESSD should facilitate approaches that consider the 
development needs of WTO Members  and foster collaborative working between developed and 
developing countries . 
3.3.  Several Members welcomed the approach in the draft elements paper of having an  overarching  
Ministerial Statement, along with separate Ministerial Statements on topics of interest to specific  
groups of Members . According to some Members, this approach would achieve ambitious outcomes 
while recognizing that not all Members were ready to move at the same speed on all topics. Several 
Members called for more clarity regarding the relationship betw een the  overarching  statement and 
topic-specific statements . In this regard, s everal Members proposed that, in order  to ensure 
transparency and coherence , the overarching statement should refer to the topic -specific statements 
without committing its signatories to adhere to them. Other Members said they preferred to delink 
the overarching statement from the topic -specific statements.  
3.4.  Several Members noted that the draft elements paper cover ed many of the interests and 
priority areas that had been identified by Members during  previous TESSD meetings . Other  Members 
indicated that the draft elements paper had not given due consideration to  specific issues such as : 
the importance of addressing s ustainable agriculture , including the issue of agricultural subsidies 
and the role of trade in supporting sustainable agricultural production and sourcing to protect forests INF/TE/SSD/R/3  
 
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  and other ecosystems ; the potential trade impact of standards and the need for standards to be 
based on s cience and international standards;  the role of a circular carbon economy to address 
greenhouse gas emissions ; and the importance of ensuring a green recovery from the COVID -19 
crisis. The review of frictions between WTO rules and modern environmental and climate measures 
was also identified as a possible additional area of work. It was noted that the scope of any future 
work should be limited to the role that trade play ed in addressing environmental matters, and that 
duplication with other work at the WTO and elsewhere should be avoided.  
3.5.  Several Members welcomed the suggestion in the draft elements paper to launch dedicated 
discussions  on how WTO Members could foster the transition to lo w-carbon economies in ways that 
would be effective and WTO -consistent. Several Members said that the dedicated discussions should 
focus on carbon border adjustments, while others preferred to cover a broad range of trade -related 
climate measures, including  fossil fuel subsidy reform, instead of singling out particular measures . 
It was noted that carbon leakage  – and the need for collaborative approaches to address it – should 
be a focus of the dedicated discussions.  Some Members highlighted that trade and climate change 
discussions at the WTO should first focus on developing common guiding principles , including to 
avoid unjustifiable or arbitrary discrimination . It was also noted that discussions and work in this 
area shou ld be based on, and compatible with , the UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement . 
3.6.  Several Members reiterated the importance of an outcome on the liberalization of trade in 
environmental goods and services . While some Members said they preferred this issue to be 
addressed in the overarching Ministerial Statement, other Members said that they were flexible and 
would consider a separate, topic -specific statement on environmental goods and services.  Some 
Members said that MC12 was an opportunity to launch discussions on  the scope and modalities of 
possible future negotiations  on environmental goods and services, including criteria for defining 
product coverage  and consider the interests of developing countries . It was noted that work on 
environmental goods should cover tariffs on existing environmental goods as well as the 
dissemination of new and emerging environmental goods and technologies, including by focusing on 
non-tariff and regulatory measures. On environmental services, several Members said that TESSD 
had a role to play in advancing work on this issue. Several Members noted the need to avoid 
duplication with the exploratory work in the Council of Trade in Services – Special Session  and 
suggested that TESSD work could supp ort or complement that work.  
3.7.  Several Members expressed interest in  continued work on green economy and sustainable 
supply chains, including those related to a resource -efficient and circular economy. In this regard, 
some Members drew attention to the need to clarify how TESSD would work with the Informal 
Dialogue on Plastics Pollution and Environmentally Sustainable Plastics Trade in order to capture 
synergies and avoid duplication. While some Members considered that the suggestion in the draft 
elements pap er to develop a model framework of best practices  was a good first step to support the 
transition to a green economy  and sustainable supply chains , other Members cautioned against 
prejudging an outcome for how the transitions to greener economies may happe n. Several Members 
welcomed the reference in the draft elements paper to the issue of subsidies, noting their preference 
for a broad approach in the Ministerial Statement that would consider the positive and negative 
environmental impacts of fossil fuel and other subsidies . 
3.8.  Several Members welcomed the suggested work plan for 2022 included in the draft elements 
paper, noting that the work plan would have to be closely align ed with any eventual commitments 
on future work  in the  Ministerial Statement. It was noted that the work plan would have to specify 
a clear timetable  with actions and deadlines . Several Members also highlighted the need for further 
clarity on the possible establishment of separate working groups  under TESSD , including any 
accountability and reporting requirements, and the suggestion to hold a stock -taking high -level 
event in the lead up to MC13.  
3.9.  Several Members underscored the importance of ensuring inclusi veness and transparen cy, 
calling for TESSD to continue its outreach and discussion s with stakeholders.  Several concrete 
proposals were made in this regard, including to: develop a TESSD website available to the public; 
expand the  group of TESSD stakeholder s; and encourage Members to submit unrestricted rather 
than restricted documents . INF/TE/SSD/R/3  
 
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  4  OTHER BUSINESS  
4.1.  One Member noted the communication it had circulated on 16 July regarding a proposed MC12 
Ministerial Statement on fossil fuel subsidy reform.2 It was noted that the proposed S tatement 
recogni zed that inefficient fossil fuel subsidies encourage d wasteful consumption and had 
trade-distorting impacts, and that effectively addressing such subsidies would deliver trade, 
economic, social and environmental ben efits. Moreover, t he Statement propose d a gradual approach 
for achieving ambitious and effective disciplines on inefficient fossil fuel subsidies through 
capacity  building and exchange of information and experience s. It also acknowledge d the importance 
of considering the specific needs of vulnerable groups to ensure the transition from government 
fossil fuel support was equitable and just. Several Members welcomed the communication.  
4.2.  Another Member noted the communication it had circulated on 16 July on remo ving barriers to 
trade in environmental goods and services , highlighting that action in this area was the most widely 
mentioned priority of participants in the TESSD discussions and that there were many reasons for 
engaging in this area, including reduced costs and increased access to advanced mitigation 
technologies for achieving environmental objectives.3 The communication set out a process towards 
an outcome for MC12, including agreements on high -level commitments or principles for MC12 and 
a path to turn those commitments into action.  Several Members welcomed the communication and 
indicated that they were in the process of  studying  it. 
5  CLOSING REMARKS BY THE COORDINATORS  
5.1.  The Coordinators said the meeting had helped provide clarity with regards t o the draft elements 
of the proposed Ministerial Statement as well as whether participants were on the right track with 
the proposed text. While the text sought to address most of the participants ' concerns in a pragmatic 
way, more  work was required . The C oordinators encouraged TESSD participants to provide written 
comments on the draft elements paper as soon as possible. They noted that TESSD participants had 
a very good opportunity to deliver a meaningful outcome for the WTO.  
5.2.  The next plenary meeting of T ESSD was scheduled for 16 September 2021.  
 
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2 See WTO document JOB/GC/264.  
3 See WTO document INF/TE/SSD/W/16.