INF/TE/IDP/RD/144* 
28 November 2023  
(23-8043) Page: 1/3 
 Original:  English/anglais/inglés  
 
  
UNOFFICIAL ROOM DOCUMENT1 
 
DIALOGUE ON PLASTICS POLLUTION AND ENVIRONMENTALLY SUSTAINABLE 
PLASTICS TRADE  
STATEMENT OF THE ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO -OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT  
Pre-Plenary Meeting – 23 November 2023  
 
DOCUMENT DE S ÉANCE NON OFFICIEL1 
 
DIALOGUE ON PLASTICS POLLUTION AND ENVIRONMENTALLY SUSTAINABLE 
PLASTICS TRADE  
STATEMENT OF THE ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO -OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT  
Pre-Plenary Meeting – 23 November 2023  
 
DOCUMENTO DE SALA NO OF ICIAL1 
 
DIALOGUE ON PL ASTICS POLLUTION AND ENVIRONMENTALLY SUSTAINABLE 
PLASTICS TRADE  
STATEMENT OF THE ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO -OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT  
Pre-Plenary Meeting – 23 November 2023  
 
_______________  
 
 
* 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 a ttributed 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 
généralement que dans la langue dans laquelle ils ont été communiqués et ne seront pas systématiquemen t 
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'archivage.  
Los documentos de la serie RD no son documentos oficiales de la OMC. Por lo general se d istribuyen en 
el idioma en que han sido presentados y no se traduce n 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 ún icamente.  INF/TE/IDP/RD/144  
 
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  The OECD has very much appreciated in the course of the last months, DPP’s efforts to provide a 
forum of discussions, as well as the efforts for putting together information and compiling it into a 
draft statement for MC13. I would like to take the opportunity to mention that the OECD has recently 
produced a re port on “ Trade Policies to Promote the Circular Economy: A Case Study of the 
Plastics Value Chain ” with inputs from TESS colleagues. It is in the process of publication, and we 
would be happy to present it in more detail on another occasion. I would like h owever to offer a few 
comments and insights drawing on that work, which could be helpful to provide more evidence -
based facts for the statement:     
- One of the policy tools frequently mentioned in the MC13 statement are outright bans.  Our 
analysis finds th at outright bans are indeed a necessary tool to some plastic products for 
several reasons such as:  
 
o Some countries might not have the scope to raise their applied MFN tariff rates.  
 
o Consumer’s limited capacity to appreciate the negative externalities, inc luding 
health, safety, and environmental impacts of plastic products, means that price -
based instruments, such as increased tariffs, are less likely to encourage the uptake 
of less harmful substitutes.  
 
o The cost of collecting tariffs ― administrative cost s, and direct and indirect costs 
generated by delays and risks of fraudulent claims may be disproportionally high in 
relation to the potential environmental benefits from enhanced circularity.  
 
- Government incentives  are also important, for instance, incent ives for the use of recycled 
plastic content in public procurement and in private economic activities. They would 
complement trade policies at the border.  
 
- In terms of relevant services, I would like to point out distribution services:  which could 
serve a s the main return point for waste for recycling from households.  
 
- Regulations:  For many developing countries, regulations and potential market opening of 
the services sector will need to be tailored to reflect local priorities in terms of sustaining 
livelihood opportunities for informal sector workers  involved in waste picking, who risk 
displacement, for instance, by large, mechanized sorting facilities.  
 
- We should also be mindful of measures that do not specifically target trade, such as tax 
incentives and disincentives.  They can have trade consequences and impact companies 
involved  in international supply chains exporting to the country imposing the levy.  
 
- Administrative procedures at the border : The important delays in obtaining consent for 
individual or multiple shipments may create significant disincentives for reuse, recovery or 
recycling operations across borders. A number of trade facilitation -related measures could 
support circular economy  goals in the plastics sector.  
 
- Innovation  is truly important when it comes to tackling plastic pollution and it is currently 
highly concentrated in certain countries, as shown by the environmentally related patents 
for plastics. Trade plays an important role in the diffusion of plastics technologies. Identifying 
tech hubs in terms of plastics management and best practices, along different supply chains 
is also of high relevance.   
 
- Finally, we would like to highlight the role of cooperation  in this whole process. While it 
would be important to synchronize domestic regulatory measures and requirements applied 
at the border, at present, most efforts to tackle plastic pollution are designed domestically 
in an ad  hoc and uncoordinated manner, without sufficien t consideration of effects on third 
countries.  
 
o For instance, extended producer responsibility schemes, which could involve fees, 
the existence of different EPR schemes, with different requirements, especially 
concerning fees, could constrain investment a nd the scaling up of circular models.  
 INF/TE/IDP/RD/144  
 
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  o Coordination is very much needed also to avoid exports of plastic waste to be 
redirected to countries without adequate domestic waste processing capacity.  
 
The OECD  once again congratulates  the Dialogue on Plastic Po llution  and all its contributors 
for addressing this pressing issue collectively through evidence -based analysis. We also highly  
support and encourage further work in the domain and are eager to be part of its future 
developments.   
 
 
 
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