INF/TE/IDP/RD/15* 
21 July 2021  
(21-5737) Page: 1/4 
 Original: English/anglais/inglés  
 
  
UNOFFICIAL ROOM DOCUMENT1 
 
STATEMENT BY CAROLYN DEERE BIRKBECK,  
DIRECTOR, FORUM ON TRADE, ENVIRONMENT & THE SDGS (TESS)  
IDP Meeting – 21 June 2021  
 
 
DOCUMENT DE S ÉANCE NON OFFICIEL1 
 
STATEMENT BY CAROLYN DEERE BIRKBECK,  
DIRECTOR, FORUM ON TRADE, ENVIRONMENT & THE SDGS (TESS)  
IDP Meeting – 21 June 2021  
 
 
DOCUMENTO DE SALA NO OF ICIAL1 
 
STATEMENT BY CAROLYN DEERE BIRKBECK,  
DIRECTOR, FORUM ON TRADE, ENVIRONMENT & THE SDGS (TESS)  
IDP Meeting – 21 June 2021  
 
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1 In Original language only/En langue originale seulement/En el idioma original solamente.  
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 attributed an unofficial symbol for archiving purposes only.  
Les documents de la série RD ne sont pas des documents officiels de l 'OMC. Ils ne paraissent 
généralemen t que dans la langue dans laquelle ils ont été communiqués et ne seront pas systématiquement 
traduits dans les langues de travail de l'OMC. Ils sont destinés aux salles de réunion de l'OMC et une cote non 
officielle leur est attribuée à des fins d'archivag e. 
Los documentos de la serie RD no son documentos oficiales de la OMC. Por lo general se distribuyen en 
el idioma en que han sido presentados y no se traducen sistemáticamente a los idiomas de trabajo de la 
Organización. Se distribuyen para su uso en las salas de reunión de la OMC y se les asigna una signatura no 
oficial a efectos de archivo únicamente.  INF/TE/IDP/RD/15  
 
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  STATEMENT BY CAROLYN DEERE BIRKBECK,  
DIRECTOR, FORUM ON TRADE, ENVIRONMENT & THE SDGS (TESS)  
 
 
My name is Carolyn Deere Birkbeck. I am the Director of the Forum on Trade, Environment & the 
SDGs (TESS). Thank you for the invitation to join your dialogue today.  
 
In my statement, I would like to share findings and recommendations from a new report on 'How 
can international trade policy help tackle plastic pollution? ' which will be published by the Global 
Governance Centre and TESS in July.  
 
The report provides a mapping of trends in plastics trade and the current policy framework relevant 
to plastics trade and plastic pollution. It provides an overview of options for harnessing trade policy 
to tackle plastic pollution and the pathways through which these options could be pursued. The core 
purpose of the report is to enable more informed discussion on t rade and plastics pollution by 
focusing on concrete policy options.  
 
For those interested in a preview, we held a roundtable discussion on the report last week, co -hosted 
with Graduate Institute 's Global Governance Centre, TESS, United Nations Conference on Trade and 
Development (UNCTAD), the UNEP Environment and Trade hub, and the Geneva Environment 
Network (GEN). You can find a video recording on our website at www.tessforum.org .  
 
The report draws on inputs from a range of existing resources, including those produced here at the 
WTO, as well as at UNCTAD and UNEP. We also commissioned a number of expert inputs and 
conducted informal consultations with a range of governments and stakeholder experts. As such, we 
are proud that the report reflects a collective effort and broad range of views.  
 
The first part of the paper reviews the many dimensions of the plastic pollution problem along with 
the trends and forecasts for plastics supply, demand, and production across the world. It also 
provides a snapshot of trade flows along the life cycle of plastics, identifying top 20 exporters and 
importers at each stage of the plastics life cycle and for particular types of plastics known to be 
especially harmful to the environme nt. It identifies the challenges of monitoring 'hidden ' trade flows 
in plastics and provides preliminary estimates of their scale.  
 
The first half of the paper also provides an overview of existing trade policies and practices applied 
to the plastics sect or and to address plastic pollution. This includes a review of import bans and 
restrictions on certain single use plastics and wastes, a summary of international standards relevant 
to plastics and a discussion on the relevance of subsidies. We also provide  a snapshot of tariff 
structures for plastics, including for trade in non -plastic substitutes that may be of particular interest 
to developing countries.  
 
The second part of the paper looks forward. It reviews the broad landscape of trade policy options 
that could support efforts to tackle plastic pollution, considers their political feasibility and potential 
impacts, and identifies the international processes through which these could be advanced, 
including:  
• International environmental processes, such as MEAs (e.g. Basel, Rotterdam and 
Stockholm Conventions, UNEA and potential global plastic pollution treaty) . 
• WTO and its regular Committees (e.g., IDP, CTE and the TBT Committee, among others) .  
• Other international organisations (e.g., UNCTAD, WCO, ISO, INT ERPOL and OECD).  
• Regional cooperation arrangements on plastic pollution reduction.  
INF/TE/IDP/RD/15  
 
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  The report concludes with a set of strategic policy recommendations, noting the timeframe for their 
implementation and potential impact, and an outline of outstanding rese arch needs.  
 
Options for consideration for MC12  
 
As you are now considering what could kinds of collective approaches you could advance in a 
Ministerial Statement on plastic pollution at MC12, I would like to highlight six recommendations on 
political commitments that Members could make at the WTO that w ould support greater 
sustainability in the plastics sector and complement existing international cooperation to address 
plastic pollution:  
 
(1) Ensure that single -use and other environmentally harmful plastics that Members currently 
restrict or ban domestical ly are not exported to other countries.  
 
(2) Promote trade in non -plastic substitutes; environmentally sound technologies, goods, and 
services for waste management; and recycling technologies that can help reduce plastic 
pollution, including through cooperatio n to lower or eliminate tariffs and other trade barriers, 
and take action to facilitate trade in recycled plastics and recyclable plastic wastes designed 
for certified environmentally -sound recycling facilities, in line with existing international 
processe s and relevant provisions of MEAs such as the Basel Convention.  
 
(3) Adopt voluntary pledges accompanied by concrete measures to reduce trade in avoidable, 
problematic and environmentally harmful single use plastics, plastic products and plastic 
packaging ass ociated with international trade and to better coordinate internationally on 
requirements for more environmentally sustainable packaging.  
 
(4) Agree to boost Aid for Trade to support developing countries to design and implement trade 
policies related to plasti c pollution as a complement to existing international processes and 
in accordance with relevant provisions of MEAs such as the Basel Convention (including 
legislative support and for customs authorities); build trade capacity for non -plastic 
substitutes; m eet plastics -related sustainability standards; and access technologies for 
environmentally sound waste management.  
 
(5) Provide guidance and leadership by identifying priorities for work in other relevant 
international bodies that is necessary to support more environmentally sustainable plastics 
trade. This could include:  
 
• Calling for the development of international standards and labelling for plastics in the 
relevant international processes (such as UNEA and the ISO) that would promote a 
more environmentally  sustainable plastics sector, along with cooperation that 
enhances the flow of information about the chemical characteristics and composition 
of plastic products and wastes traded internationally.  
• Calling for cooperation at the World Custom 's Organization  to update the Harmonized 
System (HS) of trade classifications in ways that enable governments gather the data 
they need to monitor trade in plastics, and pursue evidence -based regulation of trade 
to reduce plastic pollution.  
(6) Commit to a workplan for ongo ing dialogue and monitoring, including to:  
 
• Continue efforts to enhance transparency, information -sharing and coordination that 
would boost the effectiveness of the current patchwork of trade measures related to 
plastic waste and products (working with oth er IGOs and stakeholders). In addition to 
the topics noted above, this work could include explore additional issues such as 
environmentally -harmful subsidies relevant to the plastics sector and international 
coordination of extended producer responsibility  systems.  
• Advance concrete cooperation action and policy coordination on specific topics noted 
above. This will be vital to make real the commitments on the topics proposed above.  
Call for the establishment of a monitoring and reporting mechanism on trade  flows and trade 
measures and their relevance to plastics pollution, ideally through collaborative efforts between INF/TE/IDP/RD/15  
 
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  relevant international organisations (e.g. UNEP, BRS Secretariats, WTO, UNCTAD, WCO, etc.) and 
stakeholders, building on existing internation al processes and reporting frameworks, such as those 
under the Basel Convention and the WTO 's notification requirements and trade policy review 
processes.  
 
All of this work should be pursued in ways that recognize the varying circumstances and needs of 
developing countries, and the specific trade -related challenges and opportunities that work on these 
topics may generate.  
 
Alongside, this work will need to be complemented by research on national experiences and concrete 
policy options, trade flows relevant to specific countries (such as to LDCs) and to address the 
challenges of monitoring trade in 'hidden ' flows, such as pla stic packaging. To close, just as trade 
cooperation helps to underpin today 's global plastics economy – it could also help shape a more 
resource efficient, circular, less wasteful and more sustainable plastics economy. We hope that our 
report – and these r ecommendations – provides some politically feasible and impactful concrete 
options that could be taken here at the WTO to inform, complement and support other international 
efforts to address the plastic pollution crisis.  
 
 
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