RESTRICTED  
  
WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
5 June 2023 
  
(23-3829) Page: 1/102 
Committee on Trade and Environment    
 
  
REPORT OF THE MEETING HELD ON 14 AND 15 MARCH 2023  
NOTE BY THE SECRETARIAT1 
The Committee on Trade and Environment (CTE Regular) met on 14 and 15 March 2023 , chaired by  
H.E. Mr. Simon MANLEY ( United  Kingdom) . The Committee adopted the Airgram  
WTO/AIR/CTE/ 20, dated 27 February 2023 . The Report of the last CTE meeting, held on 17 and 
21 October 2022 , is contained in WT/CTE/M/7 6. 
_______________  
 
Contents  
1   ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA  ................................ ................................ ........................  5 
2   ENVIRONMENTAL MEASURES AND MARKET ACCESS, PARAGRAPH 32(I) OF THE DOHA 
MINISTERIAL DECLARATION – ITEM 6 OF THE CTE WORK PROGR AMME  ..........................  5 
2.1   EU Green Deal  ................................ ................................ ................................ ..........  5 
2.2   Recent developments on fossil fuel subsidy reform (FFSR)  ................................ ..............  18 
2.3   Circular economy and plastics pollution  ................................ ................................ ........  22 
2.3.1   Update by the coordinators on the work of the Dialogue on Plastics Pollution and 
Environmentally Sustainable Plastics Trade (DDP)  ................................ ................................ . 22 
2.4   Other  ................................ ................................ ................................ ......................  27 
2.4.1   India's concerns on the use of environment measures as non -tariff measures  ...................  27 
2.4.2   Update by the United Kingdom on its due diligence legislation which seeks to make supply 
chains more sustainable  ................................ ................................ ................................ .... 38 
2.4.3   Update by the United Kingdom on global carbon leakage risks and policy approaches  ...... 39 
3   SUSTAI NABLE DEVELOPMENT IN WTO DISCUSSIONS  ................................ ...............  42 
3.1   Presentation by Paraguay on environmental subsidies notified under paragraph 12 of A nnex 2 
of the Agreement on Agriculture  ................................ ................................ ........................  42 
4   MULTILATERAL ENVIRONMENTAL AGREEMENTS AND WTO – CTE WORK PROGRAM 
ITEMS 1 AND 5  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...............  48 
4.1   United  Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)  ...............................  48 
4.1.1   Briefing by Egypt on COP27  ................................ ................................ .....................  48 
4.1.2   UNFCCC Secre tariat  ................................ ................................ ...............................  53 
4.1.3   Update by the United Kingdom on the Forest, Agriculture and Commodities Trade (FACT) 
Dialogue  ................................ ................................ ................................ .........................  54 
 
1 This document has been prepared under the Secretariat's own responsibility and is without prejudice to 
the positions of Members or to their rights and obligations under the WTO.  WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  4.1.4   Report on the negotiations towards the Agreement on Climate Change, Trade and 
Sustainability (ACCTS)  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...... 55 
4.1.5   Report by the WTO Secretariat on the "Trade Forum for Decarbonization Standards: 
Promoting Coherence and Transparency in the Steel Secto r" ................................ ..................  56 
4.2   Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)  ................................ ................................ ..... 57 
4.2.1   Comments by the United Kingdom on the agreed outcomes of recent CBD COP15  ...........  57 
4.2.2   Comments by the European Union on the agreed trade -related outcomes of CBD COP15  .. 58 
4.2.3   Report by the CDB Secretariat on CBD COP15  ................................ ............................  59 
4.2.4   Report b y UNEP on the joint WTO -UNEP event "Nature -positive trade for sustainable 
development: How can trade -related policies and measures support the implementation of the 
Kunming -Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework?"  ................................ ..............................  61 
4.2.5   Report by the United Nations Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea 
(UNDOALOS) on the recently agreed High Seas Treaty  ................................ ..........................  65 
5   TRANSPARENCY OF ENVIRONMENT -RELATED TRADE MEASURES – CTE WORK 
PROGRAMME ITEM 4  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...... 67 
5.1   Presentation by the WTO Secretariat on the WTO Environmental Database (EDB)  ..............  67 
6   MEMBERS' SUGGESTIONS AND PROPOSALS  ................................ ..............................  73 
6.1   Trade and Environmental Sustainability Structured Discussions (TESSD)  ..........................  73 
6.2   Discussion on possible CTE and environment -related outcomes at the WTO 13th Ministerial 
Conference (MC13)  ................................ ................................ ................................ ..........  78 
6.2.1   China's proposal on dedicated multilateral discussions on the trade aspects and implic ations 
of certain environmental measures  ................................ ................................ .....................  78 
6.2.2   Presentation by Colombia on "The principles and Parameters that should guide a nd support 
policies and measures on Trade and the Environment"  ................................ ..........................  80 
6.2.3   Members' views and comments on the CTE and Paragraph 14 of the MC12 Outcome 
Document  ................................ ................................ ................................ .......................  82 
7   RELATIONS WITH INTERGOVERNMENTAL AND NON -GOVERNMENTAL 
ORGANIZATIONS  – CTE WORK PROGRAMME ITEM 10  ................................ ....................  94 
7.1   Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)  . 94 
7.2   United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE)  ................................ ..............  95 
7.3   United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)  ................................ ...........................  96 
7.4   Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm (BRS) Conventions  ................................ .....................  97 
8   OTHER BUSINESS  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...... 99 
8.1   Comments by India on the request for Observer status from the International Solar Alliance 
(ISA)  ................................ ................................ ................................ .............................  99 
8.2   Briefing by Kenya on the Coalition of Trade Ministers for Climate  ................................ ..... 99 
9   DATE OF THE NEXT MEETING AND CHAIRMANSHIP CHANGE  ................................ ... 100  
ANNEX 1: ITEMS OF THE CTE WORK PROGRAMME (1994)  ................................ ............  101  
ANNEX 2: DOHA MINISTERIAL DECLARATION PARAGRAPHS  ................................ ....... 102  
 
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  ACRONYMS  
  
 ACCTS  Agreement on Climate Change, Trade and Sustainability  
AFT Aid for Trade  
AoA Agreement on Agriculture  
APEC Asia-Paciﬁc Economic Cooperation  
BRS (Conventions)  Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm (Conventions)  
CBAM  Carbon border adjustment mechanism  
CBD Convention on Biological Diversity  
CBDR  Common but differentiated responsibilities  
CE Circular economy  
CITES  Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild 
Fauna and Flora  
CMA Committee on Market Access  
COP Conference of the Parties  
CTD Committee on Trade and Development  
CTE Committee on Trade and Environment  
CTG Council for Trade in Goods  
DPP Dialogue on Plastics Pollution and Environmentally Sustainable Plastics 
Trade  
EDB Environmental Database  
ETS Emissions trading scheme  
FFS Fossil fuel subsid ies 
FFSR Fossil fuel subsidy reform  
GHG Greenhouse gas  
HS Harmonized System  
DRS Deposit  return systems  
DSI Digital sequence information  
EGS Environmental goods and services  
FACT Forest, Agriculture and Commodities Trade  
FTA Free trade agreement  
GATT  General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994  
GBF Global Biodiversity Framework  
IISD International Institute for Sustainable Development  
IMF International Monetary Fund  
INC Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee  
IPCC Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change  
ISA International Solar Alliance  
ITC International Trade Centre  
L&D Loss and damage  
LDCs Least developed countries  
MC Ministerial Conference  
MDB Multilateral development bank  
MEAs  Multilateral environmental agreements  
MSME  Micro, small and medium -sized enterprises  
NbS Nature -based solutions  
NDC Nationally determined contribution  
OECD  Organisation for Economic Co -operation and Development  
PSE Producer support estimate  
SCM Subsidies and countervailing measures  
SDG Sustainable Development Goal 
SIDS Small, Vulnerable Economies, Small Island Developing States  
SMEs  Small and medium -sized enterprises  
SPS Agreement  Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures  
TBT Technical barriers to trade  
TBT Agreement  Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade  
TESSD  Trade and Environmental Sustainability Structured Discussions  
TPRs Trade policy reviews  
TrCMs  Trade -related climate measures  
UK United Kingdom  
UNCTAD  United  Nations Conference on Trade and Development  WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  UNDP  United Nations Development Programme  
UNDOALOS  United Nations Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea  
UNEA  United  Nations Environment Assembly  
UNECE  United Nations Economic Commission for Europe  
UNEP  United  Nations Environment Programme  
UNFCCC  United  Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change  
US United States  
USD US dollars  
WCO World Customs Organization  
 
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  1  ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA  
1.1.  The Committee  adopted the agenda contained in WTO/AIR/CTE /20. 
2  ENVIRONMENTAL MEASURES AND MARKET ACCESS , PARAGRAPH 32(I) OF THE DOHA 
MINISTERIAL DECLARATION – ITEM 6 OF THE CTE WORK PROGRAMME  
"The effect of environmental measures on market access, especially in relation to 
developing coun tries, in particular the least -developed among them, and those 
situations in which the elimination or reduction of trade restrictions and distortions 
would benefit trade, the environment and development".  
2.1  EU Green Deal  
2.1.  The representative s of the European U nion delivered the following statement s: 
2.2.  Before our  DG ENV  colleagues get into a presentation of a proposal for a regulation on 
Packaging and Packaging Waste,  let me provide you a short update on the two legislative proposals 
that have seen particular interest in the C TE: Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism and 
Deforestation.  
2.3.  The co -legislators have reached a political agreement on CBAM in December. The CBAM is still 
subject to the EU 's internal legislative process that will be finali zed by May 2023. It will enter into 
force with a gradual phase -in over 9 years, f rom 2026 to 2034 , when CBAM will be fully operational. 
As the measure applies to the carbon content of goods, any effort in terms of emission reduction 
will lead to a reduction in the level of the border adjustment.  
2.4.  As regard s Deforestation, the political  agreement has also been reached in December. The text 
is currently being reviewed by linguists and lawyers and the Regulation is expected to be published 
in the Official Journal of the EU and enter into force in May  or June 2023. It will then enter into 
application 18 months later ( i.e. end of 2024/January 2025; and 24 months later for small 
businesses (mid -2025) ).  
2.5.  Given the particular interest from WTO Members , we are planning to organi ze an information 
session on each of the legislations during the WTO Trade and Environment week in June . Experts 
from Brussels will come to respond to any technical or implementation questions  that you may have.  
2.6.  I also wanted to raise as a last point a brief reminder of the key building blocks of the EU 's 
external strategy  in respect of the design and implementation of the European Green Deal measures: 
first and foremost, transparency , which we have secured from the outset during the design stage 
but we will also continue in the implementation stage. For the  design , key pri nciples and building 
blocks have been an impact assessment and public consultations; a commitment to international 
standards and cooperation ; a necessity test driven by urgent need to act for climate and 
environment; n on-discrimination ; avoiding any unnecessary burden and rather work on  trade 
facilitation  tools; and a reasonable transitional period  so that operators can adapt. For the 
implementation , what we are trying to put in place now also for CBAM and Deforestation is  outreach 
and engagement,  so that everybody understands and is able to understand and implement the 
Regulation; work on  trade facilitation  tools; and technical assistance  to help the implementation by 
developing countries  where needed.  
2.7.  So with that, I would like to pass the floor to Wolfgang T runk from DG ENV  to present a proposal 
for a regulation on Packaging and Packaging Waste.  
2.8.  I am delighted to present on the European Commission 's proposal for a Regulation of the 
Council  and the E uropean Parliament  on Packaging and Packaging Waste . The new Regulation was 
adopted on 30 November. The problem we are facing here in Europe is that we are confronted with 
a soaring rise in packaging waste generation. From 2006 to 2018, this rose from 150kg per capita 
to 179kg per capita. If  we do nothing, this trend will further continue and reach up to 210kg per 
capita by 2030. Paper and cardboard are the most important packaging materials in terms of volume 
in the EU.  WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  2.9.  Greenhouse gas emissions are shown on the slide as a blue line . The tre nd is that if we do 
nothing it would further increase from just packaging. The two orange dots are the impact of our 
preferred policy package that we have carved into this Commission proposal. Greenhouse gases 
would go down from roughly 60 million tonnes t o 43 million tonnes in 2030 and at least bring us on 
track for carbon neutrality by 2050.  
2.10.  In order to achieve this, we are aware that we are confronted with a complete failure of the 
current Directive. Currently, this is governed by a 1994 Directive, which  had the objective of 
packaging minimization and reduction, however, the EU has seen that the opposite has happened. 
Therefore, the EU has now come up with a strong, ambitious Regulation with many requirements 
directly put on the economic operators, who ar e the responsible subjects in waste generation and 
also on the consumers. This is a game changer. We are working with essential requirements under 
the current Directive with targets at the Member State level and also now with sustainability 
requirements at  the product level.  
2.11.  But this is only one big objective of the proposal. The second one is that we have come up 
with a Regulation based on the internal market legal base but we also want to improve the business 
environment within the EU, so that economic o perators are no longer confronted with 27 national 
systems for packaging and packaging management requirements. In the impact assessment, we 
have profoundly studied all these economic disadvantages due to these 27 national systems, but 
here in this forum I  can also inform you that many third country companies and also official 
delegations gave us very positive feedback for these new rules.  
2.12.  I will now explain a bit what we do propose. We propose that we have one big intervention 
area, which is prevention and reuse. What are we doing to prevent packaging waste generation? On 
the one hand, we still work with these old kind of instruments like M ember State level targets, so 
for the first time we have come up with waste prevention targets. For the time being, we just have 
waste recycling targets for different materials, but now for the first time we have come up with 
waste prevention targets but s till at the Member State level. So at a very aggregated level, you can 
imagine that Member States do not have such strong powers to enforce these, but the reduction 
targets that we want to achieve by 2030 are minus 5% compared to 2018 and plus 5% five year s 
later and 15% compared to 2018 by 2040.  
2.13.  Also we encourage Member States to come up with reuse and refill systems. We have 
established a new refill system, which is an innovation that is being rolled out more and more in our 
society. There are many start -ups going into this. Reuse measures are a key pillar for the reduction 
of waste reduction.  
2.14.  On top of this, we have EU -harmonized measures put on the economic operators. So, on the 
one hand, we have the requirement that each packaging must be minimized so the producer must 
have the technical documentation that he minimized the waste of packaging. We also came up with 
void space limits for online sales of 40% and we also banned double false bottoms or double 
packaging under Article 9 of the proposed Regulati on. In Article 22, we have come up with a negative 
list of packaging uses that are unnecessary and therefore we ban them, as they all have good 
alternatives.  
2.15.  The reuse targets  are sector selective. Here in a bit more detail we can see what is behind 
the packaging minimization. So, for instance, if I have a glass bottle for a whisky, what is ruled here 
in this Article is how minimization should take place – there are certain performance criteria of the 
packaging and these criteria have to be compliant and p roven by the producer. I already mentioned 
the empty space limits for e -commerce: for transport and for cool packaging, there is a limit of 40% 
allowed as empty space.  
2.16.  Under prevention and reuse is the famous "negative list" in Annex V (unnecessary packag ing), 
which is single -use plastic; group packaging, e.g. if you have 6 cans of beer and you group them 
together with plastic packaging, then we say this is not necessary; and also miniature packaging, 
e.g. small shampoo bottles in hotels.  On the following slides, you can see the supporting articles, or 
accompanying text, that should enable or facilitate the establishment of best practices for 
well-functioning reuse systems.  WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  2.17.  Another big prevention area is recyclability. We want to have better recycling because a lot 
of packaging waste  (e.g. plastic packaging)  is downcycled in low grade applications after the 
recycling process. What we want to achieve is, first of all, full technical recyclability of packaging 
and, secondly, to ensure that in re ality it can all be recycled  at scale. Recycling at scale (i.e. all of 
the packaging can be recycled) should be ensured for each packaging format by 2035. This is all 
contained in the proposal under recyclability. A very big precondition for higher quality  recycling is 
that the recycling can be done in a cost -efficient way. So recyclability efforts are one of the enablers 
of making a packaging value chain from production to end -of-life.  
2.18.  Another area is compostability requirements. Where there are biodegrad able plastics or 
compostable plastics, there is still a lot of confusion in Europe about packaging's biodegradability 
and consumers do not always know whe re to put packaging  – should it go in the organic waste bin 
or in the recycling bin ? So we came up wit h four packaging formats that must be produced from 
compostable material, which means that all these products (fruits and vegetables; fruit and 
vegetable sticky labels ; tea and coffee bags  and single -serve unit s; and lightweight plastic carrier 
bags) must be produced from compostable plastic, so that a tea bag or a banana with its sticker on 
the peel can go directly into the organic waste steam. All other packaging should go into the material 
recycling stream. This is a clear system that we will establish i n future because currently there is a 
lot of confusion and a 'grey zone' for these theoretically biodegradable packaging formats.  
2.19.  The third big intervention area is recycled content in plastic pac kaging . We are doing a lot in 
the proposal to reduce plasti c packaging  but also to make  plastic packaging more circular. One of 
the main drivers for circularity is to get to a high quality 'closed loop' recycl ed content. Recycled 
content means that we come up with minimal inclusion rates for post-consumer recycled  content in 
plastic  packaging and these inclusion rates are product requirements. I mentioned already that the 
whole architecture of the proposal of the Regulation is that we will work in the future with product 
requirements, so these will be established f or recyclability  and recycled content etc. W e will require 
the manufacturer or produc er to ensure  – for instance , if he places a plastic water bottle on EU 
market in 2030 – that 30% of this new plastic water bottle comes from recycled plastic. This is the 
product requirement imposed on the economic operator.  
2.20.  For other content -sensitive  packaging , we differentiate between PET as a major component 
and other content -sensitive packaging, for instance, single -use content material. Therefore, for 
plastics other than PET, we only require 10% of recycled content because we still do not have the 
improved technology for plastic polymers other than PET. For non -content -sensitive packaging, we 
can come up with higher rec ycled content requirements because of course there are not such 
demanding requirements regarding safety or technology.  
2.21.  Following on from the main intervention areas to the more enabling measures, one of the 
biggest deliverables, which is very much apprecia ted by industry and third country companies, is 
EU-harmonized labels on packaging. On each packaging, we will come up with an EU -harmonized 
label as to the composition and especially the correct sorting and disposal of the specific packaging. 
The packaging  will not only have a pictogram to facilitate consumer packaging, but also the 
receptacle, i.e. the waste bin or waste bag will have the same pictogram as the product so that the 
consumer will be able to easily sort packaging into the correct waste bin. Go od waste sorting is the 
start for a recycling value chain.  
2.22.  We have also come up with other labelling rules. We have a harmonized label for packaging 
which is going into the deposit and return system; we have a harmonized label for reusable 
packaging; and we will come up with harmonized criteria to label the recycled content in plastic 
packaging to avoid greenwashing. We will also prohibit misleading and confusing labelling.  
2.23.  In order to ensure a good recovery of plastic bottles and aluminium cans, we have set up 
mandatory Deposit Return Systems (DRS) . We know that, in some Member States, this is already 
mandatory and in those countries you can easily see DRS systems with a greater than  90% collection 
rate of such packaging items. This will improve the whole  value chain because packaging recovered 
by DRS has a very good purity, so this is very much in the interests of the waste management 
industry. We also allow Member States to go beyond our scope if they want to establish DRS systems 
for single -use packagin g or other multi -use DRS systems.  WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  2.24.  For some time now, we have established the 'polluter pays' principle so the user of the 
packaging must pay for the collection and the proper end -of-life treatment. In the proposal, we also 
propose the streamlining, simpli fication and alignment of national EPR systems in order to have 
economic benefits for all operators active in waste management.  
2.25.  Finally, when it comes to customs, as already mentioned, we have product requirements or 
sustainability requirements at product  level, so in the EU market we came up with a compliance 
system or compliance check, which is a task for the Member States' market surveillance authorities. 
The companies have to have technical documentation that their packaging complies with our product 
rules. When it comes to imports, of course, the importer has the function of the responsible operator 
placing the product on the market and the importer has to ensure compliance with these 
requirements. Full digitalization  is already in place  in this respec t for imports  and the customs 
authorities are quite familiar with these internal market rules and enforcement at EU borders of 
these surveillance systems , which are covered by Regulation 2019/2010 . We have just added 
packaging  to the Annex to this  framewor k legislation about market surveillance.  
2.26.  Following this presentation, some delegations had the following reactions.  
2.27.  The representative  of the Russian Federation  delivered the following statement : 
2.28.  Russia thanks the EU for its explanations on its new propos al on a regulation on packaging 
and packaging waste. We appreciate and support the efforts taken to protect environment.  
2.29.  However, at its current version this particular measure seems to be just another attempt of 
the European Commission to adapt currently applied private standards of the enterprises, which are 
major consumers of plastic packaging, rather than a sincere intention to contribute to the common 
challenge of plastic pollution. The draft measure raises a number of concerns, first of all, in terms of 
its consistency with the WTO rules and relevant international standards. A few examples.  
2.30.  First, the draft measure lacks scientific justification regarding the requirements to be imposed 
in respect of the products covered.  
2.31.  Second, the definitions used i n the EU's proposal appear to be not compatible with the 
universally recognized ones fixed in the international standards. For instance, the EU's definition of 
"packaging " includes the material and additional elements from which the "packaging" has been 
produced. This approach contradicts with a number of ISO standards.  
2.32.  Third, certain provisions in the Regulation remain unclarified. For example, the term "high 
and medium quality recycling", which is neither revealed nor referred to any existing internationa l 
technical documents.  
2.33.  Concluding my statement, I would like to stress that the relevant pieces of legislation 
developed for implementation of the Green Deal can and should be substantially discussed during 
the meetings of the specific Working Bodies of t he WTO, which cover market access -related issues. 
So called, trade -related climate measures are still trade measures to be dealt with by relevant 
working bodies.  
2.34.  Transparency and openness are always appreciated and this Committee was established to 
promote  discussions on how trade can contribute to environmental sustainability. However, when 
the Member refuses to respond to fair concerns on the Green Deal raised at the CTG or CMA, 
justifying this decision by the ongoing discussions at the CTE, one can concl ude that this Member is 
pursuing the purpose of confusing others and avoiding direct comments related to the potential 
impact of these measures.  
2.35.  The representative of Thailand  delivered the following statement:  
2.36.  Thailand wishes to thank the European Union for briefing us on the EU legislation on packaging 
and packaging waste. The presentation has helped us to understand more about the effort of the 
European Union to reduce the adverse impacts of packaging and pack aging waste on the 
environment through reusability and recyclability of packaging. While we welcome the European WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  Union's objective to mitigate pollution caused by plastic waste, we have comments and concerns as 
to the implementation of the EU Regulation in  the future.  
2.37.  First, from our point of view, it is important that the European Union might consider providing 
sufficient information with regard to the definition of "reusable" and "recyclable" packaging, the 
design for recycling guidelines and the mandato ry recycled content targets for certain products as 
well as how the relevant certificates may be obtained if asked for. This will be useful for all exporters 
to the European Union to comply with the Regulation in the future.  
2.38.  Secondly, we believe that there  are many food exporters from developing countries and LDCs 
and, in this regard, we would appreciate more information on the criteria of the reused plastics for 
food and consumption goods. Moreover, it might be useful for developing countries and LDCs to 
learn more from the European Union on the studies and the assessment of the impact of the reuse 
obligations on the environment, notably in relation to the collection, cleaning and transport of 
packaging, as well as technical performance, and on human health  due to the decrease in hygiene 
standards, especially the reuse of food packaging.  
2.39.  Third, we know that many exporters or retailers operate across the market and source their 
products from different markets and product packaging as well may be sourced from  various places. 
In this respect, we think that common rules of reusable and recyclable packaging should be clear 
and simple in order to avoid market distortions and unfair competitive advantage.  
2.40.  Lastly, my delegation wishes to thank the European Union once again for its presentation and 
looks forward to the discussion with the European Union once we receive more feedback from 
stakeholders in the future.  
2.41.  The representative of Congo , on behalf of the African  Group , delivered the following 
statement:  
2.42.  This statement is made on behalf of the African Group.  The African Group takes note of the 
presentation of the European Union on packaging and packaging waste, and will share its 
observations soon.  
2.43.  Regarding the EU's Green Deal, introducing a carbon borde r adjustment mechanism , the idea 
of which is to apply the CO2 price set by the European carbon market to imported industrial products, 
the African Group wonders if this measure is effective for the protection of the environment?  
2.44.  It should be noted that , initially, the establishment of the carbon market consisted in freeing 
up resources to finance the development and ecological transition of developing countries whose 
contribution to global warming is insignificant. It is therefore a tool which aimed to im plement the 
principles of polluter -pays and common but differentiated responsibility. Therefore, one of the 
questions that could be asked is whether the European measures would release resources to finance 
the ecological transition of Africa, whose share o f pollution is the lowest in the world, or if they would 
be an additional technical barrier to market access.  
2.45.  Measures to combat climate change, including unilateral measures, must not constitute a 
means of arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination or a di sguised restriction on international trade. In 
this context, the African Group calls on the European Union to respect the rules of the WTO.  
2.46.  The representative of Fiji delivered the following statement:  
2.47.  Fiji wishes to thank the European Union for its presen tation and its leadership in this area. 
The EU is globally renowned as it consists of some of the world's most advanced economies with 
efficient and modern technologies, as we have noted today with the proposal for a Regulation on 
innovative packaging and packaging waste. It is critical that the EU continues to lead in sustainable 
and green technologies, including recycling and packaging, and contributing to saving our planet 
and sharing technologies with Members who would want to learn more from the EU's a pproach, 
including my delegation.  
2.48.  Fiji also wishes to align its statement with that to be delivered by Kenya on behalf of the 
ACP Group . The OECD projects that the world's greenhouse gas emissions will increase by 70% in WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  2050 and will continue to grow ther eafter. This could lead to a rise in world temperatures of 
4 degrees Celsius above pre -industrial levels and possibly 6 degrees Celsius by 2100. The social and 
human consequences will be unimaginable, including the immense economic costs. We have also 
seen reports suggesting that climate change might be occurring faster than ever thought and, most 
recently, as we have noticed in the case of Vanuatu, the country was hit by two tropical cyclones 
within 24 hours, which was unprecedented. There are various othe r examples and science available 
on the nexus between greenhouse gas emissions and the resultant repercussions on livelihood. It 
has also been noted that small island developing economies like Fiji and the Pacific islands are at 
the forefront of these clim ate extremes and will remain discriminatorily affected.  
2.49.  The UNCTAD reports, for instance in 2022, stated that in the 2000's SIDS endured fewer than 
10 major natural disasters per year. Over the past two decades, 20 major natural disasters have 
struck SIDS  each year, resulting in the loss of life, infrastructural damages, coastal erosion, flooding 
and permanent land submersion resulting from the rise in sea level or other losses that people have 
to bear. Indeed, there is a close nexus between development an d climate extremes.  
2.50.  In this regard, we are calling on the European Union and all countries to remain committed 
to implementing robust CO2 emissions and climate ambition targets in all respects of its development 
and also to remain committed to climate fin ance.  
2.51.  The representative of Kenya , on behalf of the ACP Group , delivered the following statement:  
2.52.  I make this intervention on behalf of the ACP Group. The ACP Group appreciates the 
presentation from the European Union today on packaging and packaging waste. We will discuss it 
further internally and come back with observations.  
2.53.  Regarding the discussion on the EU Green Deal, we recognize that collectively 'business as 
usual' can no longer be the currency. However, there is a need to be realisti c in terms of the effort 
that can be deployed by individual countries in achieving climate -related goals such as transitioning 
towards a net zero economies and the nexus with trade. This is not to say that only a few must 
shoulder the responsibility of ste ering the global economy towards a sustainable future. We must all 
act as stewards accountable to our own citizens to begin with. Nonetheless, we must bear in mind 
that economic realities on the ground significantly differ, especially against the backdrop of the 
COVID -19 pandemic. This reality impacts priorities and needs, in particular, Members of the ACP 
Group face the difficult task and challenge of rebuilding our economies, creating jobs, and servicing 
and lowering our debt burden.  
2.54.  The WTO provides a u nique forum to provide global transparency to discuss and debate trade 
measures and promote cooperation. MC12 delivered not only an historic agreement pertaining to 
fisheries subsidies but also a commitment to foster dialogue within the CTE with a view to stimulate 
better understanding of the nexus between trade measures and environment measures. In this 
spirit, we would like to ask the European Union the following questions relating to the discussions in 
October last year.  
2.55.  Regarding the CBAM, will the European Union  be presenting to this Committee the 
methodology that has informed the reporting of carbon emissions? Will all companies without any 
distinction be subject to reporting of those carbon emissions or will there be scope for flexibilities or 
assista nce for small and medium -sized exporters?  
2.56.  With regard to the EU's initiative on Deforestation, we would like to find out what cooperation 
activities the European Union  has undertaken with partner countries and how such activities can be 
extended to a wide r group of Members. Has the European Union  examined thoroughly which ACP 
States' exports to the European Union  will be affected? If the mechanism initially applies to cement, 
iron and steel, aluminium fertilisers, electricity, and possibly electricity used  to produce the product, 
what kind of support does the European Union have in mind for ACP countries, including LDCs? 
Lastly,  like others,  the ACP Group would urge the European Union to follow the requirements of the 
WTO rules.  
2.57.  The representative of Ugand a, on behalf of the LDC Group , delivered the following statement : WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  2.58.  I make this statement on behalf of the LDC Group. We want to thank the European Union for 
their presentation . We think that it is useful to exchange ideas and experiences on the issue of 
packaging and packaging waste.  
2.59.  Our view generally though concerning environmental protection measures is that we support 
protection of the environment , which of course is global and has a trade -related impact , however, 
measures must be consistent with WTO rul es. Principally, measures must not be disguised 
restriction s on trade or implemented in an arbitrary or discriminatory manner. It might also be 
helpful in these discussions to remind ourselves of Article 3.5 of the UNFCCC, which states that 
"Measures to co mbat climate change, including unilateral ones, should not constitute a means of 
arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination or a disguised restriction to international trade".  
2.60.  In addition, appropriate consultations should take place with LDCs on  the impact on LDC trade 
and economic development. Climate change is intrinsically a major development issue p osing 
systemic challenges to LDCs and any meaningful discussions must simultaneously address the 
double challenges arising from climate change to both the env ironment and development.  
2.61.  In this regard, we would like to refer to the discussion that took place at the October 2022 
CTE. On our behalf, Bangladesh expressed the need to study these regulations and reserved the 
right to come back to them.  
2.62.  Initiatives to  protect our environment are important. However, we seek clarifications from the 
European Union  on its CBAM, deforestation and other planned regulations, whether major export 
products from LDCs are likely to be impacted in the short, medium and long term? We also ask all 
Members introducing low carbon emissions regulations if they have done assessments on the impact 
on LDC exports. Any measures need to be consistent with Members' commitments under the 
principles of the UNFCCC , as well as the WTO principles and obligations, reflecting the dimension of 
historical carbon leakage in their proposed schemes.  
2.63.  As provided in the UNCTAD LDC Report 2022 , entitled "The Low -Carbon transition and its 
Daunting Implications for structural Transformation ", in the years 1750 to 2019, LDCs accounted for 
only 3% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions. The principle of common but differentiated 
responsibility  therefore  must be adhered to in a trade -based  organization such as the WTO.  
2.64.  We need to move forward in the sp irit of the UNF CCC Conference in Bali 2007 where Members 
agreed to enable the full, effective and sustained implementation of the UNF CCC Convention through 
long-term cooperative action around a shared vision.  
2.65.  In many LDC countries experiencing climate cha nge-induced severe drought, governments 
are being forced to reallocate funds budgeted for education and health just to distribute food relief 
and these trade -offs have an immediate and long -term impact on the lives, health and future  of our 
people . 
2.66.  Against th is backdrop, and looking at the future and nature of LDC exports, which are 
predominantly commodities, the impact of measures on LDCs stands to be crippling. At the same 
time, some of us are sources of rare earth minerals and others targeted for environment 
technologies. We are trying, in our development, to achieve the goal of diversification and moving 
up the value chain. Measures that act as barriers to LDC exports also create  high costs  for producers 
and make it difficult for us to adapt to th ese new realities.   
2.67.  We look forward therefore to discussions with our trading partners who are introducing 
measures so that we can better inform our capitals of the impact on our trade. As some delegations 
raised in October, already the impact of rejection s of imports from developing countries are taking 
place. Impact on LDCs would have an even more severe impact.  So if transition periods are provided 
to comply with standards that are consistent with the WTO rules contemplated, we need more 
information on h ow this will work for LDCs if our products are to be covered by any such  measure.  
2.68.  Again I will refer back to the 2022 LDC Report , which notes  that trade policy instruments 
targeting emission s reduction s could have a devastating impact on the relative price s of LDC exports, 
even when our countries are exempted. Such policies, the Report adds, may exacerbate trade 
imbalances for LDCs by introducing cost disparities for exporters.  So we urge that, instead of punitive WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  actions, what is needed is an incentive -based approach. A positive and offensive trade and 
environment agenda should focus on facilitating green technology transfers; expanding 
trade-climate finance; and providing adequate policy and fiscal space to developing and LDCs for 
designing their integrate d trade  and environment  development strategies.  
2.69.  LDCs are endowed with vast tracts of land, diverse natural resources, untapped renewable 
energy potential, and youthful, dynamic populations that , properly deployed, could contribute 
significantly to global e fforts to combat climate change whil e unlocking new economic opportunities.  
2.70.  To conclude, a ccording to UNCTAD, climate vulnerable countries and LDCs pay nearly 10 % 
more on overall interest costs for development finance as climate change effects are transmitted to 
sovereign credit profiles through weaker economic activity, damage to infrastructure, rising social 
costs associated with climate shocks (access to health and food), and population displacement.   
2.71.  We should therefore focus on working on the implementation of regulations with a positive 
spill over  to cooperation and transitioning for everyone.  
2.72.  The representative of Korea  delivered the following statement:  
2.73.  We thank the EU for its comprehensive presentation on packaging and packaging waste. There 
was a lot of content  in the slides, so it will take some time to digest it and we will revert back after 
we have looked at it internally.  
2.74.  My delegation firmly believes that the EU 's regulation on packaging and packaging waste, 
Carbon Border Adjustment M echanism (CBAM) and other related measures included in the European 
Green Deal should be discussed thoroughly in a multilateral setting so that  they will not act as 
unnecessary barriers to trade.  
2.75.  As for the CBAM, we have deep concerns over its design and structure that might not be in 
compatibility with WTO rules.  For example, there are several requirements for foreign companies 
that do not exist in the EU -ETS, which do not conform to the national treatment principle, as well as 
the possibility of quantita tive restrictions on imports.   
2.76.  As we have seen at the Trade Forum on the Steel Industry last Thursday, there were several 
concerns raised by industry representatives on this issue.  There w ere concern s that the CBAM would 
drive up administrative costs and b urdens that would delay investments and deployment of other 
decarbonization and environment -friendly efforts in the various sectors.  Furthermore, there were 
also concern s that the CBAM would not take account of the various carbon reduction efforts made 
by other Members, and also would not recognize that these efforts are relative to the conditions and 
circumstances of each country.  Finally, there is no single international standard for measuring 
embedded emissions, and this would have to be deliberated and predetermined in a multilateral fora 
beforehand to ensure that we all have an equal footing.  
2.77.  On a different note, continuous efforts should be made at this Committee to harmonize and 
proliferate best practices, as there is limitation on what a single coun try can achieve to combat 
climate change  and other environmental challenges . We should also actively engage in concerted 
efforts with the UN and other international organizations in this global challenge.  
2.78.  The representative of Norway  delivered the followi ng statement : 
2.79.  Norway would like to thank the EU Commission for the presentation and we welcome and 
support the proposal for a regulation to ensure more consistency within EU Member States' policies 
and the increased efforts to address the environmental imp acts of packaging and packaging waste 
today.  
2.80.  We note that the EU Commission has built, among other things, on the experience that 
Norway and other Nordic countries have with our Deposit Return Systems for beverage packaging, 
including harmonized symbols f or all packaging and waste fractions. We believe these systems yield 
very good results. We will be willing to share relevant experiences as the EU now propose that 
deposit and return systems are set up in all EU Member States.  WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  2.81.  The representative of Argenti na delivered the following statement:  
2.82.  As we have already expressed in other meetings of this Committee, Argentina considers that 
it is necessary for the new regulations derived from the European Green Deal to respect the EU's 
commitments before the WTO and be based on scientific evidence, in o rder to ensure that its 
measures do not constitute a means of arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination, or a disguised 
restriction on international trade.  
2.83.  Argentina shares European concerns about climate change and especially shares the objective 
of produ cing food sustainably, taking into account the current challenges of safeguarding food 
security in changing climatic conditions. Within this framework, we are convinced that there is no 
single model to achieve environmental protection, and that environment al degradation, including 
climate change, must be combated while respecting the central principle of Common But 
Differentiated Responsibilities. Therefore, the solutions must be adapted to local realities, and the 
policies and initiatives that are proposed  for the legitimate purpose of protecting the environment 
must be flexible, pragmatic, implementable and realistic, as well as the most effective to achieve 
the objective sought.  
2.84.  For Argentina, the fight against climate change is a commitment of all and th e actions we 
undertake, as well as the instruments we use, must be respectful of international commitments and 
not restrict international trade more than is necessary to achieve legitimate objectives, nor constitute 
a disguised restriction on international  trade.  We will send our full intervention so that it is recorded 
in the minutes of the meeting . 
2.85.  The representative of Brazil  delivered the following statement:  
2.86.  Brazil thanks the European Union for its helpful presentation on the EU Regulation on 
packaging  and packaging waste, which we will study in detail. The European Union is not only a 
major trading partner for Brazil but also a Member with which we share perspectives on the 
importance of preserving the multilateral trading system and achieving a sustai nable future and a 
decarbonized economy.  
2.87.  Brazil remains concerns about some aspects of the EU Green Deal, such as the CBAM, that 
involve unilateral trade measures resulting in unnecessary negative impacts on international trade 
and contrary to commitments  made by Members in other fora. Historical responsibilities means that 
countries that industrialized first benefited from cheap more polluting energy sources should bear a 
larger brunt of the costs of emission reduction. In both the UNFCCC and the Paris Ag reements, the 
EU has agreed to take into account the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and 
respective capabilities. We call upon the European Union to fulfil that commitment and avoid 
measures that attempt to impose specific standards  and decarbonization strategies on other 
economies.  
2.88.  Brazil remains committed to work together with the EU and other Members at the WTO and 
the UNFCCC to achieve our common goals of sustainable development and effective solutions to 
climate change.  
2.89.  The representative of Egypt  delivered the following statement:  
2.90.  First, we thank the EU for their presentation on the EU proposal for a regulation on packaging 
and packaging waste. We are looking forward to holding discussions with the EU delegation to 
addre ss some clarifications about the above -mentioned regulation. However, we reiterate our 
position that trade -related measures pertaining to environment and climate change and greenhouse 
gas emission goals should be consistent with WTO rules. They should be t ransparent and take the 
special needs of developing countries and LDCs into consideration and help them increase their share 
in international trade as recognized in paragraphs 1 and 2 of the Marrakesh Agreement.  
2.91.  Members shall avoid the adoption and applica tion of unilateral measures that will create 
unnecessary or disguised barriers to trade and avoid those measures that might have a detrimental 
effect on trade flows, especially from developing countries and LDCs.  WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  2.92.  As for CBAM, according to studies that hav e been conducted by some research centres and 
international organizations like UNCTAD, Egypt will be among the top 20 countries most affected by 
CBAM with its real income falling per annum by 391 million dollars. Exports of energy products from 
Egypt to th e EU are expected to decline by 8.7% and it may lead to an erosion to the preferences 
granted to the concerned Egyptian products within the framework of the EU -Egypt Association 
Agreement.  
2.93.  Egypt believes that, in order to preserve transparency and integri ty within the multilateral 
trading system, all trade -related climate change measures, including the various forms of carbon 
pricing and associated taxes, should be subject to deep and comprehensive discussions and analysis 
within the WTO in order to adopt common understanding of the challenges posed and to collectively 
figure out the best possible approach to achieve sustainable development in all countries.  
2.94.  The representative s of the European Union  responded :  
2.95.  Thank you for the pertinent questions and issu es. For the responses related to packaging, let 
me recall again that we heard much about climate change and I can give you a bit more detail. The 
proposal on packaging will , instead of an increase  from 59 million tonnes to 66 million tonnes of CO2 
per year  from the packaging sector , result in a decrease in CO2 equivalent s by 23 million tonnes 
down to 43 million tonnes in 2030. This is one very positive impact of the proposal – the EU sector 
of packaging and packaging waste will decrease almost one -third of its emissions by 2030.  
2.96.  As for the Norwegian position, it shows that Norway is very like -minded, shares the same 
problem and how to address it. As for the comments from Thailand regarding recycled content 
requirements for plastic packaging, in our impact  assessment, we had a very thorough analysis 
about how many recyclates are needed in order to ensure that the volume and quantities that we 
require in this proposal are available for plastic packaging producers . Our impact assessment even 
shows that we cou ld go much higher in the inclusion rate percentages and still there would be enough 
recyclates for the market to cope. But , from the onset, we already exempted several areas where 
we say there might be, for other reasons such as regulatory reasons, a hinde rance to incorporate 
recyclates – for instance, medical device packaging is exempted from the outset. On top of this, the 
Commission will very diligently observe the markets for these recyclates and if, for instance, for a 
certain food packaging applicatio n there is not enough recyclate available on the market we will of 
course exempt such plastic packaging from the recycled content requirement in order to avoid that 
there are any disruptions in supply chains.  
2.97.  Regarding the other concern from Thailand regar ding hygiene and food safety issues, we have 
studied this and take this very seriously. All measures are fully checked against the very high EU 
food hygiene standards. It was very important for us in the elaboration of the proposal to address 
all these con cerns properly with specific focus on the reusable and refillable packaging that we want 
to facilitate , and all of this is done against our baseline that food safety and hygiene should not be 
undermined.  
2.98.  We received your message s loud and clearly , which ha s motivated us to offer dedicated 
sessions on Deforestation and CBAM during Trade and Environment Week, during which we are 
happy to continue to engage with all these questions and I am sure that we can also look at bilatera ls. 
2.99.  To react to the representati ves of the African Group, if you look at our impact assessment s, 
Africa is barely or not at all affected by CBAM so I think , from that perspective , we are OK to the 
extent that there is an impact , of course , and we are already in contact with our developme nt 
programmes. We also fully agree that unilateral measures should not constitute an arbitrary measure 
or discrimination or a disguised barrier to trade and should comply with WTO rules. Responding to 
several interventions, we have really very carefully lo oked at all aspects of this and I believe that 
we have a non -discriminatory measure that is necessary and complies with WTO rules.  
2.100.   Thank you to Fiji for its intervention. We will remain committed to climate finance and 
development packages and as a matter of fact the EU and its Member States are the biggest donors 
with substantial support and finance. In response to Kenya, on behalf of the ACP Group, thank you 
for your intervention and, as I said, development should indeed be taken into account. It is a cau se 
very dear to our heart. You asked, on CBAM, whether the EU would be presenting its methodologies. 
What I can inform you of is that we have an open expert group with Member States, business and WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  third countries as observers, but we will certainly at any s tage – and we have done that already – 
be open to discussions here. If you look at our WTO Reform Paper , we even propose carbon emission 
methodologies as a possible topic for thematic discussions, so we are definitely very open and ready 
and very grateful that, in parallel to our internal exercise, there is a very lively international 
discussion. Of course, these two need to be aligned.  
2.101.   As for the question will all companies be subject to CBAM or is there flexibility for small and 
medium enterprises, by mea ns of example there is already flexibility for the transitional periods, a 
difference of 18 and 24 months.  
2.102.   In response to the question regarding what deforestation cooperation activity the EU has 
undertaken, it exceeds a bit what I can expand on here but we are  definitely  looking into cooperation 
as an important part of our external strategy , not only because of the Deforestation Regulation but 
also more broadly with the Forestry Partnerships. Africa is a very important continent for this and 
we have a var iety of tools – a cocoa initiative with a couple of countries in Africa, but also with 
others  – and I believe that we also had a recent visit of timber mines. This is definitely being looked 
at now but will also be further developed.  
2.103.   I think that I respon ded to most of Korea's concerns. We have had several bilaterals with 
Korea so we have also had an opportunity to clarify that and, as I said, we are absolutely all in and 
will happily contribute and work internationally to stimulate best practices. We also  agree that we 
need to align our efforts with other international organizations.  
2.104.   Thank you to Norway, Argentina, and Brazil, I take note of your statements. I note that, 
regarding the CBDR principles, I appreciate that that is your view, I can confirm that  we are fully 
supportive of development but do see that there is a difference in the rationale of the way we look 
at things here in this setting in the WTO and under the Paris Agreement, which does not mean that 
we should not push development and support f or implementing the measures.  
2.105.   Egypt, thank you and we also take note of your comment. In short, we look forward to 
continued engagement. Kristina  (Grutschreiber)  is here , so if y ou have any suggestions or 
expectations for our presentations in June, both on  Deforestation and on CBAM, do pass it on to 
Kristina so that we can make the best presentation and interaction that you are looking for. We will 
set aside time and come with all the troops! We look forward to it.   
2.106.   The representative of Ukraine  delivered t he following stateme nt: 
2.107.   I wanted to start by saying I am sorry that I could not join you today in person but I am 
happy to participate virtually. First of all, Ukraine thanks the European Union for another, informative 
update on its Green Deal initiative. We continue to follow closely the ongoing developments in the 
area of trade -related environmental measures and welcome the EU's and other Members' dedication 
to be transparent about their processes and being open for discussion.  
2.108.   During each CTE meeting now , more topics are brought under agenda item "Environmental 
Measures and Market Access " and an increased number of Members take the floor. Today, too, in 
addition to the EU's presentation, we are expecting to hear from New Zealand, the United Kingdom, 
and the co -sponsors of the Dialogue on Plastics Pollution and Environmentally Sustainable P lastics 
Trade on their work and initiatives to make trade more environmentally responsive. Ukraine firmly 
believes that it is a good tendency, as an alignment of trade and environmental policies is an 
important, complex issue that needs to be thoroughly ex amined and discussed.  
2.109.   Despite Russia's ongoing military aggression, Ukraine continues its work on addressing 
climate change through local and global initiatives, adopting in 2022 the law on waste management  
and joining in 2023 the Coalition of Trade Minist ers on Climate.  
2.110.   Still, we reiterate our position that within these walls we should not only be discussing 
measures that aim to protect the environment but  also looking into those that  are deliberately 
harming other Members ' environment and affect ing trade,  as well.  
2.111.   During the CTE and other WTO bodies' meetings , Ukraine has provided you with information 
on how Russia's invasion drastically affects environmental safety and international trade . Once WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  again , we underscore that Russia's disruption of trade routes  and supply chains, shelling of Ukraine's 
NPPs, including the one in Zaporizhzhia, which  is the largest one in Europe, destruction of 
infrastructure, residential buildings, fuel depots and gas lines, coke plants, factories, agricultural 
enterprises, oil re fineries, and draining of Kakhovka Reservoir, that provided drinking water for 
hundreds of thousands of residents, irrigation for nearly half  a million acres of farmland, and the 
cooling system for the Zaporizhzhia NPP, cause devastating damage to the envi ronment, undermine 
global trade and aggravate already devastating food and energy crises . Most importantly , these 
negative repercussions of the war cannot be and are not contained within Ukrainian borders.  
2.112.   Negative influence of Russia's atrocities in Ukrai ne on the multilateral trading system, 
environmental safety and food availability, to name but a few, is obvious . It is crucial to prevent 
further aggravation of already devastating crises. Hence, we need to put an end to Russia's ability 
and desire to wag e this war of aggression and to weaponize human suffering.  
2.113.   We would like to use this opportunity to commend our partners for their unwavering, much 
needed and appreciated help in mitigating the negative repercussions of Russia's war of aggression 
and rest oration of Ukraine's environment . We call on other WTO Members for support to deprive 
Russia of its ability to finance the war, which brings death and suffering and undermine s the  
multilateral trading system.  
2.114.   The representative of Canada  delivered the following statement:  
2.115.   It has now been more than a year since Russia 's illegal invasion of Ukraine, an event that 
has had catastrophic effects on Ukraine, its neighbours, and people around the world. For a year, 
Ukraine has endured staggering levels of human suffering and destruction, including to its natural 
environment, and its ability to participate in the global trading system has been severely impaired. 
We must stand united against this unprovoked and illegal invasion and these attempted a nnexations.  
2.116.   The representative of Australia  delivered the following statement:  
2.117.   Australia too would like to join Canada and Ukraine in condemning Russia's illegal invasion 
of Ukraine. The costs of this, as already stated by my Canadian colleague, is truly s hocking and 
unbearable and they extend beyond the human cost, they extend the costs of trade regime, the 
economic development of the world, the food security crisis the world is currently experiencing, and 
indeed environment, which has quite relevance to t his Committee. We call on Russia to immediately 
end its war in Ukraine.  
2.118.   The representative of the United States  delivered the following statement:  
2.119.   I would like to thank Ukraine for their comments  this afternoon. The United States has made 
its position quite clear on numerous occasions regarding Russia's unwarranted and illegal war of 
aggression against Ukraine, we said this before, but we'll say it again, Russia's actions do contravene  
the princip les and values of the WTO. Respect for WTO Members ' sovereignty is crucial to maintain 
open and predictable market and facilitating international trade. We call upon all Members of this 
organization to condemn unequivocally Russia's war of aggression and i ts attempt to acquire 
territory by force.  
2.120.   The representative of  Korea  delivered the following statement:  
2.121.   The Korean government strongly condemns Russia 's armed invasion against Ukraine, as a 
violation of the principles of the UN Charter and international law. As we have heard from our 
Ukrain ian colleague, Russia 's action would also have serious impact on the environment and 
sustainability goals, which are core objectives of this meeting and the WTO. Ukraine 's sovereignty, 
territorial integrity and independ ence must be respected.  
2.122.   The representative of  Norway  delivered the following statement:  
2.123.   We would like to thank Ukraine for its powerful statement. Norway joins others in 
condemning in the strongest possible terms the unprecedented military aggression of th e Russian 
Federation against Ukraine. Let me express Norway 's concern for the severe destruction and human 
suffering this illegal act of aggression is causing. By its unprovoked, unjustified, and premeditated WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  military actions, and attempts to annex territo ry of another WTO Member, the Russian Federation is 
grossly violating international law, the core principles on which the international rule -based order is 
built, including the WTO, and the fundamental principles of the UN charter that has prevailed since 
the second World War. Let me conclude by reiterating that we stand in solidarity, as long as it takes, 
with Ukraine and the Ukrainian people.  
2.124.   The representative of the European Union  delivered the following statement:  
2.125.   Let me too , thank Ukraine for its comm ents. The EU joins others in resolutely condemning 
Russia's continued aggression in Ukraine. The EU is deeply concerned about the global consequences 
of this war, including on the environment. Russia's war is causing widespread damage in Ukraine 
and beyond , and it is intensifying the triple planetary crisis . The EU urges Russia to stop its 
indiscriminate attacks and to immediately and unconditionally withdrew its troops and military 
equipment from the entire territory of Ukraine within its internationally r ecogni zed borders.   
2.126.   The representative of New Zealand  delivered the following statement:  
2.127.   Like others who have spoken, New Zealand continues to strongly condemn Russia's illegal 
and unjustified aggression against Ukraine and to urge an end to this.  
2.128.   The representative of the United Kingdom  delivered the following statement:  
2.129.   I would like to than k Ukraine for their intervention and their explanation of the horrific 
environmental cost as well as wider human costs of this illegal war. I think that they can put it more 
eloquently than we ever could in that respect. As others have said, the United Kin gdom firmly stands 
with Ukraine and calls on Russia to end this war.  
2.130.   The representative of Japan  delivered the following statement:  
2.131.   Japan would like to echo other speakers. Japan appreciates the statement made by the 
Ukrainian colleague who is suffering f rom the current situation of Russian aggression. It is a year 
since Russia began its aggression against Ukraine, which Japan strongly condemns. Russia must 
first and foremost cease its military aggression and withdraw its troops immediately and 
uncondition ally.  
2.132.   The representative of Moldova  delivered the following statement:  
2.133.   We would also like to update Ukraine for their update in this Committee. From the first day 
of the war, Moldova condemned Russia's aggression in Ukraine – a war that has caused destruc tion 
and suffering in our neighbouring country, in the region, and on the entire European continent. We 
would like to join other Members who have spoken before us and we would also like to reiterate our 
support to Ukraine and the Ukrainian people fleeing t his war. We will continue to stand in solidarity 
with them as long as it takes and we call upon Russia to stop this war immediately and 
unconditionally.  
2.134.   The representative of Iceland  delivered the following statement:  
2.135.   Let me join others in condemning in t he strongest possible terms the ongoing illegal invasion 
of Russia in Ukraine. The ongoing Russian invasion has had a devastating effect on the environment, 
on sustainability and on trade in Ukraine and on a global scale. We continue to support Ukraine and  
once upon call on Russia to cease its aggression and immediately remove its forces from 
internationally recognized Ukrainian territory.  
2.136.   The representative of Switzerland  delivered the following statement:  
2.137.   Switzerland condemns the military aggression agai nst Ukraine in the strongest possible 
terms. It's a flagrant violation of the international law, particularly regarding resulting to use of 
force, and its attack on the territorial integrity of a state. Our organi zation strives to see that laws 
are complie d with, and it does have an impact on our daily work. Switzerland is calling on Russia to 
comply with its international obligations and withdraw its troops and stop escalating the war 
militarily. There is also need to respect international humanitarian law .  WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  2.138.   The representative of  the Russia n Federation  delivered the following statement:  
2.139.   The issue raised by the certain delegations is irrelevant to today 's discussions and detracts 
other Members from working on mandated issues. I would like to urge Members to concentrate on 
the issues related to the agenda of this meeting.  
2.2  Recent developments on fossil fuel subsidy reform  (FFSR)   
2.140.   The representative of New Zealand  delivered the following statement:  
2.141.   At the last meeting of the Committee on the Trade and  Environment in October we were 
pleased to report on behalf of the group on the first WTO meeting on Fossil Fuel Subsidy Reform, 
convened pursuant to the joint high -level statement on the Fossil Fuel Subsidy Reform and its 
high-level workplan that we issue d at the MC12. The second meeting of this initiative was held on 
15 February, following the programme mapped out in high -level workplan, this meeting focused 
particularly on the social and development elements of the Fossil Fuel Subsidy Reform.  
2.142.   As of its first meeting last year, February's meeting was also very well attended by a cross 
sections of WTO Members, both co -sponsors  of the joint statement and others. And at the meeting 
in February, we were very pleased to welcome Colombia joining the initiative as the 48th co -sponsor . 
The meeting opened with an update from the UNFCCC on development at COP27 in Sharm El -Sheikh. 
Briefing was also provided by Ecuador on launch and objectives of the Coalition of Trade Ministers 
on Climate. With reference to the socia l dimension theme, presentations included an outline of recent 
analysis of the social and economic distributional effects of fossil fuel subsidies from the International 
Institute for Sustainable Development, a presentation by the Clean Cooking Alliance on  the work 
that it is doing to improve access to the clean cooking fuel for poor communities in developing 
countries and an explanation from the EU on its recently established Social Climate Fund.   
2.143.   Under the Development section of the agenda, the group bene fited from presentation from 
Costa Rica on its National Decarbonatization Plan and associated strategies to advance its climate 
objectives, as well as briefings from UNDP and UNCTAD examining most specifically the issues for 
developing countries arising fr om fossil fuel subsidies and particular challenges in undertaking the 
fossil fuel subsidy reform. Themes emerging from these sessions included: the need to assist the 
differing impacts of subsidies over time, for example to examine what subsidies are desig ned to 
provide short  term boost to production or employment or temporary relief from price increases may 
entail over the longer term in increasing dependency on high carbon energy sources and hampering 
economic diversification. And as an additional theme, was the complex interplay between the 
objective and the design and the implementation of the fossil fuel subsidies, with the social impacts 
not always mirroring the intended objectives.  
2.144.   The usefulness of the phased approach to reform and undertaking subsi dy reform as the 
part of the wider package of Energy Security Response measures and Green Growth Transition 
measures was underlined, as well as the value of complementary policies to mitigate adverse short 
term social or development effects of subsidy refo rm. Strategies to help developing counties address 
particular challenges in subsidy reform, as well as the importance of the reform as part of managing 
the risks from energy price fluctuations for developing countries, including fiscal and balance of 
payme nt risks were discussed. And several of the presentations outlined a range of support tools 
available to assist developing countries in designing, communicating, implementing, and monitoring 
subsidy reform programme.  
2.145.   In concluding, in February , Members di scussed next steps. There was agreement to  
undertake further work in following three areas: information to understand the extent the temporary 
measures introduced in response to the current energy crisis and the approaches to help ensure that 
these are tar geted, temporary and timebound. This could for example help inform best practice 
guidelines in this area. Preparation of an overview paper to provide a deeper understanding of the 
current landscape of existing fossil fuel subsidies, for example broken down  by sector, purpose, and 
impact. Draw on the extensive body of work that has been produced in other relevant organi zations 
and thirdly, promoting further transparency through the use of the existing WTO mechanisms, such 
as trade policy reviews, including b y compiling existing questions and information provided under 
these mechanisms.  WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  2.146.   The important and timely nature of these more intensive discussions on fossil fuel subsidy 
reform was underlined by the issue last month by the International Energy Agency of i ts latest 
estimates on fossil fuel subsidies levels. These estimates indicate the 2022 fossil fuel subsidies jump 
to record highs with the overall total estimate exceeding USD one trillion for the first time ever, this 
is the double the level recorded in 2 021, which was self already a high point in subsidies levels, 
reversing a period of reductions recorded in previous five years from 2015 to 2020.  
2.147.   We are looking as a group to host the next meeting on Fossil Fuel Subsidy Reform initiative 
in May -June and l ooking at that point and concentrating on taking stock of the work underway and 
then elaborating concrete options for drafting work on this issue towards MC13, as we envisaged in 
the June 2022 Ministerial Statement.  
2.148.   I would like to conclude by reiterating  that the group continues to welcome new co -sponsors . 
It was very pleasing to have Colombia join last month, and we would like to encourage those who 
haven't yet done so to become part of this very important initiative.  
2.149.   Following this presentation, some de legations had the following reactions.  
2.150.   The representative of Colombia  delivered the following statement:  
2.151.   Colombia is proud to be the 48th co -sponsor of the initiative. The elimination or halt of 
subsidies for fossil fuels and their redirection towards othe r social programs are priorities for the 
government. Colombia considers that the initiative is the ideal forum to examine the transition 
towards green energies. It is important that the resources available to developing Members to 
support it, as well as br oader sustainable transformation efforts, are taken into account. In our 
commitment to promote sustainable development in the energy sector, we are proposing a series of 
measures that seek to promote the use of renewable energy and progressively reduce dep endence 
on fossil fuels in our country.  
2.152.   Among the proposed initiatives, we are redoubling efforts to replace firewood, coal, and 
waste with clean energy for domestic use, by connecting users to public gas distribution networks 
and providing access to fuels  such as biogas or other sources of energy transition. In addition, we 
are proposing the creation of a national registry for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, 
which will allow us to offer stimulus packages to private companies so that they invest in carbon 
neutral projects instead of fossil fuels.  
2.153.   We are convinced that these measures will lead us towards a more sustainable and fair 
energy transition, and that is why we are presenting them as part of our commitment to the 
environment  
2.154.   The representat ive of Chile delivered the following statement:  
2.155.   First of all, Chile would like to thank you for the comprehensive presentation on the initiative 
related to the reform of fossil fuel subsidies. Also, thank the coordination work of the second meeting 
on thes e matters that was held on 15 February.  
2.156.   As we all know, the reform of fossil fuel subsidies is a complex task and it was very useful 
to hear different visions, policies and good practices from a social dimension, looking at the effects 
that the reform can have, through the presentations they made. the exhibitors.  
2.157.   Added to the above is the importance of collecting and analy sing information on subsidies 
and evidence of environmental damage, in order to have greater clarity on the types of subsidies  
and their impacts, particularly those that are inefficient. The objectives, cost -benefits, and social, 
economic, and environmental collateral impacts are some of the issues that surround the discussion 
of subsidies . 
2.158.   We appreciate the work carried out by N ew Zealand for this second meeting and we will 
continue to participate in this initiative that promotes a broad dialogue and allows the sharing of 
experiences . 
2.159.   The representative of  the European Union  delivered the following statement:  WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  2.160.   On behalf of the EU, I would like to thank New Zealand for the update and their work on 
taking this issue forward in the WTO. Needless to say that we also attach a lot of importance to it. 
The EU also welcomes that Colombia joined the Fossil Fuel Subsidies Reform initiativ e. We hope that 
more WTO Members will take this step in view of the importance of the issue.  
2.161.   The discussions on social and development aspects of fossil fuel subsidies showed the 
complexity of support for fossil fuel and highlighted that pathways of elimin ating fossil fuel subsidies 
need to take into account other policy objectives.  
2.162.   At the last FFSR meeting, the EU presented its new Social Climate Fund, and we would 
encourage other WTO Members to bring their own experience and policy tools to the table in future 
exchanges on this topic. I would like to underline the importance of transparency and the ideas of 
compiling already available information as one of the first steps.  
2.163.   The representative of  Japan  delivered the following statement:  
2.164.   Japan thanks New Ze aland for the comprehensive update. Regarding the Ministerial 
Statement on Fossil Fuel Subsidies adopted in December 2021, although Japan did not participate 
as a co -sponsoring country, we agree d that we will redouble our efforts toward tackling inefficien t 
fossil fuel subsidies.  Japan is also making every effort to become carbon neutral by 2050, and we 
are eager to participate in discussions at various for a.  
2.165.   On the other hand, as we have discussed in the past, it is "inefficient" fossil fuel subsidies 
that should be rationalized and eliminated. We do not believe that a one -size-fits-all approach is the 
way to proceed, but rather that effective measures need to be taken based on the circumstances of 
each country, and we do not believe that uniformly elimina ting fossil fuel subsidies is the desirable 
approach.  
2.166.   The representative of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia  delivered the following statement:  
2.167.   Saudi Arabia would like to thank New Zealand for sharing the update on the programme of 
phasing out fossil fuel subsi dies. While we encourage sharing information, the Kingdom would like 
to reiterate it s position stated during previous meetings, namely , that  this issue is under different  
forms of voluntary peer  review of inefficient fossil fuel subsidies which encourage w asteful 
consumption among some G20 Members in accordance with national priorities and needs. We believe 
issues such as this one should  not be addressed under the WTO.   
2.168.   The representative of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela  delivered the following statement:  
2.169.   We thank New Zealand for informing this Committee about the recent progress of the Fossil 
Fuel Subsidies  Reform (FFSR) , in particular , the results of its second meeting, held on 15 February. 
However, we note that, although this initiat ive has grown in the number  of co-sponsors, in reality it 
is only made up of 29% of the Members that make up the WTO, that is, 48 out of a total of 164.  
2.170.   Consequently, it is worrying that the WTO Secretariat is being asked to prepare a document 
to compile t he available information on the current situation of fossil fuel subsidies, including their 
use by sector, their purpose , and their repercussions (both environmental and commercial), when 
this request does not have the necessary consensus of all Members . 
2.171.   We stress that the CTE  is the appropriate forum in the WTO for dialogue among Members 
on the relationship between trade measures and environmental measures. However, we call 
attention to the fact that, within the Committee,  it is not possible to continue ad vancing any initiative 
contrary to the mandate and spirit of this organization.  
2.172.   The position of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, based on the 1999 National 
Constitution, is that we do not accept any type of evaluation, monitoring, report or review of our 
national energy measures and policies that affect our national sovereignty. Non -renewable resources 
such as oil are outside the scope of WTO provisions, in accordance with the exceptions in Ar ticle XX 
of the GATT 1994 . WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  2.173.   Consequently, we reiterate that w e cannot support this initiative. Although we applaud that 
many countries have begun their transformations to clean energy sources, we regret that they are 
not accessible to developing countries due to their high cost, which is why fossil fuel continues to  be 
the cheapest and most far -reaching source of energy for all. In this sense, we warn about the need 
to address this issue in the appropriate for a for it, from the perspective of financial and technological 
assistance , so that developing countries can im plement the reform of subsidies and the need for 
governments to act based on in their respective capacities .  
2.174.   For all of the above, we maintain our position of not supporting this issue being addressed 
in the WTO . 
2.175.   The representative of Switzerland  delivere d the following statement:  
2.176.   We thank New Zealand for their update on the initiative. We had the pleasure of participating 
in the very productive second meeting on social and development issues that are central issues for 
fossil fuel subsidy reform.  
2.177.   This ini tiative is essential if we are to achieve the climate goals set by the international 
community. We must work collectively to avoid pressures to subsidize fossil fuels in the immediate 
term. Switzerland is a very active Member on this issue, we are part of the Friends of Fossil Fuel 
Subsidy Reform (FFFSR) group and we are working on this issue within the framework of the Climate 
Change Agreement initiative, trade and sustainability (ACCTS). Discussing fossil fuel subsidy reform 
at the WTO is an important ste p towards progress. We reiterate that the WTO can play a central role 
in identifying the trade nexus needed for reform.  
2.178.   Switzerland remains committed to this initiative and we strongly encourage all other 
Members to join . 
2.179.   The representative of  the Russian Federation  delivered the following statement:  
2.180.   We thank New Zealand for the update. However, we would like to join concerns expressed 
by the delegation of Saudi Arabia. The fossil fuel subsidy reform is being dealt by its co -sponsors in 
a number of international fora, including G20 and APEC. This work is carried out in a voluntary 
format, by those who are in a position to do so.   
2.181.   We are sure that all WTO Members are united by the objective of creating a  more climate -
friendly world. Methods differ in different countries depending on geography and nature conditions, 
economic structures and available technologies. With that, our joint efforts here at the WTO should 
be bu ilt around those initiatives that benefit everyone. But not around individual approaches which 
take no account to the specific national circumstances of other Members.  
2.182.   The representative of Nigeria  delivered the following statement:  
2.183.   Nigeria thanks New Zeal and for their statement. Given that we are not a participant in the 
initiative on Fossil fuel subsidy reform (FFSR), we take note of the statement . We believe that our 
colleague from Venezuela has raised some pertinent issues. We are also not party to thes e trade 
and environment initiatives so we are wondering whether these initiatives have created for a for 
parties to these initiatives to make presentations and that what is discussed in those for a is 
dependent on those parties to that initiative.  
2.184.   We also wi sh to echo some of the other points raised by our colleagues from Saudi Arabia 
on this agenda item. Nigeria would like to take this opportunity to align itself with the statements 
delivered by the ACP and African Group on agenda item 2 on the issue of the EU Green Deal.  
2.185.   The Chair of the Committee noted:  
2.186.   Just to be clear, it is not the Secretariat creating the agenda item. This is a Member -driven 
organization, so this is New Zealand wishing to include this item and offering to brief us. If Nigeria 
would wish  to brief us on any item, then they would be more than welcome as well.  
2.187.   The representative of New Zealand  responded:  WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  2.188.   I would simply like to make the point that the Chair has just made – that, in providing this 
report, we are doing so for transparency purpo ses and because we wish to encourage dialogue 
across the membership on this important issue. This is an initiative under a joint statement with 
48 co-sponsors – a substantial membership of the organization – and we would like to bring these 
reports back fo r the information of this Committee and to encourage such dialogue with all Members 
while being aware of the different circumstances in relation to this issue.  
2.3  Circular economy and p lastics  pollution  
2.3.1   Update b y the coordinators  on the work of the Dialogue on Plastics Pollution and 
Environmentally Sustainable Plastics Trade (DDP) 
2.189.   The representative of Australia , on behalf of the DPP coordinators , delivered the following 
statement:  
2.190.   The work of the Dialogue on Plastic Pollution has continued with fervour since the last 
meeting of the C TE. As you would recall the Dialogue is co -coordinated by Barbados, China, Ecuador, 
Fiji, Morocco and Australia and it is a pleasure to provide this report on behalf of the coordinators.  
2.191.   We have hosted a number of meetings since the last CTE.  On 6 December , last year we 
co-hosted a workshop with UNCTAD on sustainable and effective substitutes and alternatives for 
plastics.  On 7 December 2022 , we hosted a plenary meeting, the last for 2022.  And, in this year , 
our meetings have already begun.  We hosted a pre -plenary meeting on 16 February followed by our 
first plenary of 2023 (yesterday on 13 March).  
2.192.   Since the last meeting our membership has also grown to 76 Members.  The last Member to 
join the Initi ative was the United States , which announced it would join the Dialogue at yesterday's 
plenary meeting , and was welcomed by the rest of the membership.  The 76 Members of Dialogue 
are responsible for 85% of global plastic trade  highlighting the Initiative's  broad, diverse 
membership . 
2.193.   Given we have had a number of meetings since the last CTE, I will focus my report on the 
salient elements and the most recent meetings , but for a complete summary and review of the 
recent meetings, I would like to point Members to the meeting summaries, the presentations and a 
number of specific statements made , which are available on the WTO's website.  
2.194.   Starting with the workshop on 6 December , on that occasion , there was a fantastic discussion 
for the efforts of Members and inte rested stakeholders to bring together a common understanding 
of the necessary elements that make  up 'sustainable and effective alternatives and substitutes'.   
2.195.   The workshop started with a discussion of various 'working definitions' of relevant terms for 
substitutes and alternatives  and built a compilation of the various definitions.  The workshop then 
undertook a H armonized System  Code identification exercise for trade-related measures that enable 
substitution of Single -Use Plastic Products and other "Problematic Goods by Sustainable Materials" . 
There is a useful table in the summary document, which is table 3, which identifies the relevant 
HS codes and is availab le on the WTO website.  
2.196.   The third element  of the workshop  was an identification of an illustrative extend ed list of 
potential material substitute s – breaking down the substitutes for different types of plastics, and for 
plastic alternatives.  The final eleme nt of the workshop discussion s was looking at a minimum criteria 
for lifecycle analysis and affordability, accessibility and availability.  
2.197.   At the plenary meeting on 7 December last year, Members recalled the achievements in 
discussions over the year.  There  was also a briefing on the workshop held the day before.  Discussions 
continued at that plenary on the three workstreams of the Dialogue, which include crosscutting 
issues  and developing country concerns,  circularity and reduction to tackle plastic polluti on, and the 
third workstream on promoting trade to tackle plastic pollution.  
2.198.   At the first pre-plenary meeting of this year, on 16 February  2023,  discussions continued on 
those workstreams.  The Secretariat to the I nternational Negotiating Committee ()  of the UNEA 
negotiations to end plastic pollution provided an update on the negotiations.  The Centre for WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  International Environmental law (CIEL) presented preliminary analysis on the trade -related elements 
in Members' submissions to the  to UNEA. The  WTO Secretar iat updated the Dialogue on updates for 
the AFT Needs Assessment survey , which the Dialogue is undertaking, and also on the trade -related 
measures survey.  
2.199.   The OECD briefed on the role of development assistance in tackling plastic pollution.  On the 
reduction  workstream , the WTO Secretariat updated Members on the Trade -related Plastic Measures 
survey , which now has over 280 measures notified by 64 Members . There w as a series of other 
presentations including from the UNODC on waste trafficking ; the WCO , which presented its 
Asia-Pacific Plastic Waste Border Management project ; and a very insightful presentation by the 
Minderoo Foundation , which mapped Single -Use Plasti cs Value Chain . That presentation identified 
that more single -use plastic was being produced than ever before.  In 2019 , over 130 million tons of 
single -use plastic  was being produced and , in 2021 , that figure was up by an additional 6 million 
from fossil f uel-based plastics  and only a few hundred thousand tons from recycled waste.  In that 
sense, 15 times more single -use plastic was being produced from fossil fuels than recycled 
waste  – i.e. more plastic is being produced at a rate much faster than plastic i s being recycled . 
2.200.   The World Health organization  presented on its work on different program me areas that 
contribute to addressing plastic pollution.  On the promotion workstream, the BRS Secretariat briefed 
the Dialogue on the Plastic Waste Partnership,  and QUNO presented their report on plastic 
package -less and re use systems.  
2.201.   UNCTAD presented a follow -up to its workshop co-hosted with the WTO in December on 
Plastics Substitutes and Alternatives and updates to its evolving list of HS codes applicable to plast ic 
substitutes.  That list ha s now  grown to 282 HS codes following the workshop and trade in those HS 
codes  accounted for  USD 388 billion or  a quarter of the total value of plastics trade – indicating the 
potential size of the substitutes market.  The presentation also highlighted that the applied tariffs on 
plastics and substitutes and revealed that substitutes faced much higher tariffs  than plastics.  
UNCTAD made a number of recommendations and actions that the Dialogue could under take. TESS 
presented its paper "The WTO Dialogue on Plastics Pollution: Overview and State of Play " and shared 
a series of recommendations for next steps.   
2.202.   In the Plenary sessio n that was hosted  yesterday , Members h ad a very valuable discussion 
on next steps for the Dialogue as it approached MC13 . The coordinating Ambassadors from Ecuador, 
China and Australia recalled the conversations the Dialogue had held over a number of years that 
had identified the significant c hallenge s of plastic pollution and had developed a significant evidence 
base and understanding of how trade can contribute to the reduction of plastic pollution.  They also 
recalled the need for "concrete, pragmatic and effective outcomes " as highlighted in  the Minister's 
statement which founded the Dialogue on plastic pollution.  
2.203.   The coordinators offered their preliminary views on a path towards MC13 , which they thought 
could include a number of elements. At MC13 , the Dialogue could look for opportunities to  reflect 
the broad priorities of Members to enhance international cooperation and build on the MC12 
Statement.  
2.204.   Members could:   
• Identify shared priorities in the three workstreams, in line with the Statement, and focusing 
on actions of convergence and high potential impact.  
• Reflect the ongoing commitment of the DPP Members to update it work, actions and Annexes 
to the Statement to reflect the evolution of the  and discussions in other international processes 
(such as the WCO).  
• Identify information needs rel ated to shared priorities  and c all for expert input from 
stakeholders and environmental experts on specific priorities and recommendations.  
2.205.   At MC13 , Members could – based on the discussions and on the Dialogue's shared 
ambitions  – look for a series of trade -related actions  that Members could take to address plastic 
pollution.  Finally, Members could look to capture the work that has been undertaken by the Dialogue 
to support any actions that Memb ers may take.  WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  2.206.   On next steps, the Dialogue is now working with the UN Environment Program to organi ze 
a workshop on the workstream on circularity and reduction , which will be hosted on 27 April and be 
open to all Members and stakeholders.  That meeting will be followed by the next plenary meeting 
of the Dialogue on 25 May , which is also open to all Members . 
2.207.   A reminder that the Dialogue on Plastics is committed to openness, transparency, and 
inclusivity and that meetings of the DPP are open to all Members  whether they are co -sponsors or 
not.  
2.208.   Finally, a reminder that the DPP has two surveys that are open to all Members to complete.  
These are on trade -related plastic measures and a needs  assessment survey to identify developing 
country needs, but  is also open for donors to complet e with regards to the challenges to address 
plastic pollution . 
2.209.   The surveys are intended to inform our discussions going forward as we learn from countries 
practices.  Both are available online in English, Spanish and French.  We will need to close the surveys 
at the end of May so  the Dialogue can work to draw some conclusions from the data, so we would 
encourage all Members  to respond to th ese surveys in due course.  
2.210.   Finally,  an open invitation to all Members that are not yet co -sponsors of  the Dialogue to 
join. We encourage you to join and we  are happy to discuss anything related to the Dialogue further 
with you.  
2.211.   Following this presentation, some delegations had the following reactions.  
2.212.   The representative of  the United States  delivered the following statement:  
2.213.   The United States is pleased to announce that we have formally joined the Dialogue on 
Plastics Pollution. We look forward to actively participating in this important Dialogue going forward. 
We do believe that the Dialogue  provides an opportunity to ensure that a trade policy perspective is 
considered and well reflected in support of the various international efforts to address plastics 
pollution and we look forward to working with all of you going forward.  
2.214.   The representati ve of the Russian Federation  delivered the following statement:  
2.215.   First of all, thank you to the coordinators for the update on the ongoing work of IDP. Russia 
remains committed to constructively engag ing in joint efforts to tackle plastic pollution and promote 
circularity. We highly appreciate the progress achieved so far by the IDP and the way the work is 
organized.  
2.216.   We had quite intensive discussions regarding the potential ways of how to tackle this gl obal 
challenge , although much work remains to be done. The range of policy tools Members apply to 
tackle plastic pollution is very wide. While some rely on restrictions to limit trade flows of 
"unnecessary " or "harmful " plastics (although there is no commo nly agreed criteria for such 
products), others choose to focus on the root of the problem through the development of effective 
waste management systems, recycling and circularity.  
2.217.   We need to continue working towards a clear picture of all the variety of av ailable policy 
tools and their cost -effectiveness. We need to clearly understand where our approaches are 
convergent and mature enough for further international cooperation, and where the views are too 
divergent and need to be further explored.  
2.218.   During the  recent meetings, Russia proposed its ideas on how to better structure our joint 
work in the IPD with the aim of shaping concrete and tangible MC13 outcomes. I am sure that if 
cooperation within the IDP continues in the same positive spirit that we have no w, we can count on 
visible and pragmatic results being reached at the MC13.  
2.219.   The representative of China  delivere d the following statement:  WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  2.220.   First of all, as one of the coordinators of the IDP, China would like to take this opportunity 
to thank Australia for its update on the progress of IDP and to welcome the United States to the 
Initiative . 
2.221.   According to the Ministerial Statement, t he top priority of this year's discussio n is to achieve 
concrete, pragmatic and effective outcomes by MC13. Concrete achievement needs concrete actions. 
From the perspective of a Facilitator of workstream 1  of the IDP, we would like to emphasize that 
we will enhance close interaction with the pr ocess of other international organizations, in particular , 
with negotiations to avoid overlaps and ensure complementarity and coherence . 
2.222.   As the representative of Australia mentioned, n ext month we will hold a workshop with UNEP 
on unnecessary and harmful p lastics. We hope this will be a concrete step to discussio ns on this 
important issue. In the meantime, we will continue to strengthen our cooperation with the World 
Customs Organization (WCO), the Basel Rotterdam Stockholm Convention s (BRS), UNCTAD, and 
the International Bamboo and Rattan organization (INBAR) etc.  
2.223.   Second, we continue to call all interested WTO  Members to actively participate in this 
Dialogue. To date, the IDP is co -sponsored by 76 Members. The number of co -sponsors are less 
than half of th e number of WTO Members but , as mentioned, co-sponsors already cover more than 
85% of the global plastics trade. It means that many small economies, especially LDCs and Small 
Island Developing States (SIDS) who are suffering a lot from plastics pollution, are not able to share 
their opinions efficiently.  
2.224.   The IDP  is always  open, transparent and inclusive. We encourage all Members, especially 
LDCs and Small Island Developing States (SIDS) , to actively participate in the Dialogue, to  share 
information on the impact that plastic pollution has on your economies and the environment, to 
inform the Dialogue about the challenges that you are facing, to notify the needs of trade -related 
capacity building and technical assistance, to jointly discuss what priorities and collective actions 
could be taken by all of us, and how to provide new opportunities for developing Members, and 
opportunities for MSMEs in your country or region.  We look forward to  more Members participating 
in this Dialogue.   
2.225.   The representative of  the European Union  delivere d the following statement:  
2.226.   The European Union would like to thank the coordinators for their update and for the meeting 
this week. We would certainly join China in welcoming the United States in the plastic s fold. We 
would like to restate the EU's interest in working with the Members of the Dialogue and indeed all 
WTO Members to ensure that trade policy and measures are supportive of circular plastics value 
chains, contributing to sustainable consumption and  production.  
2.227.   Changing the way plastics is designed, produced, and used can greatly contribute to reducing 
plastic pollution and marine litter, by preventing waste or turning used plastics into secondary 
resources. The EU believes that the D ialogue can prov ide important contributions to the UNEA 
negotiations on a global plastics agreement and for the negotiators engaging in the 
Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee.  
2.228.   Of course, we need to align the two processes in a way that outcomes achieved within the 
Dialogue do not prejudge a high level of environmental ambition for the outcome of the negotiations 
on such a global plastics agreement , but rather support a high level of ambition . The EU is looking 
forward to further discussions exploring the possible elem ents for a Ministerial Statemen t at MC13 . 
2.229.   The representative of Ecuador  delivered the following statement:  
2.230.   Ecuador would like to start by thanking China's delegation on behalf of the co -sponsors of 
this initiative, which has introduced the work carried out in this CTE. My delegation would like to 
draw the meeting's attention to the different points mentioned and the working plan, the sort of 
interactive dialogue of cooperation, and the objective of creating a platform to discuss the topic 
which h as global repercussions. Ecuador would be in favo ur of working with other countries as part 
of the initiative and with other WTO Members, at the right time, and contribute to the discussion 
with a view to the next Ministerial Conference. My delegation woul d like to join the warm words 
expressed to welcome the U S delegation that has joined the initiative. We are confident that other WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  countries will join this working platform to enrich our discussion and enable us to move, make 
progress in a sustained way to m ake sure that we manage to incorporate our work into the broader 
program of work in this area. So, I would like to thank you for your introduction and welcome and 
congratulate you on the discussions carried out here and the usefulness and on the future of our 
work in the context of the IDP.  
2.231.   The representative of Chile delivered the following statement:  
2.232.   Chile would like to thank Australia for the report on the work carried out in the context of 
the Informal Dialogue on Plastics Pollution. In this regard, we would like to mention that , on the 
occasion of 17  February and at yesterday's session, we were provided very useful information for 
discussion on plastics. The discussion was fruitful; we were able to discuss the different areas of 
plastics pollution and t he trade in sustainable plastics. Our country has participated in the meetings 
and has answered the requests for information and mentioned our work to reduce plastics pollution 
in our country. We hope to continue contributing to the dialogue, to contribute  to fighting plastics 
pollution globally.  
2.233.   The representative of  Japan  delivere d the following statement:  
2.234.   Japan would like to thank Australia for the comprehensive report on the work of the DPP. 
Japan has placed a high priority on plastic pollution countermeasures  and has actively led efforts to 
combat plastic pollution to date, including advocating the "Osaka Blue Ocean Vision" at the 2019 
Osaka G20 Summit, which aims to reduce new pollution from marine plastic waste to zero by 2050   
2.235.   We recognize the importance of the Convention for an international legally binding 
instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment, which was launched in 
November last year. It will be an effective and progressive framework involving all countries, 
including large consumers and emitters of plastic materials.  
2.236.   Japan will lead the negotiations, including the 2 process, with the aim of setting common 
global targets and developing national action plans based on a lifecycle approach, while recog nizing 
the usefulness of plastics.  
2.237.   In addition, this Convention should make it an obligation for society as a whole to establish 
mechanisms to promote the circular economy of plastics and to control their release into the 
environment. We also believe that measures related to production and use should not be uniform 
one-size-fits-all regulations, and that such measures must take into account the circumstances of 
each country and their socioeconomic impact.  
2.238.   The representative of the United Kingdom  delivered t he following statement:  
2.239.   The UK would like to thank Australia for the update. The UK welcomes engagement from all 
Members in the work of the Dialogue on Plastics, and as a reminder, and this is an area we can 
facilitate, there are important links between th e ongoing international negotiation committee process 
at UNEA and the work of the dialogue. I think some Members hopefully will have heard more on that 
at lunchtime. The aim is to improve our collective understanding of the trade -relevant aspects of 
plasti cs pollution and work towards more sustainable plastics trade.  
2.240.   Another area that the UK has been keen to see more of, and we hope to expand in the 
future, is the link to the coming Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, which is Target 7, which 
includes a commitment to reduce plastic pollution risks and the negative impact of pollution from all 
sources by 2030, including preventing, reducing, and working towards eliminating plastic pollution. 
So, we welcome involvement from all Members, whether they co -sponsored the dialogue or not, and 
there are a number of areas that Members are pursuing ahead of MC13, from promoting sustainable 
and affordable plastic alternatives and substitutes, in line with the Basel Convention, to policies that 
tackle single -use plas tics to using aid for trade to support action against plastic pollution. We will 
continue to support these discussions.  WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  2.4  Other  
2.4.1   India's concern s on the use of environment  measures  as non-tariff measure s2  
2.241.   The representative  of India delivered the following statement:  
2.242.   We introduce our paper JOB/TE/78 , which was circulated to the membership on  
10 February  2023. Sustainable development includes environmental protection and, achieving this 
in a manner consistent with the respective needs and concerns of countries at different levels of 
economic development, is critical. There are however serious concerns regarding the increasing use 
of unilateral measures impacting trade, which are sought to be justified as environmental measures. 
Such measures may not only violate the rules of the WTO, but  also have systemic implications for 
international law as a whole, since any unilateral action undermines multilaterally negotiated rights 
and obligations of countries.  
2.243.   Most WTO Members are represented at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate 
Change (UNFCCC) and participate in its negotiated outcomes. The principles of equity and common 
but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities (CBDR -RC), in the light of different 
national circumstances, and the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) made by the parties to 
the UNFCCC, are the foundational principles of the UNFCCC.  
2.244.   It is also important to underscore that the principles of "respective capabilities" recognize 
the different socioeconomic status of countries. The Preamble t o the Marrakesh Agreement 
establishing the WTO also recognizes this concept when it notes that the expansion of trade in goods 
and services in accordance with the objective of sustainable development would require protection 
and preservation of the environ ment and the means of doing so, in a manner consistent with the 
respective needs and concerns of countries at different levels of economic development.  
2.245.   Our paper highlights the following areas of concerns, where we believe that these principles 
are not bei ng followed in letter or spirit or both:  
• Carbon Border Measures  
• Environment -based management of Minimum Residual Limits (MRLs) in agriculture trade  
• Deforestation -related trade measures  
• Tariff Rate Quotas being allocated based on "green content" of commoditie s 
 
2.246.   We welcome the recent statements by various Members seeking to reinvigorate the trade 
and environment discussions in th is CTE. We, as Members of the WTO, should ensure that our 
resource and energies are not dissipated in discussing avoidable u nilateral measures; instead, let us 
agree to address climate change at the multilateral level; the simple underlying principle being that 
trade measures should not become a tool to undermine multilateral environmental agreements and 
commitments under those  agreements. Like we are often worried about overstepping by other 
organizations in WTO -related matters, we should be equally careful in not knowingly or unknowingly 
undermining the commitments made by Members in other multilateral organizations.  
2.247.   We urge W TO Members to ensure that any environment and climate -related trade measures 
do not constitute arbitrary or disguised restrictions or unjustifiable discrimination in international 
trade. Members need to ensure that they are not shifting the responsibility of meeting their own 
NDCs to other Members, an approach which also prevents other Members from following the NDC 
trajectory they have drawn based  on own prioritization.  
2.248.   Following this presentation, some delegations had the following reactions.  
2.249.   The representative  of Colombia  delivered the following statement:  
2.250.   Colombia would like to thank India for the document and for its presentation. We are of the 
view that this is an important step in important analysis of the use of hidden barriers to trade. Any 
legislation or standards on this point must be consistent with international obligations and 
 
2 See document JOB/TE/78 . 
 WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  environmental standards worldwide. Now, there are two things here. Firstly, you have international 
law, and the WTO has complied with this. If you look at the Gasoline issue, you also have to take 
account of the various needs and concerns of Member States in their economic development. We 
are therefore of the view that you have a legitimate objective under this organization, and it is also 
important to consider it i n the standards which govern it. You have the Rio de Janeiro Declaration 
on Development and Environment and the UN Climate Change Convention. This is noted in India's 
document and what Colombia is proposing is we need to have a discussion on these such imp ortant 
issues and their relationship with the main international standards in trade law.  
2.251.   The representative  of Congo , on behalf of the African Group,  delivered the following 
statement:  
2.252.   The African Group commends India for this proposal document and shares the concerns 
expressed that environmental measures applied unilaterally contribute to increasing trade costs for 
exporters from developing countries and LDCs.  
2.253.   The best way to advance discussions on sustainable development within the WTO is to fully 
respect not only the rules of this organization but also the concepts of principles and commitments 
that have been agreed in other for a. 
2.254.   This is why the African Group considers that this document rightly underlines the 
fundamental principles of respective capacities and Common But Differentiated Responsibilities, 
principles for which our Group has always drawn the attention of the Members of this Committee for 
their application. The Group considers that the document is very useful for the discussions within  
this Committee.  
2.255.   The representative  of Uruguay  delivered the following statement:  
2.256.   Uruguay wishes to thank  the Indian delegation for presenting this document, which we 
consider to be of great importance for discussions  at the CTE.  
2.257.   Our delegation shares the concern and the systemic interest that the measures adopted by 
Members in pursuit of their legitimate objectives of protecting the environment are compatible with 
the rules of the WTO and that they do not become disguised barrier s to trade.  
2.258.   In this sense, it is necessary to remember that the measures must be non -discriminatory 
and their distorting effects on trade less than that of alternative measures, as has been established 
at the level of the Dispute Settlement Body. 
2.259.   The representative  of China  delivered the following statement:  
2.260.   China would like to thank India for their proposal. We share the same view that the global 
climate and environment challenge needs global efforts. We should uphold multilateralism, build 
synergy in governance, and address  global challenges through global cooperation.  
2.261.   China believes that Members should firmly adhere to three principles when formulating 
environment -related trade measures or as some Members prefer to call trade -related environment 
measures. First, support tra de and investment liberalization and facilitation measures, while 
opposing green trade barriers. Second, support international cooperation, while opposing 
unilateralism and protectionism. Third, the fundamental principles of CBDR and NDCs under the 
UNFCCC should be fully respected during our discussions here in the WTO.  
2.262.   With the increasing use of environment -related trade measures, such as carbon border 
measures and also the EU presentation today on the proposed regulation on packaging and 
packaging waste,  and Members have expressed their concerns. China also shares Members' concern 
that some measures may constitute de facto  "low-carbon " or green barriers to international trade, 
especially when they are not consistent with WTO rules or commitments under oth er international 
frameworks.  
2.263.   Nowadays, the discussions on trade impacts of environment and climate measures become 
more urgent, as we see more such measures coming into force and even more under consideration. WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
- 29 - 
 
  We appreciate the current information sharing  exercise here in CTE, and believe this could be better 
utilized if it is well designed. To this end, China submitted a proposal and suggest more structured 
multilateral dedicated discussion on the trade impacts of certain environmental measures, which are  
of high interest and concerns to Members and may have significant impact on trade. Our colleagues 
in capital colleagues will elaborate more on this proposal under agenda item 6.  
2.264.   The representative  of Paraguay  delivered the following statement:  
2.265.   Paraguay w ould like to thank India for the document and we fully share its considerations. 
Trade objectives with environmental ends must conform with WTO rules and obligations. Countries 
have different objectives related to the environment -based on their own scienti fic research, so it's 
not a level playing field and we know that trade is necessary to our attaining common objectives. 
So, developing countries such as Paraguay need to move forward in attaining these objectives and 
together with our partners.  
2.266.   The represe ntative  of Fiji delivered the following statement:  
2.267.   Fiji would like to thank India for its paper which outlines some universal methods imposed 
by countries under a pretext of sustainable environmental methods. While we understand that 
greenhouse gas emissio ns impact our environment and will result in trade policy methods , which 
may undermine a Member , this must be done so within the limit of international trade norms. And 
this is for countries who will be used as a reference point before any measures are tak en that could 
have implications on trade.  
2.268.   It is also important that a balanced approach is taken that ensures environmental measures 
do not impinge on the right of Members to trade and development and any measures taken to 
combat climate change , including unilateral ones , should not constitute a means of arbitrary or 
unjustifiable discrimination and soon be appropriately dealt with , in line with trade agreements and 
the polic ies between the countries concerned.  
2.269.   As a small island nation like Fiji,  it will be a challenge when unilateral measures are imposed 
on us in relation to some of our commodities, which are mostly agriculture -based, despite the fact 
that we may have met certain requirements of standards. The means of it s cost through the tribun al 
is also equally challenging in our case it is important that the issue is addressed, particularly in this 
agenda. The paper therefore is now reviewed, useful , and Fiji hopes that it will be taken 
constructively.  
2.270.   In addition, we would also like to hear views from Members who may have imposed such 
measures to also hear their opinions of their views on this. Finally , if you may just give me a minute, 
if I just say a few remarks on item number three and my apologies, this is in relation to the agenda 
on cir cular economy  and plastics pollution, Fiji would also like to convey its gratitude to Australia for 
the great work it has been doing in this initiative and the presentations it has done on behalf of the 
fora which is greatly appreciated.  
2.271.   We also thank the United States for joining the initiative s and, of course the U S is a very 
important player , and we hope that more Members also will be joining the queue. And we also echo 
the sentiments by a colleague from China to also call on Members to join th e initiative and of course 
to help save the environment.  
2.272.   The representative  of the Russian Federation  delivered the following statement:  
2.273.   Russia would like to support the position of the delegation of India and the words regarding 
the negative tendency of implementation of non -tariff measures under the pretext of combat ting 
climate change.  
2.274.   The Indian paper in major concentrates on the CBAM and deforestation -free regulations. In 
our view, the topics raised deserve further attention as the problem is even de eper. There is a 
growing trend to use the climate agenda as a pretext for promoting purely economic interests 
through protectionist and competition -distorting measures and NTMs  is one but not the only 
example. Certain elements of the European Green Deal in cluding CBAM or the Inflation Reduction 
Act perfectly illustrate this dangerous tendency.  WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
- 30 - 
 
  2.275.   In addition, several measures , such as CBAM, change the concept of products from the 
commodity or the subject of consumption to the result of specific production act ivities. While I'm not 
talking about inconsistency of this measure with MFN or national treatment now, but my point is 
that there is a lack of infrastructure and technical and legal frameworks to efficiently implement such 
measures avoiding trade disruptio n, while I would like to remind everyone here CBAM enters into 
force this October.  
2.276.   The situation is aggravated by attempts of some Members to conclude deals with a view to 
provide exemptions and concessions from such measures to be challenged. The WTO consistency of 
such trade deals is highly questionable. To conclude, we should continue to explore these challenges 
and ways to address them. Tackling this issue through the NTMs' perspective could be a good start 
but is not a final point.  
2.277.   The representative  of Nicaragua  delivered the following statement:  
2.278.   Nicaragua would like to thank India for bringing this item before the Committee. Nica ragua 
shares the concern relating to the increasing trend to use measures under sustainable development 
objectives, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, or climate change adjustments as hidden 
restrictions on international trade which belittle the WTO's mult ilateral provisions and the MEAs.  
2.279.   We note with concern that various Members have adopted protectionist measures which 
adversely affect Nicaragua's exports. For example, some Members have adopted norms which 
prescribe maximum residue limits under the umbre lla of attaining an environmental goal, which 
could be considered incompatible with international phytosanitary standards. Such measures are 
applied to various exports from Nicaragua, such as coffee and cocoa, thereby significantly affecting 
small Nicaragu an farmers producing these crops in the more vulnerable parts of the country. For the 
most, those measures we have seen belittle the rights achieved by Nicaragua through trade 
negotiation and contravene the fundamental principles of the WTO and the obligat ions under the 
MEAs.  
2.280.   It is important to note that Nicaragua is not questioning the legitimate objectives but the 
effectiveness of such kinds of measures , which negatively affect exports of developing countries but 
do not have a significant effect on envir onmental sustainability. We are of the view that those 
environmental goals are legitimate policy options which all Members must take into consideration 
and should therefore be implemented in all countries with a view to sustainable development. 
Nevertheles s, it is necessary that those measures be based on a risk assessment tak ing into account 
the differences between climate  conditions  and the economic situations , which differ throughout the 
world , so as to avoid them being transformed into hidden restrictio ns on international  trade. We 
agree with India that environmental measures that may be adopted must be compatible with the 
needs and concerns of countries in accordance with their various levels of development and in order 
to effect genuine change , they mu st be in line with the commitments under the multilateral 
agreements.  
2.281.   Lastly, we  would  like to take this opportunity to share with Members of the Committee that 
in accordance with the national plan to fight against poverty and for human development runnin g 
from 2022 to 2026 , Nicaragua has adopted guidelines to reduce environmental impact and continue 
promoting sustainable development in all fields and with consensus, which would favour  effective 
and efficient provision of goods and services from our agro -forest a nd forest ecosystems. Our 
country is considered  as the sixth most vulnerable one to the consequences of climate change in 
accordance with the Global Climate Risk Index of 2019. However, we are responsible for 0. 02% of 
greenhouse gas emissions accord ing to the database for this in 2018. Therefore, we urge Members 
to consider the principle of Common But Differentiated Responsibilities as regards to be measures 
adopted.  
2.282.   The representative  of Kenya, on behalf of the ACP Group , delivered the following statement:  
2.283.   The ACP Group welcomes the submission by India and sees value in highlighting and recalling 
core principles in the context of overarching environmental standards such as Common But 
Differentiated Responsibilities . We share the concerns  expressed by India in that environment 
measures unilaterally contribute towards increasing trade costs for developing countries and LDC 
exporters. The paper by UNCTAD, which has been cited by India, is especially insightful in terms of WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
- 31 - 
 
  the negative impact  of the carbon border adjustment measures on intraregional trade especially with 
respect to developing countries in sectors involving steel, cement, chemicals, or petroleum. We will 
be reviewing India's submission more in detail and we will refer with a co ncrete response. We do 
regard the submission to be a useful contribution to our discussions in this body.  
2.284.   The representative  of Argentina  delivered the following statement:  
2.285.   I refer to the use of environmental standards as hidden barriers to trade. There m ust be 
concerns consistent with WTO rules and not be discriminatory measures to restrict trade. Any 
measure must be backed up by scientific evidence and take into account the capacities and needs 
of developing countries. The initiative must involve a proce ss of consultation with all Member States 
including those , obviously , which would be affected. Any unilateral measure would not be acceptable. 
So, we should avoid the application of unilateral measures which are not differentiated,  and which 
do not take in to account the various level of development of our countries and do not reflect the 
realities of our respective countries.  
2.286.   Encouragement should be given to recognizing the equivalences of various environmental 
programs. All efforts and actions need to be taken in order to harness any outstanding mechanisms 
relating to transfer of technology and monetary resources from the developed countries in order to 
have adequate access on the part of developing countries to such measures of sustainable 
development. It  is also important to promote efforts for the WTO to continue being an international 
organization, a collective one avoiding the use unilateral measures.  
2.287.   The representative  of Japan  delivered the following statement:  
2.288.   Revitali sing the CTE is important from the perspective of strengthening the deliberative 
function of the WTO and addressing trade and environmental sustainability issues, and we welcome 
the India Paper, as a constructive effort, together with the EU Paper,  with a v iew to strengthening 
the deliberation of the CTE . The India Paper's awareness of issues related to the impact of one 
Member's trade -related measures on trade relations with other Members is understandable, and it 
would be useful to discuss the consistency of WTO agreements, coherence of the objectives and of 
trade measures, and the design of measures to minimize adverse effects on trade, among others.  
2.289.   If this proposal implies that Members should not adopt any policies to cover the carbon 
component and other  additional costs of climate change measures , as well as sustainability 
measures , until a multilateral agreement is reached, we are afraid that this would mean that no 
domestic measures can be considered pending such a multilateral agreement. We would like  to 
continue our technical scrutiny on the interpretation of the relationship with commitments under the 
UNFCCC. We look forward to further clarification on the structure and content of the specific 
discussions envisaged by India in the future.  
2.290.   Finally,  we would like to point  out that we are concerned that there is a large gap between 
the CTE agenda setting , such as technology transfer, fund creation, proposed by the India Paper in 
Section 3, "Institutional Mechanisms within the WTO ." While India points out  that the relevant 
measures are effectively nullifying negotiated balance of rights and obligations under the Multilateral 
Environment al Agreement  (MEAs)  or the principle of special and differential treatment to developing 
countries under the WTO agreement , have not been addressed.  
2.291.   The representative  of Türkiye  delivered the following statement:  
2.292.   Türkiye thanks India for tabling this document. We see that through this document India is 
participating to the debate regarding the ways to improve the relevance a nd reactivity of the CTE 
from their point of view and we also wanted to include our voice on some of the issues highlighted 
in this paper.  
2.293.   Alongside India, we also would like to recall that the MC Outcome Document states the 
importance of the contribution of the multilateral trading system to promote sustainability in its 
economic, social , and environmental dimensions.  WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  2.294.   In that sense, we also believe that the concept of development and principles we agreed 
under M EAs should be taken into account in our discu ssions at the CTE on the relationship between 
trade and environmental measures.  
2.295.   Common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities alongside international 
cooperation are two of these very significant principles in that regard which wil l prevent the 
occurrence of new trade barriers and contribute to fighting climate change globally.  
2.296.   We should also strive to ensure that our trade -related climate measures do not constitute 
arbitrary o r disguised restrictions or unjustifiable discrimination  in international trade.   
2.297.   The representative  of Korea  delivered the following statement:  
2.298.   I would first like to thank India for its comprehensive proposal. While we are further 
scrutinizing this paper by India, my delegation can agree with the notion that e ach Member's 
environmental measures should comply with WTO rules and should not act as a disguised restriction 
to trade. I would also like to reiterate that principles and methodologies for calculating embedded 
emissions for environmental measures should b e deliberated in a dedicated session in a multilateral 
forum like the WTO, the CTE, to ensure we all have a level playing field . 
2.299.   The representative  of Nigeria , on behalf of the LDC Group , delivered the following statement:  
2.300.   We thank India for its paper,  and we share the concerns expressed by India. That paper we 
consider with the statement delivered by the African group and the ACP on this agenda item. India's 
reminder of the principle of Common But Differentiated Responsibil ities under the UNFCCC as well 
as the principle of polluter pays with the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development of 1992. 
We are concerned that Members continue to adopt unilateral protectionist measures that continue 
to undermine the conformance of our producers under the guise of environmental sustainability. 
These measures are not based on risk assessments or scientific evidence. Some measure s should 
not consider the means of arbitra ry or unjustifiable discrimination or prescribe restriction to 
international trade. We therefore call on Members to refrain from adopting unilateral environmental 
measures that are not consistent with WTO agreements.  
2.301.   The representative  of the European Union  delivered the following statement:  
2.302.   The European Union thanks  India for the interesting paper. I have to admit that in some 
respects I  am somewhat confused about the framing because I sense a repeat of an item that we 
have done under quite an extensive first agenda item which was to engage in a discussion and 
provide  transparency on the EU measures. That said, this makes that I am going to make again with 
joy, an intervention.  
2.303.    Climate change is a global emergency that goes beyond national borders. It is an issue that 
requires international cooperation and coordinated  solutions at all levels. We have set ambitious 
targets in international agreements.  While the Paris Agreement provides for differentiated 
asymmetries in implementing that Agreement, we should not forget the common goal that it sets to 
all of us – to subst antially reduce global greenhouse gas emissions to limit the global temperature 
increase in this century to 2 degrees Celsius while pursuing efforts to limit the increase even further 
to 1.5 degrees.  
2.304.   The EU is doing its part in setting its climate ambitio n high – we are aiming to reduce EU 
greenhouse gas emissions by 55% in 2030 and produce no net emissions by 2050. This has 
translated into the European Green Deal. The measures and policies we are putting in place under 
the EGD are designed to deal with a world in which different parties, under the CBDR principle, have 
taken on different levels of ambition, including through their NDCs in the Paris Agreement.  
2.305.   One of those responsibilities is to make sure that we do not increase global emissions while 
we ar e reducing the greenhouse gas emission in the EU. As you know, the EU has its Emission 
Trading System in place to address its own emissions for certain industries. The Carbon Boarder 
Adjustment Mechanism is being put in place to avoid the carbon leakage th at may emerge from this. 
The CBAM is designed in a way to be WTO  compatible (there is no discrimination; no unnecessary 
restrictions) and  it is compatible with the EU 's international commitments, including the Paris WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  agreement; it foresees in tools to facil itate the implementation by operators; it gives a generous 
transitional period for adjustments to the new requirements ; and the EU development package is 
also adjusted to this.  
2.306.   The CBAM fully deducts the carbon price paid in a third country from the CBAM c harge as 
well as looks at the actual embedded emissions of the products. Hence the greener a product is, the 
less CBAM charge will be paid at the border.  
2.307.   The EU is also directly helping LDCs to face the immediate and future detrimental effects of 
climate change through a broad range of support action focusing on climate adaptation while 
supporting mitigation worldwide.  
2.308.   We also continue to support partner countries in their green transition. In December 2021, 
the EU launched the Global Gateway, a new strate gy to mobili ze investments totalling EUR 300 
billion over the period 2021 -27. In line with the EU 's geopolitical ambitions and commitment to the 
2030 Agenda, the Global Gateway strategy aims to boost smart, clean and secure investments in 
digital, energy and transport, and to strengthen health, education and research systems across the 
world to underpin a lasting global recovery while promoting universal values and high standards, 
good governance and transparency.  
2.309.   Concerning aspects related to defor estation -free supply chains, we would like to clarify that 
the European Commission proposal for related EU legislation does not impose any ban on any 
product or any commodity.  Once adopted, the regulation will translate the political commitment 
undertaken by WTO Members to halt and reverse deforestation and forest degradation in practice.  
2.310.   The aim of the regulation is not to inform consumer choice, but to minimi ze the EU 's 
contribution to deforestation and forest degradation worldwide and, by so doing, incre ase EU 
demand for and trade in legal and 'deforestation -free' commodities and products . The definition of 
deforestation in the regulation does not specifically target the destruction of primary forest of any 
forest within the meaning of the FAO definition.  
2.311.   The regulation sets out requirements to placing relevant commodities and products on the 
EU internal market, regardless of whether they are produced domestically or in third countries.  It is 
important to note that the obligations will apply irrespectively  of whether commodities and products 
are domestically produced in the EU or imported, thereby ensuring they are treated equally in line 
with the principle of non -discrimination. Indeed, transparency and consistency with international 
commitments, such as h alting deforestation under the SDGs, are other key principles enshrined in 
the Regulation.  
2.312.   Finally, let me stress that we are dealing with unprecedented climate and environment 
challenges. We have set our self -targets in the Paris agreement and have made a  significant 
commitment this December in the Global Biodiversity Framework that loss of biodiversity must be 
stopped and reversed through high -ambition changes to society 's relationship with nature and the 
way our global economy operates.  
2.313.   This requires al l of us to step up efforts, internationally and through autonomous measures. 
The question is not if but how we design and implement these measures.  We need to develop them 
in a way that achieves environmental objectives and minimi zes impact on trade. That can only be 
done through transparency and dialogue with stakeholders and partner countries affected.  
2.314.   Conscious about the potential relevance for the EU 's trading partners and the need to comply 
with trade rules, the EU has designed all its Green Deal meas ures very carefully. The aim has been 
to meet key criteria relevant from an external perspective , these include :  
• measures are evidence -based and are underpinned by a proper impact assessment;  
• measures are based on objective grounds and are non -discrimina tory and not more 
burdensome than necessary;  
• where relevant, trade facilitation tools are developed; and   
• measures are also accompanied by cooperation and technical assistance programmes to help, 
in particular, developing countries impacted.  WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  2.315.   It is also i mportant to note that the EU has been a role model for transparency of its European 
Green Deal measures (through public consultations and outreach from an early stage on in different 
fora, within the EU and outside), in the WTO and bilaterally, even from th e early drafting stages.  
2.316.   Now we have to fill this in for implementation. The key components of our actions are to 
engage with partners on the following: outreach and communication; facilitating the implementation  
of the regulation /trade; and capacity buil ding.  
2.317.   We look forward to engaging with WTO Members in that regard by increased transparency 
and cooperation in the C TE that has a mandate to "identify relationship s between environmental 
policies relevant to trade and environmental measures with significant trade effects and the 
provisions of the multilateral trading system ". 
2.318.   The representative  of the United Kingdom  delivered the following statement:  
2.319.   I would like to start by thanking India for their paper. I think this is one thing we can take 
away from this is, is that open and transparent discussion is the only way we are going to address 
the planetary crisis and environmental threats that we face whil e also upholdi ng the rules and 
principles of the multilateral trading system. The CTE has an important role to play in this kind of 
open exchange. As mentioned already, tackling environmental challenges, including climate change, 
is something enshrined throughout the WT O's mandate. The UK is committed as a priority to 
ensuring our trade and environmental policies are mutually supportive and in line with the 2030 
Sustainable Development Goals. We value the input of Members in designing and implementing 
these policies fairly.  
2.320.   We must remember that the WTO is founded on the principle that Members have the 
authority to create regulations and taxes to meet legitimate policy objectives provided they do not 
unjustifiably o r arbitrarily discriminate against other Members or constitute disguised restrictions on 
trade. Environmental and climate objectives have long been pursued as legitimate public policy 
objectives and they are ever -growing in importan ce, given the existentia l threats posed by climate 
change and biodiversity loss. Members may choose to take unilateral policy decisions; this does not 
make their policies inherently protectionist. But they must be designed collaboratively, 
transparently, and consistent with WTO r ules. I note Japan's point about not being able to necessarily 
wait for some things multilaterally doesn't mean things can't be done unilaterally and still be in line 
with those principles.   
2.321.   And with regards to the Paris Agreement, parties need to pursue e fforts to limit the 
temperature increase to 1.5 degrees centigrade above pre -industrial levels, as the EU ha s just said, 
and therefore should set the most ambitious targets and policies possible informed by the best 
available science and the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective 
capabilities in light of different national circumstances.  
2.322.   Along the way, key questions for policy makers will be: How do we ensure the impacts of 
measures are equitable, non -discriminatory, and ens uring that developing countries have the 
financial and technical assistance they need ? This is something the UK is determined to get right, as 
we legislate to protect against environmental degradation and achieve global emissions reduction. 
We welcome Indi a's three suggestions of work for the CTE. We would be interested hearing more in 
detail on what these m ight look like in practice.  
2.323.   The representative  of South Africa  delivered the following statement:  
2.324.   South Africa thanks India for this timely submission which raises pertinent issues. We also 
associate ourselves with the statement by the Africa n Group. For us,  the links between trade and 
environment are multiple, complex, and important , and we share the same concerns outlined in 
India's submission.  
2.325.   While interactions between trade and environment are complex, a core dilemma is ensuring 
stricter environmental rules are not unilateral and do not create competitive disadvantages or 
negatively affect countries. Growing pressure for new rules and agreements tha t meaningfully 
consider sustainable development and trade is challenging multilateralism at the WTO.  WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  2.326.   We note that some Members are adopting unilateral trade measures under the guise of 
addressing environmental concerns. A number of such measures are highl ighted in India's 
submission. The climate change agenda should not be used to advance protectionist economic 
interests nor limit foreign competition. Unilateral trade measures undermine the basic principles of 
Common But Differentiated Responsibilities  and equity. Unilateral trade measures can also have 
distortive effects on international trade and restrict the market access of developing countries and 
LDCs in developed countries. Unilateral measures can also have an adverse impact on economic and 
social de velopment and poverty eradication in developing countries. So, efforts to address 
environmental change through unilateral measures leads to tit for tat trade restrictions and may 
lead to justified WTO legal retaliation  by affected countries. The use of WTO -incompatible trade 
measures diminishes the prospects for development of developing countries. In addition, unilateral 
trade measures will simply lead to a change in trade patterns with no significant reduction on 
emissions and such actions will neither le ad to the success enforcing or encouraging other countries 
to adopt equivalent environmental policies.  
2.327.   Given the importance of global environmental challenges, this is an opportune time for the 
CTE to invigorate the necessary political will to discuss the se more difficult environmental issues and 
concerns raised by India, and in a manner that fits countries' needs and priorities. This includes 
discussions taking place within a sustainable development framework that better suits the long  term 
interests and needs of developing countries. We look forward to further engaging on India's 
submission.  
2.328.   The representative  of the United States  delivered the following statement:  
2.329.   The United States thanks India for its paper and  its presentation. As a global community, it 
is essential to take immediate and urgent action to continue on a decarbonization pathway that 
maintains a viable future. WTO rules account for such action, including in the form of various 
exceptions such as GATT Article 20.  
2.330.   The United States does not  support efforts to bring the concept of Common But 
Differentiated Responsibilities, which is a concept negotiated in the context of the U NFCCC , into the 
WTO. Multilaterally negotiated solutions depend on good faith efforts by those participating countries  
to meet obligations under those respective agreements, including those negotiated under the Paris 
Agreement.  
2.331.   Trade has a role to play in addressing climate change, including by facilitating and promoting 
trade in environmental goods and services and ince ntivizing decarbonization in energy -intensive 
traded commodities. Addressing climate change is a global challenge and one that requires all tools 
be brought to bear to address sources of greenhouse gas emissions . Assessing the embodied carbon 
content of tr aded commodities through trade -oriented incentives is another potential tool to assess  
decarbonization in energy -intensive traded goods.  
2.332.   Two other points I would like to highlight in India's paper . The US does not support an 
obligation to transfer technol ogy. It is important not only that technology transfer be voluntary and 
not forced in nature, but also that the terms of the transfer are mutually agreed upon by all parties 
involved and therefore not coerced. Finally, the U S also does not support the esta blishment of 
another fund to sustainable technology transfer. There are mechanisms and commitments in other 
relevant fora that enable engagement on these particular issues and we therefore do not see this as 
under the purview of the WTO.  
2.333.   The representativ e of Singapore  delivered the following statement:  
2.334.   Singapore thanks India for its paper in sharing its concerns. This is a concrete step forward 
in reinvigorating the deliberations at the CTE.  We share the views of other Members that, while each 
Member should be afforded the autonomy to determine its path towards reaching its climate goals, 
it is important to ensure that any measure implemented should be consistent with international rules 
and commitments including WTO rules, FTA commitments, and t he principles of the UNFCCC and 
Paris Agreement. Measures should also be consistent with international standards and should not 
inevitably create barriers in our efforts to promote green trade. In addition, the needs and different 
national circumstances of  Members should also be taken into account in the implementation of these 
measures. We look forward to further discussions on the measures highlighted by India in this paper.  WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  2.335.   The representative  of Jamaica  delivered the following statement:  
2.336.   Jamaica support s initiatives by  Members in conscientious international efforts to address the 
impact of not only climate change but also the impact of natural disasters. Urgent initiatives are 
needed to address the global climate challenge we now face. Those initiatives must be compatible 
with WTO rules and not unnecessarily impinge on opportunities for developing countries and do not 
constitute disguised restrictions on trade. As a small island developing state , Jamaica is a victim of 
the impact of climate change.  The ne xus between trade and development and trade and the 
environment is critical in this regard. The WTO has a role to play and should constitute as much as 
possible within its mandate. Jamaica believes that the discussions on trade and the environment 
should b e multilaterally pursued, Member -driven, and compliant with the principle of decision -
making by consensus.  
2.337.   That said, we share the concerns written in the India n submission. We believe that the paper 
is substantive to the discussion on the nexus between t rade and the environment in the WTO. It is 
comprehensive and we believe it can form a basis for a wider discussion  on trade and environment, 
including the context of WTO reform. We therefore commend India in this regard. We are studying 
the paper and will engage on it in wh ichever WTO body it is tabled  in. We take note of the issues 
raised and will factor those  in our considerations . We would also like to associate ourselves with the 
statement delivered by Kenya on behalf of the ACP  Group. 
2.338.   The representativ e of Norway  delivered the following statement:  
2.339.   Norway would also like to thank India for introducing the document TE /78. The issue of 
environmental measures as non -tariff trade measures is an important one but also a complicated 
one. The key concerns descr ibed in the document could be discussed individually at length, however, 
we will limit our comments to a couple of general points.  
2.340.   Firstly, we agree with the general notion that environmental measures should not be used 
as disguised protectionism. At the same time, Members have the right  to regulate and to introduce 
such measures as long as they are consistent with WTO rules. As was said yesterday in this 
discussion, we cannot always wait for new international negotiations to be fully negotiated.  
2.341.   Secondly, the principles of common but di fferentiated responsibilities and respective 
capabilities (CBDR -RC) is an important part of the argument in the document. Norway fully supports 
these principles in the climate agreements, the same way we support special and differential 
treatment here at t he WTO, however, we have a minor issue with how this is described in the 
document. The balance struck in the Paris Agreement is, in our view, not properly reflected. The 
Paris Agreement was a new agreement, although agreed by the UNFCCC parties. Furthermor e, the 
Paris Agreement brought a nuanced interpretation of CBDR -RC in light of different national 
circumstances that is framed in a broader context of overarching common goals and other principles 
like progression and highest possible ambition. Although th is is not a central point for the discussion 
on environmental measures and protectionism, the balance struck in the Paris Agreement should 
still be reflected when referring to the principle of CBDR.  
2.342.   Having said this, Norway looks forward to continued disc ussion on how it can ensure that 
trade-related environmental measures provide efficient action for the environment while being 
consistent with WTO rules.  
2.343.   The representative of Peru delivered the following statement:  
2.344.   Firstly, let me congratulate India on its document which ha s broadened the discussion on an 
important issue to Peru as well. Peru is one of the most vulnerable countries relating to climate  
change. We have joined in with all the global initiatives  in order to combat and take up this challenge.  
We obviously don't agree with unilateral measures. Our contributions to the issue should be distinct 
and based on the many capacities and features of each country.  
2.345.   As regards individual contributions, they should reflect our diversity and also refer to 
commitments on our part and not restrictions for the others. The fight against climate change has 
many aspects. If you opt for trade restrictions in order to attain environmental aims, that is not good 
because they adversely affect the development opportuni ties of our countries.  WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  2.346.   The representative of Malaysia  delivered the following statement:  
2.347.   This intervention addresses Agenda item s 2.1 and 2.4. Malaysia attaches great importance 
to efforts aimed at protecting the environment and reducing global carbon emis sions. However, 
Malaysia is of the view that such action should be based on international standards in accordance 
with WTO 's rules. On the technical aspects, Malaysia inquires detailed explanations from the EU 
regarding its proposed mechanism for carbon bo rder adjustment mechanism and deforestation , 
mainly on the matters  and plan and implementation method which Malaysia views  as difficult to 
comprehend. We believe the same expression among many other Members delivered as we heard 
yesterday.  
2.348.   Malaysia would also like to inquire whether there will be a review process in terms of the 
conformity of these measures to WTO rules. We foresee that the imposition of the CBAM and 
deforestation will have detrimental impacts towards developing countries' efforts to integ rate into 
international trade. In the long run, this would hamper economic development, a fundamental wish 
the WTO was established for. On Agenda 2.4, Malaysia appreciates India's proposal and shares the 
same concerns. We w ish that  WTO Members ensure that any environment and climate -related trade 
measures take into account CBDR -RC of all Members.  
2.349.   The representative of the Philippines  delivered the following statement:  
2.350.   The Philippines thanks India for tabling  this paper and for the delegates that have 
commented on it yesterday and this morning.  
2.351.   We see that the immense challenge of climate change demands collective action through 
individual contributions. That is why we have a respective nationally determined contribution  under 
the Paris Agreement with some of the WTO Members pursuing complementary policies and measures 
to meet their ambitious targets. We see value in India's communication and that of other papers 
that have been tabled discussion today, in that  they highlight the importance of equity. Existing and 
prospective trade -related environment measures must be framed in a manner that addresses the 
needs and capacities of developing Members and their private sectors in meeting additional 
compliance and ad ministrative requirements, and we have discussed things like certification and 
verification.  
2.352.   Furthermore, revenues derived from developing Members in implementing these measures 
should be directed back to developing countries through development assistanc e and in supporting 
the diffusion of technologies that will enable our just energy transitions. This is particularly salient 
given the consistent shortfall in the yearly internationally agreement commitment of 100 billion USD 
for climate finance for develo ping countries.  
2.353.   The representative of Australia  delivered the following statement:  
2.354.   Australia would like to thank India for its presentation and its paper. The CTE is the key 
multilateral body focused on trade and environment and we welcome the recent refo rm papers which 
aim to reinvigorate discussions in the CTE, including from India, the EU, and China. We also see 
plurilateral discussions as a helpful way to advance common understanding and develop responses 
to the important issues of climate change. And these discussions are particularly valuable in the 
Trade and Environment al Sustainability  Structured Discussions .  
2.355.   Australia is committed to tackling climate change, and we firmly believe that trade and the 
multilateral trading system must be a part of the  solution to environmental problems, including 
climate change. The WTO can and must play a role in tackling these problems. It won't be easy, but 
it's our responsibility to ensure that there is maximum consistency about trade and environment  
policies. Tran sparency and dialogue will be important to help us get there particularly here in the 
CTE.  
2.356.   One issue that we obviously need to address is carbon leakage. We are conscious of the 
importance of tackling leakage and understand why Members are pursuing polici es to combat the 
issue. We are committed to exploring multilateral and plurilateral solutions to carbon leakage, but 
we have to recognize that climate measures are imperative, and we understand why Members are 
taking action now. Of course, any measures tha t Members design should be WTO -consistent. We WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  welcome to consultative approach that Members are taking in relation to their climate -related 
measures, and we encourage all Members to continue such a consultative approach. Australia is 
committed to working w ith all Members on these important issues where trade can assist in 
advancing our climate, environment, and sustainability objectives.  
2.357.   On the topic of environmental measures, Australia also notes that in line with our WTO 
obligations, non -tariff measures should be based on science, proportionate to the risk posed , 
supported by evidence, and should be no more trade -restrictive than necessary to achieve a 
legitimate policy objective. Australia is committed to these principles and is concerned by the growth 
of non-tariff barriers, particularly the emergence of import conditions that are more restrictive than 
necessary and are based on achieving environmental objectives. Such issues have also been raised 
in the WTO TBT Committee and the SPS Committee.  
2.358.   Once aga in, we welcome the contribution to the debate from India and all Members seeking 
to engage in the question of how this house can best address climate change in a manner that is 
consistent with WTO rules. We welcome deepening the conversation with all Membe rs. 
2.359.   The representative of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela  delivered the following statement:  
2.360.   We want to thank India for including this item on the agenda of this meeting. We subscribe 
to the concerns expressed in document JOB/TE/78  regarding the proliferation of the use of measures 
that are presented as environmental but that are actually disguised restrictions on international 
trade,  in violation of the rules of the Multilateral Trade System and the MEAS.  
2.361.   We agree with India that it is essential to ensure that environmental protection is carried 
out in a way that is compatible with the needs and concerns of countries at different leve ls of 
development, without undermining the rights and obligations of countries that are already agreed 
at the multilateral level.  
2.362.   In this sense, we endorse the statement contained in the aforementioned document that 
only through mutual support and the harm onized application of international instruments within the 
framework of the MEAs and the WTO agreements can a significant level of development be achieved.  
2.363.   The WTO must remain an international organization that promotes effective collective action 
and not  unilateral action. The best for a for addressing environmental and climate change issues are 
specialized MEAs, which operate on the principle of global collective action to solve global problems, 
based on a simple basic principle: that trade measures shoul d not undermine multilateral 
environmental agreements or the commitments made under those agreements.  
2.364.   Finally, we join all Members who have called for trade measures related to the environment 
and sustainable development to be based on the principles of Common But Differentiated 
Responsibilities and the respective capacities of all Members. All such measures should respect the 
social and economic development needs of WTO Members. These proposals must not constitute 
arbitrary or disguised restrictions or unj ustifiable discrimination of international trade . 
2.365.   The representative of India delivered the following statement:  
2.366.   This discussion involved a wide set of WTO Members , so I just want to take a minute to 
thank everyone who has intervened on this paper. We stan d ready to engage bilaterally and we will 
be reaching out to those who have made their interventions to take this discussion forward.  
2.4.2   Update by the United Kingdom on its due diligence legislation which seeks to make 
supply chains more sustainable  
2.367.   The representative of  the United Kingdom  delivered the following statement:  
2.368.   As this Committee is aware, the U nited Kingdom  has introduced provisions through its 
Environment Act 2021, enabling the UK government to make new regulations for forest risk 
commodities. The forthcoming regulations will make it illegal for larger businesses operating in the 
UK to use key forest risk c ommodities produced on land used illegally in violation of respective 
national laws. The emphasis of UK's aim is to work with and support the legal frameworks of WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  respective countries not impose UK standards on others.  
2.369.   As set out in our update on this matt er in November 2021, we ran a consultation from 
3 December 2021 to 11  March 2022 to seek views on the side of the regulations. The consultations 
sought views on which commodities should be in scope of the regulations, which businesses should 
be subject to the regulations, what those businesses will be required to do as part of their due 
diligence exercise, and, finally, how the requirements will be enforced. On 1  June 2022, we published 
a summary of responses to this consultation, which is available online.  We thank all the respondents 
from across the world, which ranged from individuals to government bodies and small to large -sized 
businesses. We are continuing to consider these responses as we work on the regulations' final 
design and implementation.  
2.370.   We do not currently have a specific timeline to share but are committed to bringing new due 
diligence provisions in at the earliest possible opportunity. We would very much like to reiterate that 
the core of the UK approach is that of partnership. Our aim is t o work with other governments and 
to support to their efforts to uphold their domestic laws and strengthen environmental protection. 
The introduction of UK due diligence measures to tackle illegal deforestation in our supply chains will 
compliment worldwid e national and local efforts to protect forests and other ecosystems. And in 
doing so, we will support delivery of our collective commitment to halt and reverse forest loss and 
land degradation by 2030, made at COP26.  
2.371.   As we finalize the new UK regulations  and progress their implementation, we will continue 
to ensure compliance with our international trade obligations. We will also continue to encourage 
discussions internationally, such as here, including through the Forest, Agriculture, and Commodities 
Trade Dialogue (FACT), which we will hear a little bit about later on. And we will work with countries 
towards a collective understanding of how global markets can incentivize and support trade in legally 
and sustainably produced commodities.  
2.372.   Following this p resentation, one delegation had the following reaction.  
2.373.   The representative of the Paraguay  delivered the following statement:  
2.374.   Paraguay would like to thank the UK for the update. We strongly believe that the idea of 
partnership and not imposing standards to  other countries is the way forward.  We are still a little bit 
concerned about the extra costs that these type of regulations might imply, but we look forward to 
continuing working with the UK and have more updates on this. But I wanted to thank the 
presen tation and, again, say that we strongly believe this is the way forward, not imposing one's 
standards.  
2.4.3   Update by the United Kingdom on global carbon leakage risks and policy approaches  
2.375.   The representative of the United Kingdom  delivered the following statem ent: 
2.376.   The United Kingdom is pleased to be giving this update today on the UK's approach to carbon 
leakage risks. I will start by saying that climate change represents an urgent and shared global 
challenge. The UK is strongly committed to decarbonizing our e conomy, consistent with our climate 
targets and the objective to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. We recognize that there 
will be a variety of approaches to the transition to net zero and that countries moving at different 
paces present an incr eased risk of carbon leakage, which could undermine our common climate 
goals.  
2.377.   We are therefore committed to working with our international partners to develop a common 
global approach to carbon leakage. For example, we are committed to reducing the cost o f 
technology needed for the transition through the Breakthrough Agenda, agreed at COP26, and 
stimulating global demand for low -carbon industrial materials through the Industrial Deep 
Decarbonization Initiative (IDDI), jointly led with India. We are clear t hat international solutions to 
carbon leakage are the most desirable. These take time to develop and so whil e working on them 
with international partners, the UK is also considering the immediate steps that are needed to ensure 
that our decarbonization con tributes to a reduction in global emissions.  
2.378.   A key priority is to build evidence, improve data gathering and knowledge sharing to further 
understand and mitigate the risk, therefore, the UK is preparing to launch a consultation this spring 
which explores a range of possible policy options to mitigate against carbon leakage risk. This 
includes policies such as voluntary and mandatory product standards, labelling and procurement WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  measures, and potential carbon border adjustment mechanisms. The consultation is  seeking views 
and does not lock in one or any of these policies. We are clear that any policy options to be taken 
forward would need to reflect the UK's staunch commitment to free and open trade and be compliant 
with WTO rules whil e taking into considerat ion countries' unique national circumstances, including 
differing levels of development. The objective of the consultation is to gather further evidence and 
gain a deeper understanding of a range of stakeholder views. We are fully committed to this being 
a fair and transparent process and therefore this consultation will be open to international partners 
to provide views. We invite you to participate and contribute to it and strongly welcome your 
engagement.  
2.379.   Another important area of international progress,  evidence gathering, and knowledge 
sharing will be the development of comparable methodologies and standards to measure emissions 
intensity data for industrial products. The UK wants to see progress on this agenda. Actions at the 
WTO will be crucial to ach ieving this to help avoid a patchwork of measures that subsequently create 
challenges for business and trade. The UK has used its previous presidency of COP26 and G7, in 
addition to wider diplomatic efforts to work with different countries in tackling indu strial 
decarbonization, and we recognize that this is an issue for all Members and want to again reiterate 
the UK's strong commitment to inclusive international solutions to carbon leakage. It is vital that we 
ensure there continues to be an open, transpar ent, and fact -based discussion around the challenges 
that we collectively face, which focuses on how we can continue to move forward with global 
solutions to carbon leakage mitigation.  
2.380.   Following this presentation, some delegations had the following reacti ons. 
2.381.   The representative of China  delivered the following statement:  
2.382.   China would like to thank the UK for their presentation. I think this presentation is very 
valuable. As the concept of carbon leakage is still questionable from both theoretical and practical 
points of view, I believe some Members also share the same view,  we very much welcome such 
information sharing and also analysis on carbon leakage. We also welcome the consultation by the 
UK government on this carbon leakage.  
2.383.   We agree with the UK to build evidence and improve data gathering and knowledge to further 
understand carbon leakage. We hope such kind of information sharing could answer questions or at 
least enhance Members' understanding on questions such as how to determine whether there is 
carbon leakage or not, whether this carbon leakage is actually taking  place, what are the scientific 
bases for the environmental impacts of carbon leakage, and how to respond to carbon leakage 
collectively based on the principles of CBDR and NDCs. We totally agree with the UK that climate 
change represents an urgent and sha red global challenge, and we would like to reiterate that we 
need collective action and international cooperation and solutions to carbon leakage risks.  
2.384.   The representative of Japan  delivered the following statement:  
2.385.   Japan thanks the UK for your update and also appreciates the UK taking the initiative on this 
important matter, global carbon leakage risk and the policy approaches. We believe that t he main 
premise for trade -related climate measures aimed at preventing carbon leakage is that they sho uld 
be designed in a manner consistent with WTO rules. We would also like to reiterate the point that 
climate policies should be designed with great care to achieve their objectives and to avoid 
unnecessary trade distortions.  
2.386.   Having said that, i n principle , the focus should be on carbon intensity as a result of such 
reduction efforts, given that each country has accumulated reduction efforts in the past according 
to their respective circumstances, such as energy source constraints and industrial structure. On 
that basis, measures to prevent carbon leakage should focus on the difference between domestic 
and international levels of carbon intensity. This is because this difference will reflect the sum of 
various government measures and corporate efforts. Such an approach is what is needed to address 
the risk of carbon leakage while minimizing negative impacts on trade.  Japan looks forward to 
engaging with this discussion.  
2.387.   The representative of India delivered the following statement:  
2.388.   India thanks the UK for tak ing the initiative on providing updates on the concept of global 
carbon leakage. We have already expressed our concerns on measures that are based on ideas like WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  "leakage. " These measures do not take into account social, economic, geographic, and climatic 
circumstances of trading partners and often take a "one-shoe-fits-all" approach.  
2.389.   In effect by forcing harmonization of production processes, these policy approaches seek to 
offer protection to domestic industry rather than solving common global problems. T oday we are 
talking about carbon leakage. Tomorrow some Members may talk about ideas like wage differentials 
or welfare leakage. These ideas essentially seek to impose domestic Member policies extra -
territorially and, in the process, protect uncompetitive domestic industries, seeking to control the 
production methodologies and cost and configurations of input supply chains. (from statement)  
2.390.   Any discussion on carbon leakage will remain non -serious until it is conducted in isolation 
without considering the co mmitments made in UNFCCC on technology transfer, climate finance and 
without respecting the principles of Common but Differentiated Responsibilities and Respective 
Capacities (CBDR -RC) and Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).  
2.391.   If multiple Members de sign multiple leakage -based measures, it would have an adverse 
impact on Global South which would get excluded from the benefits of global trade. My delegation 
again urges the WTO membership to avoid fragmentation of trade architecture. We welcome the 
UK's position that the different circumstances and levels of development is a critical input into this 
discussion.  
2.392.   The representative o f the Philippines  delivered the following statement:  
2.393.   Just a point of clarification, I may not have caught it from the UK's st atement, but when will 
the process be initiated and are these domestic consultations that will be conducted in the UK or do 
you intend to create a space for discussions on carbon leakage here in the WTO?  
2.394.   The representative of the European Union  delivered the following statement:  
2.395.   The European Union wanted to thank the UK for their useful debrief. I think this shows a 
useful contribution to transparency of this Committee of the measures taken by the Members. This 
is a proposal that you have put in the delibe ration function for the EU reform, so we very much 
welcome this as a useful start of this and increasing transparency beyond only the EU.  
2.396.   The representative of Brazil  delivered the following statement:  
2.397.   I just wanted to v ery quickly thank the UK both for t he presentation and what appears to be 
a very helpful approach to these discussions about carbon leakage. This is an evidence and fact -
based discussion that might help de -dramatize that concept and also bear light on some of the 
murkiness that remains on w hether it is appropriate and how and what is the exact environmental 
impact of that. We also appreciate the emphasis on inclusiveness and the effort to reflect on how 
different levels of development might be reflected on any policy that is implemented in t hat 
framework.  
2.398.   The representative of the Kingdom of S audi Arabia  delivered the following statement:  
2.399.   I would like to thank the UK for the update on global carbon leakage risks and policy 
approaches. We believe that carbon leakage should be understood as investments leakage due to 
the fact that there are very strict environmental regulations by host countr ies, hence the flow out of 
such countries as they become more expensive for these industries operating under such 
restrictions. This is one of the top -down policy approaches which is discriminatory and a disguised 
restrictive tool on international trade. S o, we do not see the value to discuss such issue in this 
Committee.  
2.400.   The representative of  the United Kingdom  delivered the following statement : 
2.401.   Thank you to all the delegates who came in with questions and, again, our approach is based 
on wanting input and  engagement from all Members and hearing the concerns from Members across 
the spectrum. In response to the question from the Philippines on timelines, we do  not have an 
exact date yet, but the UK government has publicly committed to launch this consultatio n in spring 
2023. We will of course do our best to provide information on how you can access this consultation 
and how you can contribute to it. Please do get in touch with our Mission and we will be looking at WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  ways to also engage and facilitate informatio n exchange on this at the WTO too so I hope that 
answers the question.  
3  SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN WTO DISCUSSIONS   
3.1  Presentation by Paraguay  on environmental subsidies notified under par agraph 12 of 
Annex 2 of the Agreement on Agriculture  
3.1.  The representative  of Paraguay  delivered the following statement:  
3.2.  Thank you for the opportunity to present  this topic in the CTE. I am Diego Franco, delegate of 
the Mission of Paraguay in charge, among other  things , of trade and environment  folder .  
3.3.  As some of you know, Paraguay is an agro -exporting country with a little more than 7 million 
inhabitants that produces food for 11 times its population and does so without  any subsidies or  
market support . The agro -food industry represents about 23.5% of ou r GDP  and around 65% of our 
exports and provides employment for 1 out of  4 people  in the economy . This high dependence on 
agricultural commodities in general terms is what guides Paraguay's actions in this organization and 
in our bilateral trade relations.  Since our economy and a significant part of subsistence of our 
population depend  on the exports of agricultural products.  
3.4.  Agriculture is both a cause and a victim of climate change, but this affects different countries 
in different ways. For Paraguay, bearing in mind that we represent only 0.02% of global emission s, 
climate change is a situation where we are more victim s rather than the cause. But we are committed 
to continuing to produce food sustainably and to improving our production systems to help ac hieve 
our common climate goals, such as the SDGs and of course complying with the Paris Agreement.  
3.5.  On the subject of this presentation, we recognize the importance of discussing environmental 
sustainability in agriculture. We see that a great part of the conversations on assistance to 
agriculture and the damage to the environment through agricultural subsidies revolve s around 
"repurposing", which represents a danger for developing countries and LDCs with high dependence 
on this type of repurposing.  This co uld lead to greenwashing in order to avoid fulfilling the reduction 
commitments . We would like to remind you that some s ubsidies are available only to some countries.  
3.6.  We would also like to mention the need for more tools and greater flexibility in order t o address 
sustainability in agriculture. However, we consider that the Agreement already provides the 
necessary tools and possibly too much flexibility. Paragraph 12 of Annex 2 of the Agreement on 
Agriculture is the main but not the only tool.  
3.7.  Moving on t o the methodology, our intent is to start a discussion on the environmental 
components of the programmes notified under this paragraph to see what type of programmes are 
being notified and the expenses and rules on the Agreement on Agriculture that need to  be classified 
as environmental programmes. Subsequently, we will conduct a detailed analysis on the 
programmes and the possible trade -offs in terms of environmental objectives. Of course, we need 
to identify good practices or guidelines that the programme s must contain in order to be considered 
as "double green", that is to say positive effects on the environment but non -distortional as regards 
trade.  
3.8.  To present such a snapshot on the use of the tool, we have identified all of the environmental 
programmes and all of the programmes notified in the last notification, which was DS1, by each 
Member up to 24.08.2022 (and then we have the Corrigenda for the notifications which are available 
up to that date). In order to make it comparable in terms of expenditure,  we have converted the 
expenditures into US dollars using the average IFS exchange rate for the period.   
3.9.  For the purposes of c lustering our analysis, we have identified a number of keywords in the 
notifications and we have analysed a number of questions put by the Committee on Agriculture over 
the last 10 years.  
3.10.  Here we have the Members who use the programmes, up to 24.08.2022, you can see that 
there are 29 Members that have notified at least once. We have 25 Members that have notified 
programme s under paragraph 12 . This graph gives us an interesting overview. You can see that we WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  have 12 Member countries that notified us of programmes that are developing countries, 
10 developed countries, and 3 LDCs that are notifying as well.  
3.11.  When you look at e xpenditures, we see that 40% of Members using these programmes 
represent 52,38% of the expenditure and, as you can see in the graph, the LDCs have dropped out 
of the picture and the developing countries have a lower level of participation as well.  
3.12.  On this  graph, we can see the expenditures on a per Member basis. We see on the top 10 the 
most developed economies, which are China, the EU, US and Japan, followed by Switzerland, 
Norway, UK, Korea, Chinese Taipei and Australia. The top 5 represent 95% of the ex penditure. So 
without going into details, I just wanted to show you how the tool is very concentrated in terms of 
expenditure.  
3.13.  As regards keywords that I have identified, for the purposes of the discussion, we have 
grouped the programmes notified on the b asis of keywords that arise. The intent is to create groups 
to facilitate presentation and analysis so we have not put them into categories on the basis of 
environmental objectives. Sometimes, these are impossible to identify. Let me mention a problem 
that we had and that is that we frequently saw that many cases that were impossible to identify the 
objective or what the practices that were entailed for a particular programme.   
3.14.  Here you can see the keywords we have identified. It is a rather long list – natural resources, 
management, conservation, restoration of soil/water/air/forests, genetic resources, prairie lands, 
mangroves, agricultural land etc. We  also have adaptation, animal wellbeing, biodiversity, extensive 
agriculture, landscaping, organic certif ication and production, rural heritage, productivity, 
contamination /pollution , prevention  and reduction, plus a general category of environmental 
programmes. Generally speaking, we are including here all of those where – for lack of information 
either in t he DS1 notifications or even in the DS2 notifications – there is not sufficient information 
in order to be able to put them in a given category.  These measures could benefit from voluntary 
transparency exercises in terms of environmental objectives.  
3.15.  Here we have the most frequent group of subjects including natural resources . The data is 
not absolute , however , and sometimes we have excessive grouping of programmes which sometimes 
do not allow for differentiation of expenditures. One thing that strikes our attention is that some 
programmes that could be categorized as organic production or rural heritage, that would require 
detailed analysis on a case -by-case basis for whatever practices are involved in order to obtain 
positive results for the environment.  
3.16.  Some production methods are ordered by these programmes and they could have positive 
effects on the reduction of pollution but at the same time affect the capacity of the soil to capture 
carbon or to retain water. Some of these programmes receive more supp ort than biodiversity 
programmes in order to reduce pollution or to face major environmental challenges. We also need 
to look at what means of support or agricultural landscapes, which are non -environmentally positive 
and prevent regeneration, and also the  subject of animal wellbeing, the objective of which we cannot 
identify and we fail to understand then why they receive so much support.  
3.17.  As I said, I do not want to jump the gun or unilaterally judge the justification of a programme 
or a measure nor its e nvironmental objectives, so we will be working with other environmental 
initiatives in order to move forward on this discussion.  
3.18.  But why do these notifications and programmes have relevance to our discussions on trade 
and environment? In light of the fact  that we are reaching an Agreement on Agriculture and the 
monitoring of which takes place in the framework of the regular Committee meetings. The answer 
is because the AoA does not include among the requirements for the programmes to have 
environmental res ults and as you can see the AoA focuses on the fact that the programmes should 
not be restrictive on trade and only requires, in Annex 2 in general and paragraph 12 in particular, 
that the assistance be provided by means of a governmental programme and tha t it does not have 
a price -distorting effect and, in paragraph 12, that the governmental programme and the payment 
be devoted to extraordinary expenses.  
3.19.  There is not sufficient information in the notifications, not even in order to actually check on 
these  elements, but this is a discussion that has to be conducted in the Committee on Agriculture. WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  What we wish is to have, in the discussions on agriculture and environment, discussions on the 
sustainability of agriculture and also to be able to identify doubl e green measures, which is not really 
the remit of the Committee on Agriculture.  
3.20.  Even without the necessary tools in the Committee on Agriculture, the environmental aspect 
brings about environmental concerns on behalf of the Members and more than 100 ques tions were 
asked over the past 10 years. Several Members, both developed and developing, put questions to 
19 out of the 25 other Members that do have programmes under paragraph 12. Some of the issues 
brought up sit within the context of the AoA, for exampl e, the level of assistance, the number of 
beneficiaries, the coverage of the products, and others are notified with the  environmental aspect 
of the measures, for example, the criteria, the objective etc.  
3.21.  We see that there is interest in this type of measur es although again the Committee on 
Agriculture is not the adequate venue for this type of discussion.  
3.22.  As I said, this presentation does not aim at producing results nor does it aim at pointing at 
specific problems arising from the measures, we are just tr ying to stimulate a discussion on the 
environmental aspects of the programmes as notified in the AoA. Some of the subjects that we are 
suggesting could continue within the framework of this Committee or under the environmental 
initiatives.  
3.23.  How do these en vironmental programmes contribute to the environmental objectives and 
what are the challenges that we are trying to respond to? How can we measure the way that the 
compensation takes place between the different environmental objectives so that the net resu lt is 
of a positive level. How can we identify best practices for the design of environmental subsidies in 
order to ensure that they comply with the "double green" criteria? How can we have a level playing 
field when the environmental measures that some Me mbers provide subsidy support for become 
mandatory for third countries that want to trade with these countries, without having the necessary 
support? What type of trade  facilitation measures could be applied to these third countries bearing 
in mind the WTO  rules, the needs of sustainable development, and the environmental principles that 
are enshrined in the international instruments such as Common and Differentiated Responsibility or 
Special and Differentiated Treatment.  
3.24.  Part of the conversation could arr ive from better notifications within the framework of the 
Committee on Agriculture and also within this Committee and its initiatives. We see that we are 
working on subjects both in our discussions and in our initiatives but we do need more information 
on measures adopted in order to close the information gap.  
3.25.  Therefore, we believe that we could work on producing a questionnaire similar to the one that 
we have in the Plastics initiative where Members can provide more information on the measures and 
on the environmental objectives and also identify synergies between environmental objectives and 
provide information on the results of these measures.  
3.26.  This information can then go into a Q&A process on environmental measures and, as we said, 
this should take place within the framework of this Committee or in the environmental initiatives. 
To conclude, the AoA provides tools for environmental sustainabili ty. Paragraph 12, Annex 2, is the 
main but not the only tool in this regard. The way in which Members presently use these tools should 
be an important element for us to bear in mind in the search for common ground in order to make 
progress on environmental  sustainability in agriculture. In light of the present gaps in the AoA, there 
are not sufficient elements in order to discuss the environmental elements of these programmes 
within the Committee on Agriculture.  
3.27.  The discussions on trade and environment at WTO could help fill in these gaps and be useful 
discussions. We would like for all Members to have the necessary tools in order to address 
environmental sustainability in agriculture. We would like to ensure that these tools are properly 
used and not for box ticking or box shifting in order to avoid reduction obligations.  
3.28.  Since the programmes of the green box of the AoA do not have any limits , this is of concern 
for developing countries and we want to ensure that they are properly used. We all hope to reac h a 
definition of "double green". I think it is an ambition that no one would actually turn their backs on WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  and we need to find a way of moving forward in the discussions and to exchange information in 
order to make this objective possible.  
3.29.  Following this p resentation, some delegations had the following reactions.  
3.30.  The representative of Colombia  delivered the following statement:  
3.31.  First of all, I would like to thank Paraguay  for the presentation it shared with us on 
paragraph  12 of Annex II on the green box. We are impressed by the work done and it  can rely on 
our support. Just an additional comment – Colombia, together with Argentina, is wo rking on "double 
green" and the green box and there is a lack of information on environmental programmes so a 
compar ison is needed between the identified programmes under DS1 and DS2 and agricultural 
notifications.  
3.32.  During this research, which we are carrying out jointly with Argentina, we have taken on 
board the launch pad provided by Paraguay and are considering the n ormative processes. We reali ze 
that some programmes notified under environmental issues should not be part of environmental 
issues. I refer to payments for animal wellbeing and countryside issues , which in principle should 
not be under that category.  
3.33.  Thanks to what Paraguay has said we are moving forward on this and I would like to thank 
Paraguay for sharing its experience with us on this and we hope to continue working on those points 
in order to move forward on such an important issue.  
3.34.  The representativ e of Uruguay  delivered the following statement:  
3.35.  We would like to thank most particularly Paraguay and recognize the excellent work it has 
been doing with regards to environmental issues. Relying on such information is a fundamental point 
in order to be wel l informed of the issue. As my delegation has stated on many occasions, the AoA 
is one of the most important pillars of this organization. We all have in mind the agricultural 
subsidies, which countries give to inefficient producers. The fact that there is  an exception within 
Paragraph 12 of Annex 2 – an exception which means that countries which are not "green" are 
painted or depicted as "green" – that reinforces our conviction that we need to continue discussions 
and pay close attention to this study bein g carried out by Colombia and Argentina.  
3.36.  The representative of Brazil  delivered the following statement:  
3.37.  Brazil thanks Paraguay for the important effort made in doing this work and the link between 
agriculture and sustainability. In our view, agriculture reform is part of our pathway to sustainability. 
Agricultural subsidies have a negative impact on the environment, both by artificial increase in 
output and by altering its mix in favour of carbon -intensive products. The most distorting forms of 
support, s uch as market price support and payments associated with the volume of production, are 
also the most harmful to the environment and often have a negative impact on indicators of technical 
efficiency and total productivity of factories. We therefore welcome  Paraguay's call to have a more 
focused dialogue on environmental subsidies at the CTE and also achieve a better understanding of 
greenwashing practices.   
3.38.  The representative of Japan  delivered the following statement:  
3.39.  Japan would like to thank Paraguay for  the presentation regarding environmental subsidies 
notified under Paragraph 12 of Annex 2 of the AoA.  
3.40.  While reducing the negative environmental impacts of agricultural subsidies is important for 
achieving the SDGs and a sustainable food system, simply el iminating or reducing subsidies may 
have the opposite effect, causing production to decline and prices to rise. Since the environmental 
impact of subsidies varies depending on the natural conditions and environmental requirements of 
each country, it is imp ortant to respect a non -uniform approach that takes into account each 
country's circumstances.  
3.41.  The representative of Argentina  delivered the following statement:  WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  3.42.  Argentina would like to thank Paraguay for the huge amount of work being done by such a 
small Mission, like most of the developing countries. We associate ourselves with the work done 
between Argentina and Colombia. Argentina is of the view that the study on environmental impact 
of agricultural subsidies needs to be deepened. Those subsidies have b een depicted as sustainable 
and have an impact on the environment. We will speak more on this during the discussion on 
biodiversity.  
3.43.  The representative of New Zealand  delivered the following statement:  
3.44.  New Zealand wished to thank Paraguay for the thoughtfu l presentation. There is obviously a 
huge amount of analysis and work that has gone into this, so we will look forward to studying this 
paper in detail.  
3.45.  In general, we certainly regard as helpful the information that Members can provide on what 
the enviro nmental objectives they are pursuing in their programmes are and how they are measuring 
the success of these environmental programmes. We see that as very important to understanding 
not only how the trade rules are being respected but also what the environ mental outcomes are and 
how they are being measured on a robust basis.  
3.46.  We thank Paraguay for their work and look forward to reading in more detail the information 
that they have presented.  
3.47.  The representative of Nigeria  delivered the following statement:  
3.48.  Nigeria wishes to thank Paraguay for its presentation. The presentation shed light on some of 
the issues, such as domestic support , that are of interest to Nigeria and indeed Members of the 
African Group. Currently, developing countries are suffering from the imbalance that is contained in 
the AoA. What I mean is that some Members have access to some tools that are not available to 
others and this imbalance affects mainly developing countries. These tools enable us to continue to 
undermine the competitiveness of developing countries and their producers.  
3.49.  For us, we have been engaged in the negotiations trying to achieve the outcomes tha t are 
needed to level the playing field and foster a fair, global agriculture market. What I would say now 
is that we are seeing some kind of box shifting where Members who benefit from the rules are  trying 
to undertake some kind of box shifting to legitim ize those kinds of subsidies that are trade  distortive. 
They are taking advantage of the provisions of paragraph 12 to repurpose such subsidies.  
3.50.  We have raised concerns on this issue again and again and we are happy that Paraguay's 
presentation has shed li ght on this issue. We would be happy to engage with Paraguay and other 
Members in order to understand the rationale for what they are proposing and the issue of box 
shifting that I was just talking about.  
3.51.   For us,  repurposing existing domestic support for  the development and adoption of green 
innovations will further reinforce and expand current imbalances in the A oA. Developed countries 
will be able to justify unlimited market price support in the name of environmental sustainability.  
3.52.  We have made it clea r in some fora in the past that, for us, sustainability in the context of 
WTO agricultural reform must also include domestic food security and food security for the vast 
majority of people who are dependent on agriculture. Any efforts to further expand the  existing 
imbalances in the agricultural sector are a cause for concern. We would be interested in making sure 
that we do not end up with a lopsided system that will continue to undermine production in 
developing countries in Africa.   
3.53.  The representative of  Australia  delivered the following statement:  
3.54.  Let me thank Paraguay for the enormous amount of work that has gone into this research , 
which I think is a useful contribution to the discussion on how the WTO can make a positive 
contribution t hrough existing tools to environmental sustainability .  
3.55.  I think that we often give ourselves a hard time in this organization for our lack of respon se 
to the environmental challenges that are before us  – it took us over 20 years to reach the historic WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  Fisheries Agreement . But here our founding fathers (or founding mothers, as they were ) with some 
prescience at the foundation of the AoA, instilled in it a contribution, a possible area , where Members 
could make a contribution to environmental sustainability, through Paragraph 12 of Annex 2 of the 
AoA. They created a place where Members cou ld subsidize programmes that had an environmental 
effect, assuming that they were not trade  distorting.  
3.56.  But Paraguay's analysis shows us that , while our founding fathers may have had wonderful 
intentions , the technical basis upon which the granularity tha t would be needed in that paragraph 
to ensure that the measures we were taking did have that positive contribution to the environment 
was not appropriately put in place. That has led us to the situation  we are in  today where , despite 
Paraguay's enormous am ount of effort and work in trying to understand and figure out how Members 
are positively contributing to the environment through their agricultural subsidies , we are none the 
wiser as to how that effort is being held.  
3.57.  We often think of transparency in th is organization as a means to check each other 's practices 
or behaviours but there is another very important element of transparency that I think is sometimes 
overlooked and that is that transparency allows us to learn from one another. Transparency allows  
us to see each other 's practices and how we most effectively support trade and how we most 
effectively support the environment and duplicate those practices. But , if the analysis that Paraguay 
has produced shows that we are not able to learn from each oth er's practices through that element 
of transparency, then something clearly needs to be done to enable us to learn from one another.  
3.58.  I take the point of my learned colleague from Japan that countries have very different contexts 
in their agricultural prod uction and that a subsidy in one country or a production method in one 
country may mean a very different thing to a subsidy or production method in another country. To 
my mind, that only underscores the importance of greater clarity and  greater transparenc y when it 
comes to these projects because it will enable us to understand the specific circumstances under 
which those countries are applying like subsidies but in very different contexts, which may have very 
different impacts.  
3.59.  Greater transparency in thi s light will help us to understand one another and help us to 
duplicate each other's practices where they are best practices and will, of course, also help us to 
check and understand the environmental impacts of each other's subsidies under Paragraph 12 of  
Annex 2.  
3.60.  Once again, let me reiterate the comments of many today by thanking Paraguay for its work 
and to underscore our commitment to continuing these conversations, particularly in this house and 
this forum of the WTO, which has a significant relevance  to this discussion because it is ultimately  
about the environmental impact of an element of the AoA . So we welcome the discussion and we 
are looking forward to engaging further with Members.  
3.61.  The representative of the European Union  delivered the followin g statement:  
3.62.  The European Union thanks Paraguay for the insightful presentation that we will share with 
other agriculture colleagues.  
3.63.  The EU considers transparency on agricultural subsidies as crucial to assess the policy's 
tangible results and impacts, b oth on trade and production and on the environment. Discussions are 
also needed in relation to the indicators on the environmental impact as this is an area where we 
need more work multilaterally.  Building resilience of agriculture productions and policies  should be 
our goal. Our call is therefore for reforms of agricultural policies towards less trade distortion, which 
is also friendlier for the environment and for the food security challenges.  
3.64.  Indeed, paragraph 12 of the Annex 2 of the Agreement on Agricu lture provides rules related 
to measures explicitly meant for environmental protection. The EU has support notified under this 
paragraph in our notifications. It has been an important element of the reforms of the CAP which 
have increased the environmental  focus. In our case, this support has been related to spending 
under rural development. The cost incurred income foregone requirement for such measures is an 
important characteristic which creates a responsibility of the farmer for the land which is valuab le 
for any policy -led transformation towards more environmentally friendly practices. We certainly 
encourage such measures , which are usually effective in their goal of environmental protection.   WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  3.65.  The representative of China  delivered the following statement:  
3.66.  China would like to express our thanks to our Paraguayan colleagues for their outstanding 
work on environmental subsidy notifications under the "green box" of the AoA. China believes that 
such technical discussions on ce rtain aspects of agricultural subsidies is a helpful way for Members 
to understand each other's policies to achieve a certain development and to maintain their 
environmental landscape and agricultural development. We think that Paraguay looking at the 
agricultural policies of Members' practices is the best way to encourage us to exchange Members' 
views and the best way to promote sustainability.  
3.67.  On agricultural subsidies, China believes that the starting point of agricultural subsidy reform 
should start wi th the most distortive subsidies in order to level the playing field and allow all Members 
to develop in a sustainable way. The "green box" subsidies should be maintained as an important 
way to encourage Members to undertake agricultural policy reform and promote development, which 
we think is definitely good for the environment. However, China welcomes some kind of information 
exchanges and express our willingness to work with Members to engage in such kinds of discussions 
to achieve a common development.  
The representative of Paraguay  delivered the following statement:  
3.68.  Thank you and I would like to thank all of the delegations who have made comments. There 
is an important element coming out of various  comments, which refers to the difficulties in being 
transparent. It is a rather complicated matter. We are a small Mission and we obviously had contacts 
with many colleagues relating to DS1, but the information notified sometimes was not enough, for 
example, for those who wanted to move to DS2 sometimes it wa s not clear or was not possible to 
link the programmes under DS1 to those in DS2.  
3.69.  I would like to thank one and all and say that the intention is there – that is, to work together 
and discuss environmental issues that impact on these programmes in environmental fora and to 
notify various practices. It is not a negative issue, and it is not about controlling anything, but you 
need transparent thinking in order to meet the ambition which we have all identified.  
4  MULTILATERAL ENVIRONMENTAL AGREEMENTS AND WTO – CTE WORK PROGRAM 
ITEMS 1 AND 5  
4.1  United  Nations Framework Convention on Climate Ch ange (UNFCCC)  
4.1.1   Briefing by Egypt on COP27  
4.1.  The Permanent Representative  of Egypt , Ambassador Dr Ahmed Ihab Gamaleldin , delivered 
the following statement : 
4.2.  Ambassador Manley and distinguished colleagues, allow me first to highlight the global scene 
in which CO P27 was held. As COP Presidency, Egypt was faced by many challenges, such as:  
• The geopolitical tensions due to the conflict in Ukraine.  
• A challenging multilateral system and international cooperation.  
• A global economy in decline, due to food and energy cri ses, increasing interest rates, disrupted 
international trade and supply chains, COVID -19 repercussions as well as high debt levels and 
reversing development gains in developing countries.  
• An increasing number and magnitude of climate -induced disasters and  high cost of loss and 
damage  (L&D) . 
• The world was off -track in achieving climate action (mitigation, adaptation and finance), 
according to the IPCC, UNEP and UNFCCC reports.  
• Limited delivery on Glasgow calls for mitigation and Glasgow pledges and commitme nts on 
climate finance.  
• No movement on L&D discussions.  
• Unsatisfactory outcomes on the Global Goal on Adaptation.  
4.3.  Egypt was conscious of all these challenges and, in spite of them, worked hard to build trust 
between all parties and to ensure a conducive en vironment for discussions and negotiations.  WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  4.4.  Let me now turn to the COP27 Vision, Objectives and Priorities . The COP27 Presidency aimed 
at having an "implementation COP", guided by scientific findings from relevant international 
institutions and focused on shifting from pledges and commitments to delivery and action.  Our aim 
was to advance on all climate action tracks (mitigation, adaptation, and finance) in a balanced 
manner while ensuring just transition as a core principle.  
4.5.  Our priority was to ensure that  all stakeholders are engaged and well represented in COP, 
because everyone has a role to address climate change: governments, private sector, international 
organizations, financial, scientific and academic institutions as well as civil society, all of the m have 
an important role to advance climate action and explore untraditional solutions through a cooperative 
manner. Our role as COP27 Presidency was to ensure the widest multi -stakeholder  engagement.  
4.6.  In the lead up to COP27 , we were engaged in several meetings at all levels , including meetings 
with UK as COP26 Presidency, Ministerial meetings at the international and regional level, technical 
workshops and expert meetings with HoDs negotiators, as well as regular monthly meetings with 
civil soci ety. 
4.7.  Regarding the level of participation in COP27 , Sharm El -Sheikh hosted over 48,000  participants 
and around 120 Heads of State and Governments, in addition to the heads of UN  organizations, 
heads of MDBs and IFIs and private sector CEOs. More than 10,00 0 representatives from NGOs, 
representing 1,649 organizations also participated in the COP .  
4.8.  All this  made COP27  one of  the biggest multilateral event s to date and one of the most attended 
COPs in history.  The COP27  Presidency facilitated a one -time accred itation for 57 African NGOs. We 
held the first ever youth -led climate forum, and a children and youth pavilion. We also appointed for 
the first time a COP Presidency Youth Envoy.  
4.9.  Turing to the COP27 outcomes , we had the Sharm El -Sheikh Climate Implementation Summit, 
where six high -level roundtables were held to cover six main topics, which were: Just transition ; 
Investing in the future of Energy: Green Hydrogen ; Innovative finance ; Food security ; Water 
security ; and Impacts of climate change on vulnerable communities. A Climate Implementation 
Summit Declaration was adopted , which stressed the following points:  
• First, t he need for mobilizing support for "just transition pathways", which is a transition that 
goes be yond the aspect of ambition in mitigation, confirming that it should take into account 
the socioeconomic impact and national circumstances.  
• Second, t he importance of decarboniz ing the hard -to-abate industries and sectors.  
• Third, t he importance of innovativ e financial mechanisms , such as debt swaps, concessional 
loans, and debt reduction frameworks.  
• Fourth, t he need for multi -stakeholder cross -sectoral at all levels to protect and manage water 
resources and food systems to maximize the benefits and avoid cau sing adverse 
socio-economic impacts.  
• Fifth, t he role of  hydrogen as a source of energy. In this regard, the Multi -stakeholder Global 
Renewable Hydrogen Forum (GRHF) was launched. This is a multi -stakeholder platform 
designed to facilitate large -scale deplo yment of renewable hydrogen in emerging market 
economies to foster decarbonization of local industries, accelerate just transition and unlock 
the environmental and socio economic  benefits of the global hydrogen economy through 
hydrogen trade between the eme rging market economies and the developed countries.  
4.10.  Regarding the major achievements in the negotiating track, COP27 adopted the Sharm 
El-Sheikh Implementation Plan (SHIP). This decision ensured the balance between ambition and 
implementation, as well as b etween mitigation and adaptation. It also stressed on the importance 
of science for effective climate action and focused on the synergies between climate change and 
biodiversity. The decision referred for the first time to the right to clean, healthy and s ustainable 
environment, climate justice, food security, water security and the need to foster early warning 
systems. In addition, allow me to shed light on the following main outcomes:  
4.11.  On Loss and Damage: COP27 was the first COP ever to enlist funding L&D on its agenda after 
30 years of disagreement among States Parties. We have , of course , the historic adoption of new 
funding arrangements for assisting developing countries that are particularly vulnerable to the 
adverse effects of climate change in respond ing to L&D, including establishing a fund for responding WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  to L&D; as well as the operationalization of the Santiago Network on Loss and Damage, which aims 
at providing capacity building to developing countries on the issue of Loss and Damage.  
4.12.  On mitigation: COP27 adopted the landmark mitigation work program until 2026; it also 
maintained the Glasgow language on keeping the goal of 1.5 alive and recalling the call for review 
of ambition in NDCs; and it focused on low -emission and renewable energy, t hrough a call to 
enhancing clean energy in national and global energy mix, in line with national circumstances while 
recognizing the need for support towards just transitions.  
4.13.  On Adaptation: COP27 gave a remarkable push to transformative adaptation action,  either at 
the level of Global Goal on Adaptation in the formal process, or at Sharm El-Sheikh Adaptation 
Agenda, which is a joint initiative between the COP27 Presidency and the UN High -Level Champion, 
and I will get back to this later in my presentation.  COP27 also established the Sharm El -Sheikh 
four-year joint work on implementation of climate action on agriculture and food security and Sharm 
El-Sheikh online portal to advance climate action on agriculture and food security.  
4.14.  On Finance: COP27 called on the shareholders of multilateral development banks (MDBs) and 
international financial institutions to reform their practices and priorities, align them with climate 
goals and scale up funding. It also launched the Sharm El-Sheikh dialogue on making finance  flows 
consistent with a pathway toward low greenhouse gas emissions and climate -resilient development. 
In addition, it established a reporting process on Glasgow request to double adaptation finance by 
2025 and clearly requested to increase Green Climate Fund replenishment due this year as per 
Article 9 of the Paris Agreement. In the final analysis, developing countries should not be left to take 
on more loans at very high interest rates, during a period of limited fiscal space, in order to contribute 
to the global efforts to preserve the 1.5  degree target, while they do not hold the historic 
responsibility for the current state of affairs.  
4.15.  On Just transition: COP27 launched the first "Work Programme on Just Transition".  
4.16.  Regarding the major achievements in the non -state actors track, allow me to highlight just 
three  of them . First, the Sharm El -Sheikh Adaptation Agenda, which is a flagship collaboration 
between the COP27 Presidency, the High  Level Champions and the Marrakech Partnership. It is the 
first comp rehensive global plan to rally both States and non -State actors behind a shared set of 
30 adaptation outcomes that are required by 2030 across food and agriculture, water and nature, 
oceans and coastal, human settlements and infrastructure systems as well as delivery across key 
enablers of planning and finance in order to enhance resilience for 4 billion people living in the most 
climate vulnerable communities. The Agenda aims to focus on urgent adaptation solutions with an 
intention that it will be integra ted as part of future COPs.  
4.17.  Second, COP27 Presidency, the UN Regional Economic Commissions and the Climate 
Champions co -hosted series of Regional Finance For a in the lead up to COP27. In these fora, over 
100 projects were presented requiring financing of a pproximately USD 120 billion, with this selection 
of projects having been derived from a list of over 450 projects. These fora will now be hosted 
annually alongside the UN Commissions.  
4.18.  Third, the launch of the Africa Carbon Markets Initiative (ACMI) by the  Global Energy Alliance 
for People and Planet, Sustainable Energy for ALL, and UNECA. This initiative aims at expanding 
Africa's participation in Voluntary Carbon Markets by setting an ambition for the continent and 
developing a roadmap of action programs that will be implemented over the next few years to meet 
that ambition.  
4.19.  On another note, I would like to shed the light on the COP27 Thematic days: Egypt organized 
11 thematic days on the margin of the COP, to focus on important topics highly relevant to climate 
action. These are as follow: finance day, decarbonization day, adaptation and agriculture day, energy 
day, science day, water day, gender day, civil society day, youth and future generations day, 
solutions day and biodiversity day. It is worth noti ng that Africa was a cross cutting  theme at each 
thematic day.  
4.20.  COP27 Presidency launched 14 initiatives during these thematic days, in partnership with 
UN organizations, including five initiatives focusing on Africa. We also launched the Africa Carbon WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  Marke t Initiative, in cooperation with UNECA and the Global Energy Alliance as I previously stated. 
This initiative aims at raising Africa carbon credits.  
4.21.  I would like to touch upon the WTO participation in COP27 . Building on her outstanding 
participation in Gl asgow, the COP27 Presidency invited the WTO Director -General to participate as 
a panellist  in the Food Security High -Level Roundtable during the Sharm El -Sheikh Implementation 
Summit. The DG's contribution was highly appreciated and welcomed, as she brough t a unique 
perspective of this important issue during the discussion.  
4.22.  In addition, the WTO Secretariat launched its 2022 World Trade Report on the margin of the 
Sharm El -Sheikh Implementation Summit, during a high  level event organized in the UK Pavilion. 
This report focused on the link between climate change and international trade.  
4.23.  In conclusion , I would like to highlight that we very much look forward to working with the 
UAE to implement the outcomes of COP27 and to push the climate agenda forward. We ar e in close 
coordination with them at all levels, including here in Geneva. I want to highlight that the next step 
will be the Copenhagen Climate Ministerial which will be held on 20 -21 March co -led by the COP27 
Presidency and the incoming COP28 Presidency with the participation of close to 50 Ministers.  
4.24.  We also  believe that today's briefing could be useful to inform discussions in the CTE with 
regard to how to ensure strong link s and synergy between what is discussed in  the WTO and what 
is discussed in UNF CCC, in order to ensure coherence, while also respecting the distinct mandates 
of both fora, and building on the core principles of equity and Common But Differentiated 
Responsibilities, in the course of addressing the climate emergency.  
4.25.  Allow me, before e nding my presentation, to acknowledge the current momentum on the link 
between trade and climate change. We witnessed many initiatives in this regard, including the recent 
launch of a "coalition of trade ministers on climate" in Davos last January. We are following closely 
these initiatives, and we believe that there is a need to ensure an inclusive representation of all 
countries from different level of development and should address the concerns and fears of 
developing countries on how to move forward on this issue. There is also a need to acknowledge 
that trade alone cannot solve the climate crisis, but could, if certain conditions are met, provide an 
important input to the global efforts to address climate change, without creating harmful trade 
distortin g impact on developing countries. I am sure that this debate is still starting and I would like 
to emphasize that all of us should create the conducive environment and safeguards for it to succeed.   
4.26.  Following this presentation, some delegations had the fol lowing reactions.  
4.27.  The representative of the United Kingdom  delivered the following statement:  
4.28.  The United Kingdom welcomes the landmark agreement reached on L&D at COP27 and 
progress made on mitigation and adaptation, finance, Article 6 and other issues. However, it is clear 
that much more remains to be done to deliver on the Paris Agreement and particular to keep 1.5 
alive. We need to see significant amounts of political leadership in the year ahead to build on the 
outcomes of COP27 and ensure ambitious progress is made on the road to COP28. As outlined in 
the World Trade Report 2022, which was launched at the UN Pavilion at COP27, climate change will 
massively d isrupt trade.  
4.29.  A rise of 1% reducing the annual growth of developing countries' exports by between 2 and 
5.7 percentage points, yet trade has the power to be a force multiplier to help adapt and mitigate 
its effects but only with global coordination. So we  welcome the conversation here.  
4.30.  As we look to COP28, the UK looks forward to the incoming Presidency and other parties to 
secure ambitious outcomes for this critical decade that will keep 1.5 within reach while supporting 
those most vulnerable to the impa cts of climate change. We must build momentum to the global 
stocktake at COP28, its outcomes must enable parties to meaningfully shift gears to deliver across 
the goals of the Paris Agreement through commitments to media action.  
4.31.  More broadly, we need to s ee progress made on the mitigation work programme towards 
keeping 1.5 alive, parties must deliver on the 100 billion commitment, as well as doubling adapt ation 
finance. In addition, we must move forward on a new collective, quantified goal. We will be seek ing WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  an outcome on L&D under the process established at COP27 and a conclusion under the adaptation 
framework.   
4.32.  The representative of Japan  delivered the following statement:  
4.33.  Japan would like to express its sincere appreciation for the comprehensive brief j ust made by 
the Ambassador of Egypt as well as the colleague from UNFCCC.  
4.34.  Climate change is a challenge common to all humankind and an important issue that the 
entire international community should work together to address. Japan will continue to address 
climate change issues based on the results of COP27, and will call for further action by all parties, 
including efforts to reduce emissions in line with the 1.5 degree target.   
4.35.  Japan launched the "Paris Agreement Article 6 Implementation Partnership" at CO P27 last 
November to provide international support for capacity building on Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. 
As a related initiative, following the adoption of the Implementation Guidelines for Article 6 of the 
Paris Agreement at COP26, Japan would like t o create opportunities to reduce GHGs by expanding 
private financing through the early utilization of a high quality carbon market.  
4.36.  The representative of Switzerland  delivered the following statement:  
4.37.  Switzerland thanks Egypt and the UNFCCC for the update.  The first Global Stocktake of the 
implementation of the Paris Agreement will conclude at COP28. The stocktake happens every 
five years, with the aim of assessing the world's collective progress towards achieving its climate 
goals. For Switzerland, it is o f utmost importance that we do it right for the following Stocktakes to 
come and especially this year when the IPCC releases its much awaited 6th Assessment Synthesis 
Report and Summary for the Policy Makers. The negotiations this week are taking place in Interlaken 
in Switzerland by the way . 
4.38.  The Glasgow Climate Pact, that emerged out of COP26 in 2021, called upon parties to 
"accelerate efforts towards the phase -down of unabated coal power and inefficient fossil fuel 
subsidies, recognizing the need for supp ort towards a just transition". Switzerland looks forward to 
seeing this call put into practice and that UNFCCC COP28 will be an opportunity to monitor the 
progress made so far and the challenges still ahead.  
4.39.  The representative of Uganda , on behalf of the LDC Group , delivered the following statement:  
4.40.  Speaking on behalf of the LDC Group, we thank the distinguished Ambassador of Egypt for 
his briefing and the UNFCCC for its report. We join others in welcoming the progress highlighted, 
especially with L&D, mitigation, and other issues. We also want to highlight that, this past week, 
LDC 5 was concluded in Doha and we were pleased to note that one of the six themes included 
tackling climate change, COVID -19 and building resilience.  
4.41.  As we look forward to COP28, we hope that climate finance again will remain key on the 
agenda because it is important in achieving the ambitions set out in the Paris Agreement as well as 
in fulfilling the climate actions that developing countries and LDCs have proposed to implement in  
their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), the key vehicles for implementing the agreement 
reached in Paris in 2015.  
4.42.  However, we are concerned that the current flow of finance is inadequate to meet the 
expectations surrounding both the NDCs and th e Paris Agreement. As we highlighted yesterday, 
increasingly, climate financing is being provided in the form of loans (both concessional and 
non-concessional) , which portends rising debt challenges for many developing countries  and LDCs.  
4.43.  We are also concerned that LDCs are not currently eligible for compensation for climate 
damage under the UNFCCC , even though they account for almost 22 % of all countries with t he most 
recurring appeals ( on average over 10 each) against extreme weather crises.  With this, we look 
forward to further engagement as we prepare for COP28.  
4.44.  The representative of Argentina  delivered the following statement:  
4.45.  Thank you to the UNFCCC and Egy pt for their reports. On this subject, Argentina would like 
to point to the decision for  a joint lever for climate change in the area of food security. This was a 
decision by the 77 plus China, establishing a platform for the implementation of action on cl imate WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  and agriculture. Its purpose is to provide a holistic approach on the subject and to take into account 
local, national and regional circumstances in order to produce as relevant the necessary adaptation 
measures in order to ensure food security and n utrition. Likewise, synergy is promoted and 
commitments between Members of the Convention and other stakeholders in order to improve the 
implementation of action related to agriculture and food security.  
4.46.  This joint lever will also provide technical advice to the parties and the financial contributors 
and, ultimately, we hope to have communications from the Members before 27  March on the various 
additional elements and the more specific ones that should be part of the joint undertaking.  
4.47.  For Argentina, the value of this undertaking is in the recognition of agriculture as part of the 
solution to problems that arise from climate change and the food security crisis and also based on 
the need to leverage agricul tural development in developing countries and to do so through new 
technologies that can respond to present day challenges in an effective and efficient way that will 
allow for production to be increased and productivity to be increased in a sustainable an d resilient 
manner.  
4.1.2   UNFCCC Secretariat  
4.48.  The representative of the UNFCCC  delivered the following statement:  
4.49.  Thank you for giving us the opportunity to provide a briefing on the work of the UNFCCC. The 
very successful COP27, an "implementation COP", was an important milestone in the UNFCCC 
process. Despite the difficult geopolitical background of last year, COP27 delivered a package of 
good decisions, including the "Sharm El -Sheikh Implementation Plan", that reaffirmed Parties' 
commitment to full implementat ion of the Paris Agreement.  
4.50.  Some specific outcomes stand out as landmark achievements, such as the decision to create 
a Loss and Damage Fund or a call for reforming international financial institutions. In particular, the 
decision on L&D fund represents a  significant step toward addressing the pressing concerns about 
L&D, which is key for SIDS, but not only for them.  
4.51.  As we look ahead to 2023 and COP28, we will be building on the outcomes of COP26 (Glasgow) 
and COP27 (Sharm El -Sheikh), COP28 in the UAE thi s year should become a turning point in scaling 
up the implementation of climate action. Comprehensive and impactful outcomes are needed: we 
are now in the critical decade for moving to a path consistent with the goals of the Paris Agreement 
and we are far  from where we need to be:  
• There is a well -known big mitigation gap, with the trajectory of global emissions not being 
consistent with the 1.5 C goal.  
• The current levels of adaptation to climate change are not the levels needed.  
• The response to L&D is stil l delayed, and the recent decision on the establishment of the 
dedicated fund needs to be followed up urgently to make the fund operational.  
• And there is a growing gap between the needs of developing countries and the support 
provided and mobilized for the m.  
4.52.  Against this worrying, pressing background, COP28 needs to deliver and, indeed, there is an 
opportunity to deliver. The issues of the global stocktake  (GST), L&D, adaptation, mitigation, and 
finance are expected to be most important for COP28, along wi th the anticipated decision on the 
work programme on just transition, which was established at COP27. COP28 is also an opportunity 
to innovate the UNFCCC process – through engagement, inclusivity, accountability, and 
transparency.  
4.53.  The conclusion of the fir st global stocktake at COP28 is a major opportunity for "correcting 
the course" and for scaling up climate action, taking onboard the outcomes of the technical part of 
the stocktake, which will conclude in June. This opportunity must not be missed. The pol itical 
outcome from the stocktake needs to send political signals on enhancing action across all areas – 
mitigation, adaptation, L&D, means of implementation including finance, and action by non -Party 
stakeholders. These political signals need to be comple mented by specific milestones for going 
forward and recommendations on making climate action more ambitious and effective. Work on 
laying ground for achieving such outcomes started earlier this year, in close collaboration with the 
incoming Presidency, and  it is a key piece of the UNFCCC work in 2023.  WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  4.54.  The COP27 decision on the fund to address L&D must be followed by COP28 with an agreement 
on operating provisions and modalities of the fund, making it fully operational. Along with the 
completion of operatio nal arrangements for the Santiago Network on L&D, this would make the 
international climate change regime fully "fit for purpose" for addressing L&D.  
4.55.  At COP28, the work on the global goal on adaptation, launched in 2021 in Glasgow, should 
be completed. Th e resulting decisions at COP28 must strengthen adaptation efforts at all levels – 
local, national and regional – and underpin the planning and implementation of adaptation actions 
through national adaptation plans and NDCs. Assessment of progress to the go al of doubling 
adaptation finance and strengthening of the implementation of national adaptation plans will be also 
part of COP28.  
4.56.  On mitigation, the ongoing mitigation work programme will need to be looked at and assessed 
at COP28, with the view to making  the programme more efficient and more impactful, in the light 
of the urgent need to address the emissions gap, as highlighted also by our flagship NDC synthesis 
reports.  
4.57.  Finance: the long -outstanding goal on mobilizing USD  100 billion of climate finance annually 
should be achieved by 2023. While full finance data for 2023 would not be available by the time of 
COP28, a credible indication of progress would send a strong positive message – and vice versa. 
Similarly, an indication of a strong, ambitious repl enishment of the Green Climate Fund would create 
a positive momentum for the COP. We will also see at COP28 how the important dialogue on making 
financial flows consistent with the objectives of the Paris Agreement evolves and how the 
international financi al system responds to the call for reform, which was among the most important 
outcomes from COP27.  
4.58.  COP27 formally decided to establish a work programme on just transition, however, its 
substantive content, such as scope, modalities, timelines etc., still needs to be developed. The 
growing importance of just transition reflects the understanding that it is critical to engage the whole 
of society in climate action and that no one should be "left behind" in this process. It is time to move 
the deliberations o n just transition to a different level in the UNFCCC process, with a view to 
facilitating the whole transition process to a low -emission and climate -resilient world. COP28 should 
deliver on this with a clear, tangible outcome.  
4.59.  Finally, on accountability a nd transparency: COP27 invited the Secretariat to ensure greater 
accountability of voluntary initiatives from non -Party stakeholders. COP28 will be a first check point 
on that important task. For Parties, the accountability for climate action and support i s provided 
through the enhanced transparency framework under the Paris Agreement. In 2023, such technical 
and organizational work needs to be completed on transparency matters in order to prepare, during 
the year and at COP28, for the start of the reportin g and review processes under that framework in 
2024 – through the delivery of technical tools and the related training, as well as through the relevant 
negotiations at COP28.  
4.1.3   Update by the United Kingdom on the Forest, Agriculture and Commodities Trade 
(FACT) Dialogue  
4.60.  The representative of the United Kingdom  delivered the following statement:  
4.61.  The United Kingdom would like to provide a further update to the CTE on the work of the 
Forest, Agriculture and Commodity Trade Dialogue, or 'FACT Dialogue'. This is a 
government -to-government dialogue, co -chaired by the UK and Indonesia, which brings together 
28 countries with significant trade of agricultural commodities. Its purpose is to protect forests and 
other vital ecosystems while promoting sustainable trade a nd development. Work is guided by a 
roadmap of actions, organi zed into four thematic areas.  
4.62.  The UK last updated the CTE on the work of the FACT Dialogue in June 2022, focusing on the 
thematic area of "Trade and Market Development". FACT participants are l ooking to reach collective 
understanding of how global markets can incentivi ze sustainability, including how demand and 
supply side policies can be mutually supportive. Progress is being made through a central discussion 
platform – the Trade and Markets Fo rum – as well as two smaller action groups , which discuss 
specific issues , namely, what is meant by sustainable production; and how we can increase the 
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  schemes , in the international market. At the moment, private schemes often receive the greatest 
recognition.  
4.63.  Since June 2022, the action group looking at sustainable production is now undertaking an 
assessment of existing definitions of sustainable productions and  initiatives to identify areas where 
there is broad agreement, as well as areas of divergence. The aim is to use this to build mutual 
understanding of what sustainable production is, and perhaps to move towards a shared set of 
principles of sustainable pro duction.  
4.64.  The action group looking at national approaches has considered several exploratory ideas and 
agreed there is a need to consider this work further, including in a way that acknowledges the efforts 
of producer countries and that supports smallholde r farmers.  
4.65.  With respect to the FACT Dialogue more widely, a new, independent Secretariat has now been 
secured: the non -profit research institution: The Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) 
and World Agroforestry (ICRAF), head quartered in In donesia and Kenya. This Secretariat is already 
in place and servicing FACT.   
4.66.  An independent report has also been circulated, considering how the FACT Dialogue can 
support other processes and fora that address issues of sustainability in relation to trade a nd 
markets. This was commissioned by the co -chairs, recogni zing that the FACT Dialogue is not a 
decision -making space, and that the outputs of FACT's work will need to be taken up in other for a 
to make lasting change.  
4.67.  A full progress report of the FACT Di alogue for 2022 can be found online in various languages 
at www.factdialogue.org/ .  
4.68.  Turning to the plan for this year, FACT Dialogue participants are being convened for the first 
in-person meetings in the UK at  the end of this month. The UK will continue to provide updates to 
the CTE as the dialogue continues over the next 3 -5 years.  
4.69.  Following this presentation, one delegation had the following reaction.  
4.70.  The representative of  Japan  delivered the following state ment:  
4.71.  Japan would like to thank the United Kingdom for its update on the FACT Dialogue. Forests 
play an essential role in the agricultural supply chain through their multifunctional role in the natural 
environment, and Japan considers it important to take due diligence measures to establish a 
sustainable food supply chain that separates agricultural production from deforestation and forest 
degradation.  
4.72.  On the other hand, it is difficult to set uniform regulations that focus only on "no 
deforestation," given the different circumstances in each country, such as environmental conditions 
and geographical industrial conditions. It is necessary to pursue and promote a market -oriented 
approach that also takes into account the circumstances of e xporting countries, and that takes into 
account the importance of sustainable agricultural and food supply chains and sustainable forest 
management . 
4.1.4   Report on the negotiations towards the Agreement on Climate Change, Trade and 
Sustainability (ACCTS)  
4.73.  The re presentative of New Zealand , on behalf of participants of negotiations towards the 
ACCTS, delivered the following statement:  
4.74.  New Zealand is delivering this statement on behalf of the participants of the Agreement on 
Climate Change, Trade and Sustainability  (ACCTS). The ACCTS initiative is a practical example of 
how economies can leverage trade rules and policies in pursuit of climate and broader sustainable 
development objectives. Since our update to this Committee, in October 2022, ACCTS partners have 
held two rounds of negotiations. Parties also met in the margins of COP27 with climate Ministers 
issuing a new statement in support of the negotiations underscoring the ACCTS ability to make a 
meaningful contribution to the Paris Agreement's goals. The most re cent round, Round 12, is taking 
place between 16 February -26 March, with some of the working groups meeting in person for the WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  very first time. Meeting face to face has helped to accelerate progress across all chapters.  
4.75.  We thought that it may be of interes t to this Committee to talk a little bit more about one of 
our chapters, which will establish best practice guidelines for voluntary eco -labelling. This is a topic 
that, to our knowledge, has never been included in an FTA before and so is particularly inno vative 
in both its substance and form.  
4.76.  The aim of this chapter is to develop best practice guidelines for voluntary eco -labelling, 
noting that mandatory eco -labelling is already covered by the WTO TBT Agreement. First, I would 
like to clear up a common mi sconception and set out what the eco -labelling chapter will not do: the 
ACCTS will not endorse specific eco -labels; and it will not say that this is an eco -label and this is not. 
So what will it do? Instead, the ACCTS will help support the development of h igh integrity eco -labels 
that are transparent in their criteria and meaningful to consumers, businesses and other 
stakeholders and deliver their intended environmental objectives. It is about helping the private 
sector to design and implement eco -labels so  that they can deliver on the environmental promise 
and actually provide meaningful, truthful and transparent information to consumers that helps them 
to make more environmentally friendly choices.  
4.77.  It also aims to ensure that eco -labels do not inadvertent ly become unjustified barriers to 
trade. We think that such guidelines can be helpful in promoting good environmental performance 
throughout the supply chain by facilitating demand for sustainable goods and services and 
empowering consumers, businesses, in vestors and other stakeholders to make more sustainable 
choices based on reliable information about the environmental performance of goods and services.  
4.78.  The guidelines will be supported by appropriate institutional mechanisms including national 
contact poi nts. On form, we also note that, w hile it will be included in the treaty text, it is a soft 
law – guidelines, not hard obligations. We think this is appropriate to the topic.  
4.79.  The recent progress made across the text has been very encouraging. ACCTS participants aim 
to build on this momentum in further rounds scheduled for later this year. As instructed by ACCTS 
Trade and Climate Ministers in their statements issued during MC12 and COP27 respectively, we are 
working to conclude negotiations as soon as possible and we are striving to do this this year if 
possible.  
4.80.  As you will have heard, ACCTS is intended to be an open plurilateral agreement and, upon 
conclusion, it will be open to those willing to meet the established standard. We welcome and 
encourage WTO Members interested in the Agreement as we will all look to transition to greener and 
more sustainable economies.  
4.1.5   Report by the WTO Secretariat on  the "Trade Forum for Decarboni zation Standards: 
Promoting Coherence and Transparency in the Steel Sector " 
4.81.  The WTO Secretariat  (DDG Paugam) delivered the following statement:  
4.82.  I would like to thank Ambassador Manley and the CTE for inviting me to report on the Trade 
Forum for Decarboniza tion Standards event, which was organized by the Secretariat on 9 March.  
4.83.  Many WTO Members joined our event last week and I am here to share what we learned, 
which I believe is of interest to all Members in the CTE. The event brought together Members with 
the private sector, industry associations, think tanks, and other international organizations to discuss 
the connections between trade and decarbonization standards in the steel sector. We had more than 
500 participants in person and online from all over t he world in three panel conversations with 
19 speakers examining three action areas.  
4.84.  I will try to focus my report on the "3 Rs" as my main takeaways from the event: real 
problems, real needs, and real opportunities.  
4.85.  Let me begin with the real problems. For some years, Members have raised concern in 
different WTO bodies about the growing number of different decarbonization standards , about 
potential incompatibility , and trade fragmentation. At the Secretariat, we  have been trying to 
understand t his challenge in terms of the real problems facing businesses to better assist our 
Members.  WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  4.86.  So, we looked at the steel sector as a case study. The sector is responsible for 8% of global 
greenhouse gas emissions and has a large and growing number of standa rds. Our Information Note 
published last December mapped out at least 20 different standards (and growing) with different 
underlying methodologies, scope, and boundaries.  
4.87.  Our event brought some of the world's largest iron and steel companies. We witnessed their 
first-hand experience in how incompatible carbon standards create real problems for them. The 
industry's key message is that the uncertainty and the confusion that is coming from the diversity 
and growth of different standards and methodologies is co sting them time and money, increasing 
their production costs, and putting their investments to decarbonize at risk. While there may be a 
need for co -existence of different standards in different regions and for different purposes, we need 
to make sure that , at the very least , these are transparent and comparable.  
4.88.  As Members continue to push for the decarbonization of their economies and industries like 
steel, they may use a variety of policy tools including regulation to shape markets. Regulatory 
approaches  will naturally rely on standards and definitions for green steel. Today's fragmented 
standards landscape could quickly become entrenched in a fragmented regulatory landscape.  
4.89.  Let me now turn to real needs. At the event, we heard real needs from steel comp anies, 
industry associations, and standard -setting bodies, and other stakeholders.  Take the World Steel 
Association as an example. The Association is one of the world's largest industry associations, with 
Members in every major steel -producing country. The ir Members will increasingly depend on 
standards that are well enough aligned to operate successfully in an open trading environment in 
the future.  
4.90.  The Association's Director -General said that the industry depends on a regulatory 
environment that is at lea st synchronous between countries. He said that he saw no institution other 
than the WTO to keep tradable markets equitable and on a level playing field.  
4.91.  The broader industry called for more coherence, equivalence, and mutual recognition in 
decarbonization standards to manage costs and provide certainty for green investment. From what 
we heard , they see the WTO's role as vital so that they can continue to trade and to decarbonize , 
whether in developed or developing markets.   
4.92.  Let me now close with real opport unities. One of the WTO's core functions is to reduce trade 
frictions arising from standards and regulations by promoting transparency, coherence, and 
inclusiveness. The six principles guidance from the TBT Committee helps ensure that standards are 
transpa rent, coherent, non -discriminatory, technology -neutral, and inclusive of developing countries 
and the challenges they face. The opportunity in this sense is a more coherent and transparent 
approach to carbon measurement based on international standards, as  opposed to fragmented 
unilateral approaches.  
4.93.  All the information on the event is available on our website, including a full recording, and I 
encourage you to take a look  when you have time . 
4.94.  Finally, on a personal note, today is Ambassador Manley's last C TE as Chair, so let me pass 
on a big thank you for all your passion and dedication in keeping the CTE moving forward . As you 
know, this Committee is very dear to me too. Thank you  also for playing an essential role in our 
event last week.  Finally, I would like to pay tribute to your admirable mastering of the three official 
languages of the organization by saying thank you Ambassador Manley, merci beaucoup and 
muchísimas gracias.  
4.2  Convention on Biological D iversity (CBD)  
4.2.1   Comments by the United Kingdom on th e agreed outcomes of recent CBD  COP15 
4.95.  The representative of United Kingdom  delivered the following statement:  
4.96.  I will not try to pre -empt what the CBD Secretariat might say after lunch, we look forward to 
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  outcomes at COP15, particularly the Kunming -Montreal Global Bi odiversity Framework. We want to 
thank China and Canada for hosting this important conference.  
4.97.  The ambition of Members signed up to the framework is clear, but to reali se our goals for 
2050, we must act now on the 23 targets. The actions set out in those targets need to be initiated 
immediately and completed by 2030. This isn't the UK's interpretation; this is the wording of the 
agreement itself. Meeting these targets wil l only happen if we work in partnership to make this a 
decade of action together. To that end, we would encourage all delegations signed up to the 
framework to look at its goals and targets and to consider where the WTO could support them. 
Members may also  decide to seek the S ecretariat's support in this task.  
4.98.  Meeting many of the framework's targets will require a huge range of goods and services, 
from technologies to sustainable agriculture to services that reduce pollution. Access to these goods 
and serv ices will often be improved or made possible through international trade. In these cases, 
the WTO's role in ensuring trade flows as smoothly, predictably, and freely as possible will be critical. 
Other targets, such as the target to half global food waste by 2030, may also benefit from the WTO's 
input, for example, in facilitating the trade of perishable goods and supporting efficient border 
processes. And, as shown through its agreement on fisheries subsidies, the WTO can have a role in 
the framework's tar get to identify, eliminate, phase out, and reform incentives including subsidies 
harmful to biodiversity.  
4.99.  These are just a few initial suggestions where the WTO could be part of the solution and we 
really welcome ideas and suggestions from others. So, jus t to wrap up, the loss of biodiversity 
threatens societies, economies, and trade flows of all WTO Members but we firmly believe that this 
organization and the trade expertise that lies within this can come together and be part of the 
solution.  
4.2.2   Comments by the European Union  on the agreed trade -related outcomes of CBD 
COP15  
4.100.   The representative of the European Union  delivered the following statement:  
4.101.   The Kunming -Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) is a very significant 
breakthrough for biodiversity co nservation, restoration and sustainable use.  It reflects never  before  
seen recognition from all parties that loss of biodiversity must be stopped and reversed through 
high-ambition changes to society 's relationship with nature and the way our global econom y 
operates.  
4.102.   We see the Global Biodiversity Framework as the necessary complement to the 
Paris Agreement and it is at the same political level of importance.  Jointly, they represent a clear 
global roadmap towards a truly sustainable economy and truly susta inable development and will 
require transformative change within very short time.  
4.103.   The successful implementation of the Framework requires the active engagement of all 
government, all society and all economy and will need constant effort and leadership. It  also implies 
to adapt our institutions and administrations to foster transdisciplinary and participatory decision -
making.  
4.104.   The EU would like to highlight the importance of mainstreaming biodiversity across all 
policies and sectors, including trade.  We thi nk actions should contribute to enhancing ecosystem 
services and reduce the ecological footprint of production and consumption. Even if no numerical 
value was agreed in relation to the ecological footprint, the ambition has been expressed. Moreover, 
it is the first time that the necessity of significantly reducing overconsumption has been agreed at 
multilateral level.  
4.105.   We welcome that an unprecedented number of progressive companies have attended COP15 
and helped mak e it a success by supporting transparency and reporting on biodiversity impacts.  The 
GBF asks parties to ensure that all large businesses and financial institutions are required to assess 
and disclose risks and impacts on nature. The result will be stronger accountability and better  
informed decis ions by investors, governments, consumers and businesses themselves ensuring that 
companies are transparent with regulators, investors and the public on their biodiversity footprint.  WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  This is a key step that should encourage the finance industry to disclose  their reliance and impacts 
on natural resources.  
4.106.   The GBF calls for eliminating, minimizing, reducing and or mitigating the impacts of invasive 
alien species on biodiversity and ecosystem services by identifying and managing pathways of the 
introduction of  alien species, notably by reducing the rates of introduction and establishment of 
known or potential invasive alien species by at least 50 % by 2030.  
4.107.   The GBF also calls for the identification by 2025, and elimination, phasing out or reforming 
incentives, i ncluding subsidies harmful for biodiversity, in a proportionate, just, fair, effective and 
equitable way, while substantially and progressively reducing them by at least USD 500 billion per 
year by 2030, starting with the most harmful incentives, and scale  up positive incentives for the 
conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.  
4.108.   The EU is looking forward in working with WTO Member s to make sure that trade and trade 
policy contributes to protecting biodiversity.  
4.2.3   Report by the CDB Secretariat on CBD CO P15 
4.109.   The representative of the  CBD Secretariat  delivered the following statement:  
4.110.   Thank you, Excellency, and good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, dear colleagues, and 
good time of the day to those who joined online. It is my pleasure to brief you on the outcomes of 
the 50th meeting of the COP and, of course, in particular on the Kunming -Montreal Biodiversity 
Framework that has been adopted by COP15.  
4.111.   What I am planning to do is to give you a very quick concise overview of the 
Kunming  Montreal Framework its elf and then talk a bit about some trade linkages. Of course, you 
may appreciate many of these goals and targets are interconnected, so you might have a direct 
relationship with trade but also what are the targets with indirect relationships. Now, in gener al 
terms, the Framework builds on the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity we had in the last decade. It is 
of course a response of the global community to the continued alarming loss of biodiversity and the 
threat that it poses to nature and human wellbeing.  
4.112.   In terms of the overall architecture of the framework, I gave you an overview here on this 
slide. I'm going to talk a bit more about the mission and vision in a moment, but then at its core it's 
really the global goals that are for 2050, in fact, and then the 23 global targets that are for this 
decade.  
4.113.   Now, in terms of the vision, this is basically a vision from the strategic plan that has been 
maintained, so, what the framework ultimately tries to achieve is that by 2050, biodiversity is valued, 
conserved , restored, and wisely used, maintaining ecosystem services, sustaining a healthy planet, 
and delivering benefits that are essential for all people. We have these four goals I mentioned which 
are largely structured along the three objectives of the Convent ion, conservation of biodiversity, 
that's basically what Goal A talks to, then Goal B is essentially on sustainable use, Goal C on the fair 
and equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources. Then, we have 
an additional g oal speaking specifically towards the means of implementation, in particular, it talks 
about the global biodiversity financing gap which has been identified around at 700 billion USD. That 
goal, that funding gap shall be closed by ensuring adequate means o f implementation.  
4.114.   The mission of the framework is to take urgent action to halt and reverse biodiversity loss 
and to put nature on the path to recovery. This is basically the mission for this decade. We need to 
bend the curve at this stage in order to ach ieve the overall goals by 2050.  
4.115.   Now, let's talk in a bit more detail on the global targets for 2030. We have three types of 
targets. The first kind of section or subsection of the targets talks about reducing the various threats 
to biodiversity, that's Ta rget 1 to 8, then Targets 9 to 13 talk basically about sustainable use and 
benefit sharing. The third section of Targets 14 to 23 are really talking about specific implementation 
measures and tools and solutions to implement the framework and to mainstream  biodiversity.  WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  4.116.   Now, let's have a look in a bit more detail at the trade linkages. I wanted to first point to the 
general clauses that we find in the early sections, in the introduction sections of the framework. In 
Section B on the purpose of the framework, the framework  establishes that it shall promote 
coherence, complementarity, and cooperation with other relevant multilateral agreements and 
international institutions, respecting their mandates. We have also then similar language in 
paragraph 7Q of Section C. In Sectio n C, which is called "Considerations," but the intent is really to 
provide basic principles, perhaps, that would apply horizontally throughout the framework. It first 
establishes that the framework shall be implemented by parties in accordance with nationa l 
circumstances, priorities, and capabilities, and then also that the framework needs to be 
implemented in accordance with relevant obligations. Nothing in this framework should be 
interpreted as an agreement to modify the rights and obligations of the par ties or any other 
international agreement. These are the general clauses that establish linkages to other relevant 
multilateral agreements, including, of course, the trade -related agreements.  
4.117.   If you look at a couple of specific targets and their potential  linkages to trade or trade 
policies, I should mention that in most cases, trade is not explicitly highlighted. So, it's basically we 
have to look at indirect references. Now, I have here first Target 14, which establishes in a sense 
the general mainstream ing target of that section. It talks about the full integration of biodiversity 
and its values into policies and regulations across all sectors, in particular those with a significant 
impact on biodiversity.  
4.118.   Then, one paragraph which I thought would also be important to highlight to you is Target 
18 on the elimination, phase out, or reform of harmful incentives, including harmful subsidies. That 
paragraph also talks about scaling up positive incentives for conservation and sustainable use. We 
definitely lo ok from the CBD perspective, with some enthusiasm, I should say, to the established 
fisheries subsidies agreement that has been adopted by the WTO just last year.  
4.119.   If you look at the first section of targets on reducing threats, here we find two targets wh ich 
I wanted to point to you in particular. There is first a target on trade of wildlife, ensuring that the 
trade of wild species is sustainable, safe, and legal. This is of course a polite nod to our sister 
Convention, CITES, that basically addresses this  issue.  
4.120.   Then we have quite an ambitious target on invasive alien species, namely, to eliminate, 
minimize, and mitigate the impact of invasives by doing various things: identifying, managing 
pathways, preventing the introduction and establishment of priorit y invasives, and then importantly, 
a quantitative target here, reducing the rates of introduction and establishment by at least 50% by 
2030.  
4.121.   I also wanted to point in this context to Target 17 on establishing biosafety measures and 
measures for the handli ng of biotechnology and the distribution of its benefits. Technically that target 
is under the other section that I mentioned on support, tools, and solutions for implementation in 
mainstreaming, but that's because that target is a bit of mixed bag. Of cou rse, biosafety measures 
are also to address threats to biodiversity.  
4.122.   So, that's perhaps my quick snapshot of the framework and a few key linkages to trade and 
trade policies. In closing, I also wanted to quickly point to a range of other important decisio ns and 
let me highlight two that are particularly important in the context of the Global Biodiversity 
Framework. Of course, the others are equally important, I mean, particularly the ones on resource 
mobilization, but I wanted to highlight first the decisi on on the monitoring framework.  
4.123.   We are going to have a fairly sophisticated monitoring framework identifying global headline 
indicators and then in some additional granularity, further indicators for the individual targets. The 
monitoring framework has be en adopted but only understanding that it will be further developed in 
this inter -session period, so there will be a technical expert group and the further developed 
framework will then be considered by the subsidiary bodies and ultimately by COP16.  
4.124.   I also wanted to quickly highlight the decision on digital sequence information of genetic 
resources. That issue has been under discussion in the Convention for a number of years. It has 
been a controversial issue and it remains controversial. However, we had a t this COP some form of 
a breakthrough in that there was agreement now to establish a multilateral mechanism on the 
sharing of benefits associated with digital sequence information on genetic resources, including the WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  establishment of a fund. There is there fore a linkage to the decision on resource mobilization. On 
digital sequence information, the decision spells out a number of criteria for which a solution to such 
a global benefit sharing mechanism should respond. The decision also sets in place an inters essional 
process which comes in the form of an open -ended intersessional working group, open -ended 
meaning that all parties will be represented there. This open -ended intersessional working group is 
tasked to develop, operationalize further this global mec hanism in accordance with the criteria that 
has been spelled out in the decision.  
4.125.   So, that is, in a nutshell, a quick overview. Of course, I stand ready to provide answers to 
any questions you might have.  
4.2.4   Report by UNEP on the joint WTO -UNEP event "Nature -positive trade for sustainable 
development: How can trade -related policies and measures support the implementation 
of the Kunming -Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework?"  
4.126.   The representative of UNEP  delivered the following statement:  
4.127.   UNEP will make a brief ing on a joint WTO -UNEP event scheduled to take place on 14 March 
on "Nature -positive trade for sustainable development: How can trade -related policies and measures 
support the implementation of the Kunming -Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework?"  
4.128.   UNEP is  delighted to be present at this meeting of the C TE, and we are pleased to hear the 
updates today.  To start, we would like to congratulate Members on the continuous commitment of 
the trade community in the global fight against the climate, nature, and poll ution crises. UNEP, 
including our administered Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs), remains at hand to 
support WTO Members in deliberating these issues.  
4.129.   We would like to now update the CTE on the informal roundtable that the WTO and UNEP 
held on 1 4 March in the margins of the Committee, on "Nature -positive trade for sustainable 
development: How can trade -related policies and measures support the implementation of the 
Kunming -Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework?":  
4.130.   First, we would like to thank Di rector Aik Hoe Lim and the WTO Trade and Environment 
Division for this collaboration with UNEP.  As the CBD briefed Members, the Kunming -Montreal Global 
Biodiversity Framework was adopted at the 15th Convention of Parties (COP15) in December 2022 
and includ es four goals and 23 targets to be achieved by 2030.  
4.131.   Trade policy action and cooperation will be essential to achieve most of these targets 
including those related to wildlife trade; the reduction of subsidies harmful to biodiversity; 
conservation and mana gement of the world's lands and waters; reduction of waste generation and 
the negative impact of pollution; sustainable agriculture and fisheries; private sector engagement 
and policy coherence.  
4.132.   Therefore, the Global Biodiversity Framework provides an oppo rtunity to re -examine how 
international cooperation on trade and trade policies could support the global biodiversity agenda.  
4.133.   Opportunities to consider the intersection of trade, biodiversity and sustainable development 
could emerge in the context of discu ssions underway as part of Member -led initiatives such as the 
Trade and Environmental Sustainability Structured Discussions (TESSD), the WTO Dialogue on 
Plastics Pollution (DPP) and the Fossil Fuel Subsidy Reform (FFSR).  
4.134.   As a contribution to this, the WTO and UNEP, in collaboration with the Secretariat of the 
Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the Forum for Trade, Development and the SDGs, held 
a roundtable on 14 March that convened WTO Members, private sector and civil society 
representatives to discuss and explore opportunities and possible next steps for trade policy and 
trade cooperation to support the implementation of the Kunming -Montreal Global Biodiversity 
Framework, and jointly move forward the global biodiversity agenda.  
4.135.   We thank H.E. Mr Ronald Saborio Soto, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Costa 
Rica to the WTO, and Ms Rebecca Barton, Counsellor of the Permanent Mission of Australia to the WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  WTO, for their insightful interventions that highlighted the importance of addressing the nature loss 
crisis and the role of trade to be part of the solution.  
4.136.   UNEP also welcomes the remarks from WTO Members participating in this roundtable of the 
importance to strengthen multilateral dialogue, trade -related policy coherence and action to build a 
mutually supportive vision for trade, biodiversity, and sustainable development.  
4.137.   Lastly , to conclude, i nternational cooperation is vital to promote trade and environment 
policies that help solve global challenges in biodiversity and assist the Kunming -Montreal Global 
Biodiversity Framework. UNEP supports this through the Trade, Development and Environment Hub 
project, funded by the UK Global Challenges Research Fund, to develop policy solutions that promote 
trade of agricultural commodities supportive of  biodiversity and sustainable socio economic  
development. This week UNEP published a policy paper, produced in collaboration with the Forum 
on Trade, Development and the SDGs (TESS), which seeks to present synergies between sustainable 
trade, biodiversity a nd development, with the WTO 's multilateral trade framework as its backdrop.  
4.138.   UNEP and the WTO have a strong partnership on environment and trade, which can bring 
our respective constituencies together to build collaboration between trade, environment, and  
sustainable development.  We look forward to furthering this cooperation with the WTO and assisting 
Members and their efforts to move these important agendas forward.  
4.139.   Following these presentations, some delegations had the following reactions.  
4.140.   The representative of Argentina  delivered the following statement:  
4.141.   Argentina thanks the United Kingdom for presenting the results of COP15 and highlights the 
balance of the Framework for developed and developing countries.  
4.142.   Based on the need to stop and rev erse the loss of biodiversity, the Framework established 
the objective of protecting 30% of the planet's surface, which to some extent could imply an 
additional obligation for developing countries, insofar as they house ecosystems remaining, but at 
the sam e time it raises the goal of restoring 30% of degraded ecosystems, which implies a relative 
burden on developed countries, as their development processes implied massive deforestation 
processes that we can still observe today.  
4.143.   On the other hand, the Global  Framework recognized the value of the diversity of sustainable 
agricultural practices. The Global Framework not only recognized that there is no single recipe for 
all Members, but also gave explicit recognition that sustainable intensification and other i nnovative 
approaches should be promoted as being biodiversity friendly.  
4.144.   In another part of  this organization, the reduction of the risk derived from pesticides was 
foreseen, indicating that such a decision must be based on science and taking into account f ood 
safety and the social effects of the measure. In this target , we observe the consistency of the 
Framework with the SPS Agreement, in that the measures must have a scientific basis and evaluate 
the socio economic  impact, mainly in developing countries.  
4.145.   Likewise, for the first time , the negative effects of biotechnology are not mentioned, but 
rather the Framework commits to strengthening the capacities of Members in the management of 
biotechnology in general and of genetically modified organisms in particu lar. 
4.146.   Likewise, in the Global Framework, Members committed to eliminate, reduce or reform the 
most harmful incentives for biodiversity, including subsidies, in a substantial, progressive and 
proportional manner, adopting the language of Article 20 of the Ag reement on Agriculture.  
4.147.   The framework is ambitious, but acknowledges historical responsibilities for biodiversity 
degradation. It does so by establishing an obligation to provide 30 billion dollars a year for 
implementation in developing countries by 2030.  
4.148.   The Global Framework was adopted in a package that included four additional decisions:  WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  • A planning, monitoring, reporting and review mechanism. The Monitoring Mechanism calls on 
Parties to reflect the Global Framework in National Biodiversity Strategies t hat must identify 
contributions to the Framework's objectives and targets.  
• A Monitoring Framework, which establishes initial indicators for the implementation report and 
which will be finalized at COP16.  
• A resource mobilization strategy, which establishes a new Special Trust Fund within the GEF 
framework for the implementation of the Global Framework.  
• The determination that the benefits derived from the use of digital sequence information of 
genetic resources (DSI) must be distributed fairly and equitably, establishing a multilateral 
mechanism for distribution of benefits with modalities to be negotiated.  
4.149.   In addition, in response to the different level of development of the Members, numerous 
flexibilities were adopted for the implementation of the Framework , including longer deadlines to 
present the National Strategies, the possibility of not implementing indicators of the monitoring 
framework in light of the circumstances and the emphasis on the need to report on the mobilization 
of resources, among other.  
4.150.   The representative of Paraguay  delivered the following statement:  
4.151.   Thank you to the other delegations who took the floor before me. Like them, I would like to 
give thanks for the presentation, as well as highlight some of the elements that could or should 
continue to move forward within this house.  
4.152.   There are a lot of very interesting trade -related issues included in the framework. Some of 
them relating, for example with agriculture, and this is something that was also discussed yesterday 
in the round table,  but we see that some Members that agree on these ambitious targets are not as 
interested in the same goals in this house. As a possible cause for this, yesterday's silos were 
mentioned. Even Director Hoe in his closing remarks mentioned that, as an exampl e with the 
Fisheries Agreement, that perhaps a specific commitment and specific language could help as it did 
with the Fisheries Agreement. Then we see, for instance, Target 18, which is very specific and even 
borrows some words from the AoA itself. Hopefully we can push that forward.  
4.153.   Other targets that are very important targets for us, for instance, Target 7, when we talk 
about sc ience-based, taking into account food security and livelihoods, reminds me of certain 
discussions we are having in SPS and TBT that could also move forward.  
4.154.   Target 10, sustainable intensification, here we see also in this house a push against it. In 
some cases when some major importers push against these, favouring other types of production, 
this has the potential of changing production systems all over. So, this is something that we should 
also continue to discuss in here.  
4.155.   Target 17, the use of biotech wi th agreements having been made can not only not harm the 
biodiversity but support other targets, as food security. Target 18, of course, subsidies with a great 
reduction commitment. And we agree with what other Members have mentioned about the danger 
of possible greenwashing or box painting in agriculture, specifically considering the gaps in the AoA 
that we mentioned today and yesterday and was also mentioned by I think it was Rebecca.  
4.156.   Target 20, of course, technology transfer capacity to developing countr ies. That, we should 
continue discussing in this house how to implement them. Hopefully, we can move this discussion 
forward. Silos were mentioned, as I said, but I am afraid that perhaps the real reason behind this is 
not the possible silos but, it was al so mentioned yesterday, perhaps it is easier to pledge something 
but then we need to see how to follow through on these pledges.  
4.157.   So, Paraguay is happy to continue discussions moving this topic forward in the WTO.  
4.158.   The representative of China  delivered the f ollowing statement:  WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  4.159.   China is the presidency of COP15. I am glad to share with you the outcomes of COP15 and 
global biodiversity conservation efforts. As we know, the second phase of the COP15 was successfully 
held in Canada last December. Through joint eff orts of parties, international organizations, including 
the WTO, and stakeholders, China and Canada are very pleased to witness such a success reaching 
the historic Kunming -Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. The success of this conference will 
surely promote the recovery of global biodiversity and the benefit of all humanity. To ensure a 
successful COP15, China as the presidency maintained close communication with all parties at 
multiple levels and received their strong support.  
4.160.   All parties played an important role in achieving those historic outcomes. For example, the 
UK-led 10 Point Plan for Financing Biodiversity builds up people's confidence in addressing problems 
in funding for biodiversity conservation. Therefore, on behalf of the presidency of C OP15, China, I 
would like to take this opportunity to once again thank all parties for their support. We believe that 
all men can enjoy the benefits of biodiversity for alleviating poverty, protecting the environment, 
and promoting sustainable development.  In the next two years, China will continue to serve as the 
presidency of COP15 and work closely with the CBD Secretariat. With the support and help of all 
parties, China will: fulfil responsibilities of the presidency, work with parties and stakeholders, and 
the international organizations, including the WTO, promote the implementation of the framework 
and other outcomes, improve global biodiversity conservation, develop a global sustainable supply 
chain, and build a clean and beautiful world together.  
4.161.   The representative of Japan  delivered the following statement:  
4.162.   Japan thanks the CBD Secretariat for the useful presentation. At the 15th Conference of the 
Parties (COP15) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) last December, the "Kunming -
Montreal Biodiversity Framework" was adopted as a global goal for biodiversity conservation by 
2030. We commend the adoption of the framework, which includes the 30by30 target (to protect or 
conserve 30% of the world's land and oceans), which Japan also attaches im portance to, the use of 
nature -based solutions (NbS), and measures to combat invasive alien species.  
4.163.   Japan is already in the process of revising its National Biodiversity Strategy based on the 
Kunming -Montreal Biodiversity Framework, which is scheduled to be revised by the end of March. 
We would like to lead global efforts toward the steady implementation of this framework.  
4.164.   The representative of Australia  delivered the following statement:  
4.165.   Australia would like to join others in welcoming the historic outcom e at the Kunming -
Montreal Agreement on COP15 of the CBD, which has widespread implications for trade across 
biodiversity, from issues as diverse supply chains to pollution issues to SPS measures to deal with 
invasive alien species. The trade world has a si gnificant role to play in meeting the targets set out 
in the Kunming -Montreal Agreement.  
4.166.   We would also like to note particularly Target 18 of the Global Biodiversity Framework as a 
significant and meaningful implication for reform in this house. Target 18  specifically requires 
countries to identify by 2025 and eliminate, phase out, or reform incentives, including subsidies, 
harmful for biodiversity in a proportionate, just, fair, effective, and equitable way, while substantially 
and progressively reducing them by at least 500 billion USD per year by 2030, starting with the 
most harmful incentives and scaling up positive incentives to the conservation and sustainable use 
of biodiversity.  
4.167.   We note that meeting this target will require countries to measure tre nds towards reform, 
including the value of subsidies and other incentives that are harmful to biodiversity that are 
redirected, repurposed, or eliminated and positive incentives in place to promote biodiversity, 
conservation, and sustainable use.  
4.168.   We note that the indicators required to achieve this will require us to monitor trends and 
potentially environmentally harmful elements of government support to agriculture, which are often 
measured through the OECD's producer support estimate (PSE) database. We n ote that the OECD 
will play a key role in tracking progress towards the targets set in the CBD. Most recent PSE analysis 
from the OECD shows that over half of annual farm support, USD 508 billion of the USD 934 billion, WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  in gross support is environmentally harmful. Australia is interested in discussing how it can better 
align the Agreement on Agriculture and reform in this house to advance those targets.  
4.2.5   Report by the United Nations Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea 
(UNDOALOS) on the recently  agreed High Seas Treaty  
4.169.   The representative of UNDOALOS  delivered the following statement:  
4.170.   Thank you very much for inviting the Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea, or 
UNDOALOS, of the Office of Legal Affairs of the United Nations to make thi s presentation.  
4.171.   UNDOALOS, among other things, acts as the secretariat of UNCLOS, which has 168 parties 
including the EU. It is commonly referred to as the Constitution for the Ocean, as it addresses every 
aspect of the uses of the ocean and its resources.  The drafters of the Convention recognize that all 
problems concerning ocean space are closely interrelated and should be considered as a whole. Until 
now, there are two implementing agreements under the UNCLOS. The first implementing agreement 
is the 1994  Agreement Relating to the Implementation on Part 11 of UNCLOS, which is in relation 
to international seabed area. It provides that the provisions of that agreement and part 11 of 
UNCLOS should be interpreted and applied together as a single instrument.  
4.172.   The second implemented agreement is the 1995 United Nations Fish Stocks Agreement, for 
which UNDOALOS also acts as the secretariat. This agreement establishes a comprehensive legal 
regime for the conservation and sustainable use of straddling and highly migr atory fish stocks.  
4.173.   The BBNJ Agreement this presentation will focus on will be the third implementing agreement 
under the UNCLOS. It may be useful to recall that under UNCLOS, ocean space is divided into various 
maritime zones. Beyond national jurisdiction , are the high seas and the international seabed area, 
also known as the area. By the area of coverage, nearly two -thirds of the ocean are areas beyond 
national jurisdiction. In this area, main global and international organizations have competence for 
a number of sectoral activities but there's no overall cross -sectoral management mechanism. The 
UNGA provides overall cross -sectoral political guidance, but it's not a management body. Moreover, 
in areas beyond national jurisdiction, different regimes apply: the freedom of the high seas, or the 
high seas, and the regime of common heritage or humankind for the area and its resources.  
4.174.   As part of a long cumulative and iterative process that started in 2004, which was just 
mentioned by the Chair, the UNGA convene d an intergovernmental conference to elaborate an 
international legally binding instrument on the UNCLOS, on BBNJ. The first three sessions of the 
conference took place on 2018 and 2019. The fourth session, which was postponed owing to the 
COVID -19 pandemi c was convened in March 2022. The fifth session met in August 2022 and made 
unprecedented strides towards bridging remaining gaps, yet delegations, having run out of time, 
agreed that more time was needed to finalize the agreement. Most recently, the resum ed session 
from 20 February to 3rd March 2023. As just mentioned, a major milestone has been reached during 
this resumed fifth session. On 4th March, 2023, Saturday, after two weeks of intensive negotiations, 
including negotiations of more than 36 hours st raight on the final day, delegations concluded the 
elaboration of and agreed on the text of the draft BBNJ Agreement. As announced by the president 
of the conference, Mrs. Rena Lee, at the closing plenary, a ship has finally reached the shore.  
4.175.   In line wit h the mandate of the conference pursuant to GA resolution 72/249, this draft 
agreement addresses a package of issues, namely the conservation and sustainable use of ABNJ. In 
particular, together and as a whole, marine genetic resources, it included questio ns on the sharing 
of benefits, measures such as area -based management tools, including marine protected areas, 
environmental impact assessments, as well as capacity  building and the transfer of marine 
technology. In addition, a number of cross cutting  issues are also addressed .  
4.176.   Given the time limit, I will highlight some aspects of the draft agreement which might be of 
interest to this Committee, noting that this is not intended to be a comprehensive introduction to 
the whole agreement or any part of it.  
4.177.   The GA resolution 72/249 recognizes that the work and results of the conference should be 
fully consistent with the provisions of UNCLOS. It also recognizes that the process and its results 
should not undermine existing relevant legal instruments and framew orks and relevant global, WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  regional and sectoral bodies, or relevant IFBs as they are referred to in the negotiations. The draft 
agreement includes general provisions to that effect.  
4.178.   Also, among its general provisions, the draft agreement a suite of 14 gene ral principles and 
approaches, including the principles of the common heritage of humankind and the freedom of 
marine scientific research, together with other freedoms of the high seas.  
4.179.   The draft agreement also provides that parties should cooperate inclu ding through 
strengthening and cooperation with and among relevant IFBs. It also provides that parties should 
endeavour to promote appropriate objectives of the agreement in decision -making under other 
relevant IFBs.  
4.180.   The draft agreement provides for a not ifications system on activities with respect to marine 
genetic resources of areas beyond national jurisdiction and digital sequenc e information, or DSI, on 
such resources. It also provides for obligations to share monetary and non -monetary benefits arising  
from this activity. Non -monetary benefits are to be shared in the form of access to samples and DSI, 
open access to scientific data, capacity building, and transfer of marine technology, increased 
technical and scientific cooperation, etc. Monetary benefi ts will be shared through payments to a 
special fund, which is established as part of the funding mechanism of the agreement to fund 
capacity building for developing state parties and to assist them to implement the agreement. In 
this regard, the draft agr eement includes a commitment by developed state parties to provide an 
additional 50% of their assessed annual contribution for such payments.  
4.181.   Until the future Conference of the Parties to the agreement decides on other modalities, it is 
worth noting that this part includes a provision to carve out, from the scope of its application, fishing 
and fishing -related activities, as well as fish as other living marine resources, known to have been 
taken in such activities from ABNJ, except where they are regulated  as utilization under this part.  
4.182.   As to area -based management tools, including marine protected areas, the draft agreement 
includes provisions on proposals by parties on the establishment of such measures, as well as 
processes for publicity, preliminary re view, consultations on, and assessment of such proposals. It 
provides that the COP should take decisions under the establishment of such measures and as a 
general rule by consensus. But such decisions can also be taken by a three -fourths majority vote 
after a two -thirds majority vote deciding that every effort to reach consensus has been exhausted. 
This part of the agreement also includes provisions on the decision by the COP to adopt emergency 
measures and that ABMTs established under this part should not include any areas within national 
jurisdiction and should not be relied upon as a basis for asserting or denying claims in related 
disputes.  
4.183.   The draft agreement requires environmental impact assessments for activities to be carried 
out in areas beyond nat ional jurisdiction. The decision on whether planned activities are allowed to 
proceed will be taken by the party that has jurisdiction or control over that activity. Parties also have 
the obligation to monitor and report on the impact of any activities in areas beyond national 
jurisdiction which they permit or engage in. At the same time, the draft agreement provides for a 
so called call -in mechanism to allow other parties to reflect their concerns to an authorized activity 
with the party that authorized it, and with the scientific and technical body established under the 
agreement, which may make recommendations. Furthermore, the draft agreement also includes 
provisions on the conduct of structured environment assessments.  
4.184.   The draft agreement requires parties to cooperate in capacity building and the development 
and transfer of marine technology, or CB and TMT. It provides for  the modalities for such activities, 
including that parties shall provide, within their capabilities, resources to support capacity building 
and transfer of marine technology. CB and TMT should be a country -driven, transparent, respective, 
and iterative pr ocess that is participatory, cross cutting , and gender -responsive. It also includes an 
indicative and non -exhaustive list of types of CB and TMT which should be reviewed, assessed, and 
further developed by the COP periodically as necessary.  
4.185.   In relation to institutional arrangements, the draft agreement establishes a Conference of 
the Parties, a scientific and technical body, and other specialized subsidiary bodies of the COP. It 
also establishes a secretariat, the seat of which will be decide d by the COP at its first meeting, as 
well as a clear in -house mechanism to be managed by the secretariat.  WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  4.186.   The draft agreement establishes the funding mechanism which includes a voluntary trust 
fund established by the COP to facilitate participation of re presentatives from developing states' 
parties in the meetings under the agreement, a special fund that I mentioned earlier and the Global 
Environment Facility Trust Fund. It was also great that the COP may consider the possibility to 
establish additional f unds to finance rehabilitation and ecological restoration, and that financial 
resources mobilized in support of the implementation of the agreement may include funding provided 
through public and private sources. Furthermore, recognizing the urgency to add ress the 
conservation and sustainable use of BBNJ, the COP should determine an initial resource mobilization 
goal through to 2030 for the special fund from other sources. Other provisions which I will not go 
into detail can be found in the parts listed on this slide.  
4.187.   So, what's next? On 4th of March, the conference decided to establish an open -ended 
informal working group tasked with ensuring the uniformity of terminology throughout the draft text 
of the agreement and harmonizing the versions in the six of ficial languages of the UN, with an 
agreement that there will be no real opening of discussions of substance in the informal working 
group. The conference also decided to resume the sixth session on dates to be determined in order 
to formally adopt the agr eement in all six official languages. This concludes my presentation. Thank 
you for your attention and I'm happy to answer any questions.  
5  TRANSPARENCY OF ENVIRONMENT -RELATED TRADE MEASURES – CTE WORK 
PROGRAMME ITEM 4  
5.1  Presentation by the WTO Secre tariat on the WTO Environmental Database  (EDB)  
5.1.  The WTO Secretariat  delivered the following statement:  
5.2.  As you know, in October 2022, we did present the EDB 2021 data at the CTE meeting and the 
point of today's presentation is to focus on the WTO EDB Report for 2021, which has been circulated 
in document WT/CTE/EDB/21 , with a topic -specific focus on biodiversity which of course has been 
covered in much greater detail this afternoon.  
5.3.  A couple of points before I dive into my presentation. First, to acknowledge that Members 
provided very valuable fee dback, including at the October CTE meeting itself, specifically Paraguay 
on agricultural subsidies because that of course was also the focus of today's presentation from the 
distinguished delegate of Paraguay. Based on this feedback, in fact, we have clea ned up some of 
our data, specifically the section on notifications pursuant to the agricultural entries in the EDB. 
Thank you to Paraguay for pointing that out and of course we will continue  to work together with 
them and other delegations.  
5.4.  The second poi nt that I wished to make as well is that since the October meeting, the WTO 
Secretariat has received further feedback, for example on SPS notifications and entries and we have 
met with Members both individually and as a group as well. We met a group of Mem bers that we 
have called "Friends of the EDB" who have made many constructive suggestions and would like to 
work with the Secretariat to further improve the EDB and make it even more useful for the 
membership. This interest in the EDB is most welcome.  
5.5.  I should also report that WTO Members who have been interested in the EDB, more specifically 
the Friends of EDB, will be reverting to us with a list of issues and improvements that they are trying 
to seek in the EDB in the coming days and weeks. We, of course , will consult with them and other 
Members regarding this list and evaluate what can be done, perhaps most importantly in the shorter 
term, so called "quick wins", e.g. including information on outlays on subsidies, which is something 
that has been raised,  or dealing with the implementation period and showing that more prominently 
in the dataset. Also, within existing resources, other items that may be longer term and which may 
require more discussion, time or even more resources to do, will be taken up ite m by item, e.g. how 
we should deal with TPR information – should we look at questions on TPRs, should we look at 
questions on agriculture and so on and so forth.  
5.6.  WTO Members are always welcome to come forward to the Secretariat if they see any errors 
or omissions on our part, because of course nothing is perfect, including the EDB, and we would be 
open to that.  WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  5.7.  With that I will turn to my presentation. This slide is quite fam iliar to all of your in this room 
as it is not the first time that I am presenting something like this. Of course, many Members came 
back to me to say that often they have not looked beyond this as far as the EDB is concerned – they 
only look at the headli ne numbers and that is what they take out of the EDB. But, of course, the 
EDB is much more than that, it has 20 plus years' of data – the data from 2009 onwards is now 
online. It has information from the notifications under WTO agreements, TPRs of Members and of 
course the most recent update is the EDB 2021 data.  
5.8.  The headline numbers are essentially a record of the EDB: in the EDB as of today, we have 
almost 16,854 records, some of them are over the years so you can have entries which have been 
made in 200 9 and similar entries also made in 2021. But that if you download the whole dataset, 
you will get 16,854 records. Also, similarly, we have information from the TPRs and that is also a 
rich form of information. I should also say that the headline numbers pr obably take away from what 
the EDB really is purported to be. The qualitative nature of the data, the granular form of the data, 
is perhaps more illustrative. We saw a very good illustration of that this morning in the Paraguay 
presentation where they just  looked at 25 notifications from 2022 and were able to draw out many 
inferences and lessons or best practices from that.  
5.9.  As mentioned, I am presenting the EDB Report 2021, which was circulated in document 
WT/CTE/EDB/21 . The structure of this report is familiar to many of you because a  similar structure 
has been followed in previous years – Section 1 is on notifications and Section 2 on TPRs – and since 
2019 there is also a topic -specific section, in which we have covered topics such as climate change 
and sustainable fisheries. This yea r, we have looked at biodiversity so that is the focus of this year's 
report, given of course developments outside the WTO also on the topic of biodiversity.  
5.10.  I do not wish to go into Sections 1 and 2 in great detail simply because we covered this at 
the CT E in October 2022. I want to mainly focus on Section 3 today, which is biodiversity. However, 
I wanted to make one point – when you look at the headline numbers and the data itself, we are 
not trying to present any narrative or any issue here, what we are presenting essentially is what we 
are being mandated to do and what are we finding in the data.  
5.11.  So what is interesting is that you have ups and downs in the data. One year , you may have 
the number of measures going up, the next year it may go down, and th is little secret I might share 
with you is that this often matches the subsidy notifications, which is once every two years. So in 
the year s when we have the subsidy notifications being presented to the SCM Committee , we often 
see a spike in numbers. The y ear 2021 was one such year, where from just 15 notifications on 
subsidies we had almost 800 subsidy measures that were environment -related . Next year, I suspect 
that the numbers will go down because the subsidy notifications will not be as many as this yea r. 
So just to say that each notification has one or more measure, if it is SPS or TBT, then one notification 
is one measure; if it is Agriculture, we may have multiple measures even under environmental 
programmes. This is chart 1.3 in the report.  
5.12.   Focusing  on the topic -specific analysis, which is biodiversity, we have been trying to share 
with Members how this data can be used and I think Members have already drawn on this and looked 
at data on agriculture and other sectors. What we have done for this repor t was look at biodiversity 
and we have done so in two different ways – one of them is to look at Annex 3 of the EDB Report, 
you have a list of the harmonized categories of environment -related objectives, types of sectors and 
types of measures. So for envir onment -related objectives, there are 25 in all and of these we have 
looked at four of them, which we considered to be biodiversity -related and drawn data from those 
for the notifications. In addition to that, for the TPRs section of the topic -specific anal ysis, we have 
done some free text searches or we have used keywords, which are in Annex 1 of the EDB Report.  
5.13.  You can see that in aggregate numbers we are measuring stocks not flows, so we can see 
that it is up and down. But in the dataset that we have in the EDB, which is made up of your 
notifications, we have almost 4,000 biodiversity measures in the dataset.  
5.14.  Looking at our methodology more carefully, these are the four environment -related objectives 
that we have looked at for the purpose of this analysis . We can of course look at other things like 
fisheries and forestry etc., we were debated among ourselves what we should and should not include, 
and we chose to look at animal protection, biodiversity and eco system , natural resource conservation 
and plant protection, which are four harmonized categories listed in Annex 3 of the EDB Report.  WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  5.15.  Even one measure can actually have multiple harmonized objectives. So a measure pursuant 
to CITES, for example, could be pursua nt to plant protection and animal protection and biodiversity 
even. That is why you can see that, for 2021, we have identified 422 measures. Each measure may 
have more than one "tag" to it as far as objectives are concerned.  
5.16.  Moving from the objectives to the Members – 114 Members have notified since 2009 from all 
levels of development. About 40% of the notified measures as far as biodiversity is concerned come 
from developing or least developed countries.  
5.17.  What we have found, not surprisingly, for those of you who have tracked and looked at the 
granularity of the data itself, is that most of our measures are either regulatory or they are support 
measures , so technical regulations or grants and non -monetary support and loans and financing 
appear in the top 10 , but you also have regulatory measures including technical regulations, 
conformity assessment procedures, export and import licencing and so on.  
5.18.  Moving from the notifications to TPRs, again, a very rich source of information. We have been 
hearing in othe r groups that , in addition to the TPR Government and Secretariat  report s, there is a 
lot of information in the questions that Members pose, as well as in the Committee on Agriculture, 
but here we are focusing on the TPR  Government and Secretariat reports. There have been 215 
reports up to the end of 2021; every year there are about 15 -20 TPRs, so therefore about twice that 
when counting both Government and Secretariat reports, i.e. 30 -40 reports that we looked through. 
We have about 1,060 TPR entries that a re biodiversity -related.   
5.19.  Giving some specific examples of EDB data to see what biodiversity -related data there is. For 
instance, we have a TBT notification from Chile establishing emissions standards for light pollution 
with regards to street lighting in order to protect and control artificial light and protect the quality 
of the night sky and biodiversity. Notifications come from all continents and all levels of development. 
Burundi, for example, notified certain customs valuation measures for endangered species of wild 
flora and fauna, pursuant to CITES. Apart from regulatory measures, we have licencing regimes, 
quantitative restrictions, which are notified to the Committees on Import Licencing and Market 
Access, and these relate to furs, ivory, plant pro tection etc. Plant protection, animal protection, 
biodiversity and eco systems  and natural resource conservation were the four criteria that we looked 
at. It could be forestry or fisheries, biodiversity is a very broad topic.  
5.20.  Moving from regulatory to support measures, we tried to capture a few examples from 
different continents relating to forestry and wildlife to fisheries… You can see that Thailand filed a 
subsidy notification to the SCM Committee last year which is essentially about ec ological fishery 
resource management and the eco systems  approach to conserve and restore coastal resources and 
maintain balance in local, coastal eco systems .  
5.21.  In conclusion, the beauty of the EDB is that it has the potential to be used as Members would 
see fit. I will stop there and see if there are any questions from Members.  
5.22.  Following this presentation, some delegations had the following reactions.  
5.23.  The representative of Paraguay  delivered the following statement:  
5.24.  Paraguay is part of the Friends of EDB, so  we have some comments. First of all, we are fully 
aware of the amount of work that goes into keeping such a database. We used it for the paragraph  12 
analysis that we did and even for just a few notifications it required a lot of work. What we are 
worried  about is that in our opinion no Member is using the database and taking full advantage of 
the huge amount of work that is going into this. We have identified some elements that we are 
already working to solve but I am afraid that the value of the EDB is i n the details and, as it is now, 
no one in the WTO is using it. This may be for various reasons, one of them being, for instance, that 
the notifications included in the EDB are only from two years ago and this is something that we need 
to look at for the f uture – how can we, as Members, look into the mandate of the EDB from 1996 
and lift some of the extra work from the Secretariat so that we can have it more updated.  
5.25.  I may be jumping a few agenda items ahead but this is also relevant for agenda item 6.2 
because what we see that the EDB could be useful for is to have a more interesting exchange in the 
CTE regarding the environment -related measures that Members are notifying. As mentioned, with WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  data only from two years ago, it is not possible. If we find a wa y of having it more updated, it could 
fuel discussions in the experience exchange item of the agenda and maybe lift or change the 
workload from Members presenting their own measures to other Members being able to comment 
on all measures notified and not on ly the ones that are presented in the CTE. That is something that 
we could look at for the future.  
5.26.  For the moment, as I mentioned, we are already working with other Members and the 
Secretariat to see how we can improve the EDB. I think that what it included in the headlines could 
lead to misleading interpretations – 16,854 environment -related measures – and we hear this 
number used quite a lot not only by Members but also by the Secretariat and this is also used by 
other stakeholders outside the Members. As we see it, that number could be misleading because it 
includes measures from all years, so it's an  accumulation, and we see that some of those measures 
are repeated for the 12th, 13th, or 20th  time, so it is counted 20 times, not only because they are 
included in each year's notification but also because some of the measures are notified under two 
different transparency obligations like our typical example of agricultural measures, which are 
notified under DS2 and also already under DS1. So the same measure in one year could be included 
two time and in subsequent years could lead to a lot of repetition.  This is not true only for agriculture 
but also for other measures, for instance, the QR notifications and the import licencing and things 
like that may lead to duplications and repetitions in the database.  
5.27.  We have found other issues that could be worrisom e in the database that we are already 
working with the Secretariat to find ways of fixing. For instance, something that is of concern for us 
is the inclusion of measures that are not considered to have environmental -related objectives by the 
notifying Memb ers. We still need to find a way forward for this – maybe we can have a period of 
time for Members to analyse their own measures. We understand that this is going to require more 
work for smaller delegations but at least we would be assured that notificati ons and measures that 
are included are not included despite of the Member notifying. We have some examples of that.  
5.28.  In general, I wanted to encourage Members to use the database more. Beyond that headline 
number that we believe is overestimated and could b e misleading if not used with the proper caveat, 
the real value of the EDB is in the details and we can take advantage of this if we manage to update 
it and make it more useful for our daily job in the CTE. Therefore, there are two major different sets 
of concerns : the concerns we have found in what is already there , which we  are working on with the 
Secretariat and a few other Members to find possible solutions, and this is open for everyone to 
comment ; and also the way forward , as we think  that this Commit tee should look into the mandate 
and find ways to take part of the workload from the Secretariat so that we could have at least the 
substantial part of the EDB , like the new measures notified each year , for a transparency exchange 
during CTE meetings each year.  
5.29.  Thank you to the Secretariat and we will continue working with you. We would like to hear 
other Members' opinions on the mandate and how we can improve the EDB to make it more useful 
for Members.  
5.30.  The representative of Kenya , on behalf of the ACP Gro up, delivered the following statement:  
5.31.  The ACP Group welcomes the report by the WTO Secretariat on environmental measures 
notified to the various WTO bodies, which fulfils a pivotal role of promoting transparency. This is 
particularly insightful in terms o f the areas that we need to monitor, especially agriculture that 
accounted for 31.2% of all notified measures, and represents an important sector for many of our 
economies in terms of exports, jobs and livelihoods.  
5.32.  We note as well that many ACP Members ha ve raised concerns in other bodies regarding 
environmental measures and their impact on trade.  We also take note of the WTO Secretariat 's 
remark that "a wide array of trade policy instruments" have been used by WTO Members to promote 
biodiversity, which in clude among others technical regulations; grants and direct payments; import 
licenses; bans/prohibitions. Trade can and must foster conservation and promotion of biodiversity 
as we know that healthy ecosystems can significantly support us in achieving our sustainability goals.  
5.33.  The representative of Uganda , on behalf of the LDC Group , delivered the following statement:  WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  5.34.  The LDC Group also welcomes the Secretariat's presentation on the WTO EDB Report  2021. 
The document is comprehensive and useful in tracking the n otifications and issues raised across 
WTO bodies concerning environment -related measures affecting trade. We no te that some LDCs are 
counted as having raised concerns and some of our Group also have put in place environment -
related measures that apply to everyone both domestic and foreign, for example, on plastics. We 
hope that tracking these notifications and meas ures will lead us to better exchange of information 
to reduce any impact on LDCs.  
5.35.  The representative of the Philippines  delivered the following statement:  
5.36.  The Philippines thanks the WTO Secretariat for the report on the EDB for 2021 and providing 
us with a useful snapshot of the entries, either through the various notifications or TPRs, as well as 
the focus on biodiversity -related measures for 2021.  
5.37.  Having said that, I note the intervention of Paraguay and I think that it rightly touches on the 
core issue , which is what is the value added of the EDB. I think that Members should have a 
conversation on this topic. We would be happy to engage and join the Friends of EDB.  
5.38.  Just to touch on some of the points that Paraguay mentioned, I think it would be useful t o 
examine whether it is feasible to convert the EDB into a live database so that when notifications 
come in they can be linked to the EDB and updated. What we also need to have a look at is, in terms 
of the report that you produce based on the notification s, how to support the Secretariat in doing a 
bit more analytical work. I think it is an aspect of reform that we are also discussing and we note 
that as Kenya and Uganda mentioned, they have several measures on plastics, and other Members 
also have trade -related measures that may not be reflected in notifications related to TBT or SCM. 
These could be investment -related or changes on applied tariffs that the Secretariat could look at in 
terms of an "EDB plus" report, as it were. In that respect, we would enc ourage a conversation among 
Members to determine a thematic focus where the Secretariat could do a deeper dive in terms of 
looking at the notifications and the policy landscape. From our perspective, for example, clean 
technologies would be an interesting space to look at . Members should have that conversation so 
that we really utilize the EDB and make it more effective.  
5.39.  The representative of India delivered the following statement:  
5.40.  India thanks the WTO Secretariat for its work and the detailed presentatio n on the 
Environment Database. We would also like to thank the delegation of Paraguay for demystifying the 
database for the WTO membership.  
5.41.  This database is an important initiative, which is relied upon globally by academics, 
researchers and think tanks to  study the links between Trade and Environment. Hence, it is 
important to ensure that this database reflects the correct picture of such measures, provides 
deduplicated information on measures undertaken by Members and reflects nothing else except 
Members ' own views about their measures.  
5.42.  In several informal meetings held over the last few months between some Members and the 
Secretariat, certain issues have been identified with this database, which may be contrary to the 
principles mentioned above. Specifica lly, we share some concerns with Paraguay about the headline 
figure of almost 17,000 environmental measures being enacted. In the light of various issues 
highlighted to the Secretariat, we will request that this aggregate number is not quoted by the WTO 
Secretariat until the Member concerns have been resolved in their entirety.  
5.43.  The representative of Brazil  delivered the following statement:  
5.44.  Brazil wanted to thank the Secretariat for the presentation and the very important work they 
are doing on maintaining and updating the EDB. I believe that Paraguay has raised some important 
points for reflection on how we can improve the EDB and make it fit for purpose as an indispensable 
resource for a fact -based exchange at the CTE and other fora that come u p on environment -related 
discussions. We look forward to continuing our work together with the Secretariat and other 
interested Members in this regard.   
5.45.  The representatives of the WTO Secretariat  responded : WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  5.46.  Thank you, Paraguay, Kenya, Uganda, Philippines, India, and Brazil, for your very constructive 
and useful comments and reflections. I also must thank Paraguay, of course, for diving deeper 
beyond the first page and the headline numbers and demystifying the EDB for the CTE as well 
because we have been try ing, maybe more unsuccessfully over the last several years to do the 
same. You've done a far better job than I could have. Thank you for that. I think the comments of 
course are well -taken. Some of them need to be further discussed and looked at. We shall of course 
be available to our Members, for the Friends of the EDB vehicle which has been talked about, it's an 
open group and we will be meeting in the coming days and weeks and of course it can be open to 
all Members.  
5.47.  There are some specific comments whi ch have come from Philippines, for example, on making 
the EDB into a more of a live database and basically how this sort of data feed can be made more 
real time, because I share your frustration that sometimes I'm reporting on 2021 data in 2023 or 
end 2022 . The reason is that we are looking at data year -on-year as our mandate, we are looking 
at it on an annual basis. We wait for the whole year to finish before we start looking at it. If there 
are better ways of doing it, artificial intelligence, IT tools, o r even Members themselves, if they can 
tag their notifications, because we are looking at Members information. If they can tag their 
information and say this is environmentally related or not, at a measure -based level, not just the 
notifications because, as I discussed with you, agriculture or subsidies have a lot of granular data 
so a Member ma y say that this is not an environmentally related notification per -se, an agriculture 
one, but some programs in that are environment -related. So, we need to think about how it can be 
done on a live basis because that would of course sort out some of my hea daches and I'm sure some 
of Hoe's headaches as well, because I've been always badgering him for more and more time 
because we need more time and resources to do this dataset well.  
5.48.  The real time thing is one thing, and there's the analytical information wh ich Philippines also 
talked about. This is a start, we are looking at only EDB data here, but I take your point that there's 
tariffs and investments and other things. Some of that information does come in the TPRs of  
Members but of course it has a certain periodicity to it as well. It's not perfect but we do capture 
some of it in the TPRs. I take your point that there's scope for further research and deeper dives 
looking at topics like plastics or green technology and so on and so forth. We welcome Members'  
suggestions as to what could be topics of interests to the CTE that we can dive into in future reports 
of the EDB as well.  
5.49.  There were of course some very other specific comments specifically from Diego and 
Paraguay. There are issues of specific points tha t we can take up individually point -by-point and sort 
them out. The quick wins, almost as quickly, I have already talked to IT colleagues so we can of 
course see what is doable as far as IT solutions are concerned. Some things require more time and 
more re sources and more investment, which we looked at. As I just said, to ease our mandate by 
looking only at some things other than other things, this is an open discussion that perhaps we 
should take as we go forwards. I thank all of you Members for your inter est and support for this 
exercise. It is generally a lot of work and I  am glad it is being used.  
5.50.  As Director, I will say a few words as I wanted to help Sajal out a bit. Thank you all very much 
for all your comments and the interest in the EDB, in particu larly in improving it. Certainly, in the 
Secretariat we have been more than willing to improve the EDB and very much would like to. Getting 
your input on how to do it would be fantastic. I'm glad to know that there is an engaged group of 
Members who is int erested in doing it.  
5.51.  At the same time, the EDB has had such a long history and of course any database has to 
evolve over time, but the initial beginnings of the EDB is perhaps rather different from some of the 
things that you are saying today. That's very  much a structural fact that the EDB was not conceived 
of as a real time alert system of the type that you are talking about. Maybe it should be. I don't 
know, but that's something for you to discuss and see where you want to go.  
5.52.  There is however a signif icant resource implication if this is to be converted into a real time 
alert system of some sort, feeding into a discussion at the Committee. It would significantly change 
what the EDB is today, which is more of a repository of information that can be obta ined and 
providing the repository to allow whichever function that people want to make of it, be it from 
research analysis to deeper dives on the theme. I thought it was important to at least bring to mind 
the resource consideration that would need to be l ooked at in order to make this feasible because I 
would hate for you to have an expectation that we in the Secretariat cannot fulfil. On this point, just WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  to be very transparent, that when I talk about resources, you are looking at him here on the podium 
and I would hate Sajal to be the first ever EDB casualty if he were to try to undertake everything: 
provide a repository of all information and to provide a real time alert system. I would encourage 
you as you ponder about how to use the EDB and to get more value added to it to also think a bit 
about what you could possibly help us with. I know, it  is not a plea for resources, it  is just to put it 
into consideration.  
6  MEMBERS'  SUGGESTIONS AND PROPOSALS  
6.1  Trade and Environmental Sustainability Structured Discussi ons (TESSD)  
6.1.  The representative of Costa Rica , on behalf of the TESSD C o-convenors , provided an update 
on the TESSD  discussions : 
6.2.  As part of our transparency practice, on behalf of Canada and Costa Rica, as co -convenors of 
TESSD,  I am pleased to convey an ou tlook of how the Structured Discussions wrapped 2022 as well 
as the perspectives for 2023 towards MC13.  
6.3.  In 2022, TESSD held four plenary meetings on 7 February, 31 March and 11 April, 19 -20 July 
and 11 November, as well as two clusters of informal working group meetings on 19 -20 July and 
4-5 October. To close the year, in December, the co -convenors organized a high  level event 
moderated by the Director of the Trade and Environment Division, Mr. Aik Hoe Lim, with the 
participation of the WTO Director -General, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo -Iweala, Deputy Secretary General of 
UNCTAD, Mr. Pedro Moreno, and the Executive Director of I TC, Ms. Pamela Coke -Hamilton as well 
as a distinguished panel of Ambassadors representing New Zealand, Chile, the Gambia, and Norway.  
6.4.  This event served as a stocktaking exercise to review the progress made in 2022 in the four 
technical working groups, and summed up as follows:  
6.5.  For trade-related climate measures (TrCMs), the priorities for discussion highlighted the 
importance of international cooperation on TRCMs, including regarding design and implementation. 
Also the discussion of the trade aspects of dif ferent types of measures, including carbon pricing, 
carbon standards and other non -price measures, as well as approaches to address carbon leakage, 
including border carbon adjustments. The need to discuss challenges and impacts faced by MSMEs 
and developin g countries, including ways to enhance cooperation on TRCM in a manner consistent 
with the respective needs and concerns of Members at different levels of economic development, as 
well as related technical assistance and capacity building needs were also u nderlined.  
6.6.  More specific elements of interest mentioned by individual Members or groups of Members 
included: definitions and principles for TRCMs, their compatibility with WTO rules and principles, 
their compatibility with MEAs, best practices regarding de sign and implementation of TRCMs, the 
comparability and compatibility of carbon pricing and non-pricing  measures, methodologies for the 
measurement of embedded emissions of traded goods, trade facilitation concerning technology and 
innovation, and the impo rtance of considering different national circumstances relating to carbon 
pricing.  
6.7.  Based on overall interests manifested by Members, the group will focus on 2023 in, among 
others , a review of carbon measurement standards and measures intended to lead to a  reduction in 
carbon emissions at the sectoral level ; and the exchange of views on the development and the 
implementation process of TrCMs , including on the trade considerations involved in their design and 
possible ways to enhance transparency.  
6.8.  On environmental goods and services (EGS), it was broadly agreed that discussions on 
environmental goods and services should have a broad scope. There is interest to discuss non -tariff 
measures, regulatory cooperation, good regulatory practices, technology transfer , capacity building, 
biotrade, bottlenecks to the deployment of new technologies throughout the supply chain, and to 
take into account the entire lifecycle for the determination of environmental goods.  
6.9.  Regarding possible priorities or outcomes going forwar d, the views are varied, ranging from 
interest in further building a common understanding of the challenges hindering the dissemination 
of EGS, to interest in designing a framework for negotiations in view of a specific environmental WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  objective or challenge . The discussions, additionally,  should include considerations of challenges for 
developing countries, including the importance of capacity building, aid for trade, and facilitating 
trade and investment in technologically advanced products was recognized.  
6.10.  Moreover, Members broadly agreed to continue with an objective based approach focusing on 
climate adaptation and mitigation as the first objective, and renewable energy as the first sector to 
be covered under this objective. We will also discuss the sector -specific issues involved in the 
promotion and facilitation of trade in EGS, including supply chain, non -tariff measures, technical and 
regulatory elements, among others.  
6.11.  In circular economy – circularity, throughout the year, Members expressed interest i n a 
number of trade -related aspects of the circular economy such as: trade facilitation for goods and 
technologies that could contribute to the circular economy, including for reverse -supply chains; 
trade-related aspects of a climate aligned circular econo my; value -retention processes such as 
remanufacturing, refurbishment, repair, and reuse, and linkages with circular design; interplay 
between trade and waste rules, including exploring the possibility of fast -track procedures for 
shipments of used material s to facilities for high  quality recycling; opportunities and challenges 
related to technical regulations and standards to promote the circular economy; and the lack of data 
on circular economy related trade flows and internationally accepted definitions.  
6.12.  Members also underlined the importance of considering the interests of developing countries 
and LDCs in the discussions, including technical assistance capacity building needs and challenges 
related to waste management. Interest was expressed to discuss ci rcular economy and the 
bioeconomy, means to enhance technology and investments into circularity, the promotion of 
technology transfer and innovation for the circular use of material flows and the extension of material 
lifetimes; tools to incentivize greate r resource efficiency; as well as opportunities for circular 
economy and value chain integration.  
6.13.  Regarding the scope of the discussions, Members indicated different priorities in terms of 
specific segments and issues along the lifecycle. At the same time, it was broadly recognized that 
discussions should cover the entire lifecycle from upstream processes such as design through the 
end-of-life and waste disposal.  
6.14.  In terms of future work, Members broadly welcomed the suggestion of an initial mapping 
exercise to build a broader understanding of the trade aspects of the circular economy which are 
relevant to each part of the lifecycle, and help Members identify priority areas for future work. Also 
to expand on the discussion of trade issues associated wit h specific sectors such as renewable energy 
and electronics along the full life cycle of products.  
6.15.  Finally, on subsidies, throughout the year, Members displayed a broad scope of interests for 
discussions in this group, including agricultural subsidies, fos sil fuel subsidies, industrial subsidies, 
and green subsidies. Some Members noted the high rate of emissions from the agricultural sector 
and the impact of subsidies on greenhouse gas emissions could warrant further discussion. Similarly, 
fossil fuel subsi dies and industrial subsidies were also noted by some Members as potential topics of 
discussion due to high emissions from these sectors.  
6.16.  A number of Members expressed interest in continuing to discuss the environmental effects 
of agricultural subsidies hi ghlighting the contribution of reducing agricultural subsidies on carbon 
emissions, as well as the links between agricultural support and environmental impacts such as 
deforestation, biodiversity degradation, or overconsumption of water which could be rele vant 
elements to discuss in TESSD.  
6.17.  Regarding fossil fuel subsidies, the importance of phasing out inefficient subsidies that 
encouraged wasteful consumption was recognized by a range of Members. Several Members noted 
that the work of TESSD on subsidies co uld offer guidance for the reform of fossil fuel subsidies and 
for improving transparency and identifying information gaps, in complement to the ongoing FFSR 
statement initiative and build understanding in TESSD on the scale and impacts of fossil fuel 
subsidies.  
6.18.  Several Members also encouraged the inclusion of industrial subsidies in the discussion. It 
was noted that emissions from metal industries alone accounted for 10% of global greenhouse gas WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  emissions, and that industrial subsidies that led to overcap acity had a large effect on trade and the 
environment, particularly in emissions -intensive sectors such as steel.  
6.19.  It was also suggested that discussions could cover "green" or environmentally positive 
subsidies in order to contribute to the transition tow ards sustainable production processes and 
energy sources. Discussions on this topic could build experience within the WTO on the trade impacts 
of environmentally positive subsidies to complement the existing knowledge on trade impacts of 
subsidies.  
6.20.  Regardi ng possible future work, the importance of transparency and availability of quality 
data was underlined as a priority. Avenues for future work could also include exploring the disclosure 
of planned measures, as well as obtaining data from relevant internat ional organizations to build a 
common evidence -based understanding. There was support for focusing discussions on the 
environmental effects of agricultural subsidies as well as subsidies related to the transition to a low 
carbon economy. There is also inte rest in sharing experiences on subsidy design, including how to 
design green subsidies while minimizing trade distortions. It was suggested that having a broad 
scope in terms of subsidy discussions could also provide opportunities to enhance transparency a nd 
share experiences to explore effective means to improve design or to rationalize, gradually phase 
out or abolish subsidies, where relevant, based on national circumstances.  
6.21.  The Structured Discussions will resume the technical work as of tomorrow with th e working 
groups meeting on Thursday and Friday of this week in Rooms D and S1 , respectively. As you can 
see, we are focused on delivering targeted and concrete elements for the Ministerial Conference in 
Abu Dhabi.  
6.22.  Ours is a Member -driven process. We welc ome the participation of Members in these 
discussions and will continue cheering for new co -sponsors  to join this process, to collectively build 
and engineer an agenda that reflects the interests and needs of all its Members.  The dates for this 
year's meet ings is available in document INF/TE/SSD/W/22/Rev.1 , for everyone 's access.  
6.23.  To conclude, I take this opportunity to thank the Swedish Mission for hosting a Swedish Fika 
tomorrow from 9 -10am outside Room D as a preamble to our two days of substance -filled meetings, 
and invite all participants to attend.  
6.24.  Following this presentation, some delegations had the following reactions.  
6.25.  The representative of the United Kingdom  delivered the following statement:  
6.26.  The TESSD meetings are some of the most interesting for capital -based c olleagues to come 
to Geneva and participate in. The UK would like to thank the TESSD coordinators and working group 
facilitators for convening, organi zing and helping drive forward pioneering discussions on trade and 
environmental sustainability. The UK ha s been an active contributor to these discussions – we believe 
that through open, honest and rigorous engagement on these issues, including at a technical level, 
we can improve our collective understanding of the barriers to more sustainable trade, as well  as 
the potential solutions.  
6.27.  We would like to draw Members ' attention to a short non -paper that the United Kingdom has 
tabled at the TESSD, as well as a presentation that we intend to deliver at Friday's working group 
session on E GS. This non-paper contains a summary of some analytical work that the UK has 
undertaken, with some ideas on how the TESSD working group on E GS can be organi zed to help 
build our shared evidence base, based on agreed environmental objectives.  
6.28.  Through our analysis of publicly available information, we have compiled value chain diagrams 
of key renewable energy technologies, starting with solar energy. We believe these diagrams will 
help us better understand : which goods will be most important to help us achieve envir onmental 
objectives and what services enable them; what barriers are limiting trade in these goods; and what 
steps can be taken to alleviate these barriers.  
6.29.  These diagrams may also help us better understand the links between goods and services, to 
identify  relevant standards, and consider ways that developing countries can participate more fully 
in these value chains.  WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  6.30.  We will circulate a technical paper soon after the TESSD meeting, which outlines these 
concepts in more detail, alongside annotated diagrams  to help unpick some of the issues mentioned 
above. We invite delegates to share these papers with relevant experts in capitals, including climate 
experts, industrial policymakers, trade officials and stakeholders. We would also welcome any 
Member who wish es to discuss these ideas in greater depth. Please do reach out.  
6.31.  The representative of China  delivered the following statement:  
6.32.  China appreciates the efforts of the co -conveners and co -facilitators to lead the 
evidence -based discussions in TESSD. We welco me the progress made so far. We commend the 
high-level event held last year and the work  plan for this year.   
6.33.  Here in this room, Members all agree that the WTO is an indispensable part of the global 
solution to environment and climate change challenges. Th e question is how? At least we can do 
two things here. One is to liberalize and facilitate trade to spread low -carbon goods, services and 
technology; the other is to well utilize the WTO monitoring and deliberative function as well as 
dispute settlement me chanism to ensure measures taken for the purpose of environment protection 
will not be used as an excuse for unilateralism, protectionism and trade discrimination.  
6.34.  TESSD is making contributions from both of the two perspectives. We see valuable discussion s 
in the four technical working groups and note with pleasure that some of the issues discussed under 
TESSD ha ve been brought to multilateral levels, such as  the standard issue. By the way, we welcome 
the Trade Forum for Decarbonization Standards and belie ve here in the WTO we can strengthen 
cooperation and coordination among Members in terms of the harmonization and mutual recognition 
of standards.  
6.35.  China looks forward to this year 's more structured, focused and sector -specific discussions 
and hope s TESSD can continue its contribution to the multilateral discussions. Our capital colleagues 
will participate in the TESSD meeting in  person for the next two days and two Chinese companies 
will make presentations respectively in the working groups of EGS and circ ular economy.  
6.36.  The representative of the Russian Federation  delivered the following statement:  
6.37.  Russia remains of the view that TESSD can be a valuable tool for shaping possible pathways 
through which the WTO can contribute to preserving the environment and tackling climate change. 
But there a several conditions to be fulfilled if we want to achieve success here.  
6.38.  There is a variety of available tools applied by Members to achieve the common goal of 
combatting climate change, while neither distorting trade nor forcing others to take on approaches 
that are inappropriate due to the ir geographic and econ omic factors. Take liberalization of 
environmental goods or services as an example.  From our perspective, the TESSD should focus on 
how to supplement the list of such "trade-friendly ", but not "trade-restricting ", elements of the 
environment -related agenda . Continued sharing of views and experiences is an important part of 
this work.  
6.39.  This leads me to my second point. If these discussions truly aim to "explore opportunities and 
possible approaches for promoting and facilitating environmentally sustainable t rade in an inclusive 
and transparent way ", as declared by the Ministerial Statement on TESSD from December 2021, 
there is no place for a selective attitude to the participants of the TESSD.  
6.40.  We thank coordinators for the provided update on the TESSD discussions. But unfortunately, 
such information sharing is not enough to remedy the absence of transparency and inclusiveness 
my delegation is facing in respect to the TESSD.  
6.41.  Studying the publish ed presentations or the formal reports of the informal consultations 
cannot provide a co -sponsor, whose participation has been limited, a complete understanding of the 
content of the informal meetings.  
6.42.  Trying to solve this problem, the Russian Federation submitted written questions to the TESSD 
facilitators regarding substantive elements of the informal meeting that took place on 4 -5 October WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  2022. As of now, we have not received the answers to those questions however , which illustrates 
the lack of transpar ency I have described.  
6.43.  Despite the attempts of coordinators to somehow improve the situation, this gesture is 
insufficient and makes discussions pointless, because it does not allow all interested Members to be 
involved in the discussions. We hope Members  will abstain from such practice this year. For its part, 
Russia is ready to engage in the TESSD constructively.  
6.44.  The representative of Chile delivered the following statement:  
6.45.  Chile thank s the TESSD coordinators for their report on the work being done in t he framework 
of the se structured discussions . In this regard, we would like to indicate that  the work undertaken 
have been very useful for exchanging experiences on very diverse and important subjects .  
6.46.  We believe that we have made progress under the infor mal working groups, advancing the 
Work Plan that informs this  structured debate.  Given that this Committee has a defined role in trade 
and environment, we find it extremely valuable to report on the collaborative work that has been 
taking place in this ini tiative  – an initiative that Chile has always participated in and will continue to 
contribute to.  
6.47.  The representative of Japan  delivered the following statement:  
6.48.  Japan highly appreciates that the TESSD work has made much progress since the adoption of 
the TESSD Ministerial Statement in December 2021. As a co -host country of the Circular Economy 
WG together with Chile, we hope to be able to produce concrete results by MC13 .  
6.49.  With regard to subsidies, Japan has repeatedly emphasized its interest in the industr ial sector, 
which is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions. Industrial subsidies that lead to overcapacity 
can have significant trade and environmental impacts, especially in sectors with high carbon 
emissions such as steel and alumin ium. In this resp ect, we consider it important to ask how industrial 
subsidies can maximize positive environmental impacts and by doing so it would be one possible 
idea to consider not only the negative impacts of industrial subsidies but also the positive impacts.  
6.50.  Also, a s previously mentioned, it is important to respect the approach of each Member 
country, given that the environmental impacts of agricultural subsidies vary according to natural 
conditions or environmental requirements for provision of subsidies . 
6.51.  While we a gree that transparency and access to data should be improved, we should be wary 
of a one -size-fits-all approach that simply categorizes the environmental impact of subsidies by 
determining a "good subsidy" or "bad subsidy" type.  
6.52.  The representative of Korea  delivered the following statement:  
6.53.  We would like to thank Costa Rica for providing an update on the TESSD discussions. We 
welcome that we will be focusing on main relevant topics at the working groups this year after 
extensive discussions on various issue s in 2022. We expect to reach compromise on the main issues 
which would contribute to meaningful outcomes for MC13.  
6.54.  On TrCM s, we would like to hear more on each Members' trade -related climate measures and 
reflect upon the views of other Members on those me asures. This exercise will help us extract best 
practices and benchmarks , which could later be shared at the CTE to be proliferated among all 
Members.  
6.55.  As for discussions on the liberalization of environmental goods and services (EGS), we believe 
this coul d be a topic which can effectively contribute to strengthening the nexus between trade and 
the environment. As a rules -based trade organization, we could begin to build up a basis for 
negotiations on a trade agreement on EGS. When sufficient momentum is ge nerated in the working 
group, we could bring the discussions to the CTE to be reviewed by all Members . 
6.56.  The representative of Australia  delivered the following statement:  WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  6.57.  Let me first welcome the report from Costa Rica on behalf of the TESSD c oordinators, Canada 
and Costa Rica. TESSD is an incredibly important forum at the WTO for interested Members to 
progress discussions on key issues related to trade and environment. We welcome the work of the 
coordinators and facilitators in each workstream and we are extremely happy with the progress that 
has been made in the discussions so far. We encourage the coordinators to look towards the MC13 
and beyond, for tangible contribution s that TESSD can make as we progress the discussions. We 
would also encourage all Members that are not yet part of TESSD to join the discussion and 
encourage your engagement, whether or not, you are co -sponsors .  
6.58.  On the direction of TESSD work, we look for ward to seeing how Members can come together 
to develop shared understanding through the discussions. We would like to see how far we can take 
the discussions. We would certainly welcome effort to establish at a minimum best practice 
guidelines in a variet y of areas across the workstream discussions. We particularly welcome the 
discussions so far on climate -related trade measures, as we look forward towards sharing and 
building mutual understandings on how Members can best adopt climate -related trade measur es.  
6.59.  We welcome the ongoing discussions on environmental goods and services, promotion of key 
goods, services and technologies, facilitation technology transfer or ensuring that goods and services 
are available to all Members, this is an important part of our transition towards net zero.  And of 
course, workstream on subsidies, is in particular interest to us, we know the cost of harmful 
agricultural support which has been a theme of the discussions today, whether it has been the lack 
of transparency in cert ain subsidies, to the nature of the reform of agricultural subsidies to reach 
targets set by other fora, including CBD Target 18. We do know that there are over USD 800 billion 
worth of agricultural support per year and 87% of that, according to United Nat ions Environment 
Programme and FAO, are harmful to the environment, human health or are trade distorting. It is a 
must, we address this, if we are to achieve our goals of the net zero transition. So, we would welcome 
of course continued discussions on subs idies.  
6.60.  Once again, Australia thanks the coordinators for their update and encourage all Members to 
continue to participate in the discussions.  
6.61.  The representative of Switzerland  delivered the following statement:  
6.62.  Switzerland warmly thanks Costa Rica for its update.  Switzerland is an active Member of the 
TESSD initiative and strongly believes that TESSD complements and strengthens the work of this 
Committee. Indeed, there have been high quality discussions between Members and stakeholders 
that provide a be tter understanding of the issues and how trade should and can contribute to the 
solution. We are ready to engage constructively for the next Ministerial Conference and to have 
concrete results.  We strongly encourage all Members to join this initiative .  
6.2  Discussion on possible  CTE and environment -related outcomes at the WTO 
13th Ministerial Conference ( MC13 ) 
6.2.1   China's proposal on dedicated multilateral discussions on the trade aspects and 
implications of certain environmental measures  
6.63.  The representative of China delivered  the following statement:  
6.64.  China  would like to take this opportunity to present China's Proposal for Dedicated Multilateral 
Discussions on the Trade Aspects and Implications of Certain Environmental Measures, the main 
idea of which is reflected in document WT/CTE/W/251 . 
6.65.  The idea of setting up such dedicated multilatera l discussions emerged as we witness the rise 
of trade policies as a tool to implement environmental objectives. The trade aspects of certain 
environmental measures have given rise to controversies. Some of these measures were subject to 
the WTO dispute set tlement mechanism, while others were the usual  subjects of relevant WTO 
Committee meetings and trade policy reviews.  
6.66.  The WTO is an important forum for trade policy deliberations, the basis of which are the WTO 
rules. Trade policies designed to achieve envi ronmental objectives should be consistent with the 
fundamental principles and basic rules of the WTO, strike a balance between environmental WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  considerations and trade considerations, and do not constitute protectionist measures or green trade 
barriers.  
6.67.  Paragraph 14 of the MC12 Outcome Document notes, among others, "the role of the C TE as 
a standing forum dedicated to dialogue among Members on the relationship between trade measures 
and environmental measures". WTO Members looked forward to further strengthe ning the role of 
the CTE. India, the European Union and Columbia, respectively, have put forward proposals in this 
regard. At the CTE meeting last October, many Members made statements that advocated 
strengthening the functions of the CTE.  
6.68.  Confronting the challenges of our times, the WTO should play a greater role in promoting 
environmental sustainability through trade policies, fostering multilateral deliberations and 
preventing trade frictions. A constructive dedicated multilateral discussion is the first  step towards 
advancing multilateral cooperation.  
6.69.  In this context, China proposes to use the CTE as a platform for multilateral dedicated 
discussions on the trade aspects and implications of certain environmental measures.  
6.70.  The subject of the proposed multi lateral dedicated discussions should be the trade aspects of 
environmental measures which have wide ramifications, are of high interest and concerns to 
Members and may have significant impact on trade. There are many examples, such as those raised 
regularl y at the committee meetings of the WTO.  
6.71.  In contrast to, and in addition to, the discussions in regular committee meetings, engagement 
in the proposed dedicated multilateral discussions should facilitate deep, detailed and constructive 
exchange of views, in stead of simple information  sharing or general exchange of positions.  
6.72.  As part of the multilateral dedicated discussions, the Member implementing the measure may 
submit a written report regarding policy objectives and ways of implementation and make a 
presentation. Members affected by the measure could submit written comments and suggestions. 
Ensuing discussions could be held around specific aspects of the relevant measures, including the 
following elements:  
i. the domestic legal basis and international legal basis of the relevant measures  
ii. the means of implementation of the relevant measures, including the major steps of 
administrative procedures, applicable standards and certification requirements, 
information reporting requirements, and compliance requirement s 
iii. the nexus between the relevant measures and the intended environmental objectives  
iv. the potential impact of the relevant measures on international trade  
v. the consistency of the relevant measures with the WTO rules  
vi. the inclusiveness of the relevant measures,  including how to take into account different 
regulatory approaches of different Members, and, last but not least  
vii. how to reduce the adverse impact on trade of developing Members  
6.73.  Such deep, detailed and constructive dedicated multilateral discussions are in tended to 
enhance mutual understanding and uncover potential issue of the measures; to enhance 
inclusiveness; and to enhance coherence and the harmonization of trade and environmental goals.  
6.74.  We take note of the proposals of other Members to start multilate ral discussions. And we note 
that the EU has proposed to hold a dedicated session during environmental week in June on CBAM. 
We appreciate the voluntary information sharing by the EU. It is opportune to take the EU's initiative 
and other Members' proposal one step further.  
6.75.  China would like to suggest that a pilot multilateral dedicated discussion be held on the CBAM 
in the June CTE week. According to previous record s of discussions at the WTO, the Carbon Border WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  Adjustment Mechanism and its acronym CBAM appeared 58 times in the minutes of the October 
2022 CTE meeting. CBAM is mentioned in the communication submitted by India to the CTE and the 
proposal submitted by the EU to the General Council.  This demonstrated a high level of interest 
among Members.  
6.76.  By June, the CBAM legislation is expected to be enacted. We expect that the EU could include 
elements in its dedicated session, for example, the international legal basis of the CBAM, the practical 
contribution of the CBAM to its intended environmental objec tives, the potential impact of the 
implementation of the CBAM on international trade, procedural and technical aspects of the 
implementation of the CBAM, the consistency of the CBAM with WTO rules, whether the CBAM can 
be implemented in a more inclusive an d non -discriminatory manner, and whether the CBAM can be 
implemented in a manner consistent with the basic principles and rules of the UNFCCC.  
6.77.  We expect the session to be an interactive one, one that is informed, one that provides 
opportunities for useful information and for meaningful exchanges of views, one that is conducted 
in a truly constructive manner. To facilitate such discussions, China is willing to provide further 
written submissions, and work with interested Members to organize and contribute to  such 
discussions.  
6.78.  Following this presentation, one delegation had the following reaction.  
6.79.  The representative of  the European Union  delivered the following statement:  
6.80.  Apologies for taking the floor again . The EU of course welcome s China's paper as a 
constr uctive one for these discussions. We are still analysing the proposals.  
6.81.  In the proposals that we heard today we were invited to submit ourselves to scrutiny by WTO 
Members, and I think we have been doing that for two and a half years. We have been present ing 
our measures in detail, we have been responding to questions and we have had experts here in this 
room three times on the proposal that has not been yet adopted. So we are going to present the 
proposal that we now have a political agreement on, we will  have the legal text in May and we are 
going to have the information sessions where every single WTO Member can ask any technical 
question on implementation of the regulation. I would like to remind that CBAM is designed in a 
matter that is compatible with  WTO rules because the EU is respecting its international commitments 
to the WTO and to the UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement.  
6.82.  I would also like to caution turning the CTE into an informal dispute settlement body as 
suggested by China's proposal.  
6.2.2   Presentation by Colombia on "The principles and Parameters that should guide and 
support policies and measures on Trade and the Environment"  
6.83.  The representative of Colombia  delivered the following statement:  
6.84.  I do not wish to repeat what is already in the do cument, but I will just say that, in the 
document, we underscore the need for greater participation by developing countries in the 
proceedings of this Committee, as well as in other discussions which are conducted in this 
organization. The document provide s a holistic description of the discussions, where you have 
principles and general parameters in order to address trade and environment issues and also number 
of important principles are addressed.  
6.85.  From Colombia's perspective, some of these principles can  include, among others, the 
principle of international cooperation, the principle of responsibilities and the principle of 
non-discrimination among many others. The question that Colombia would have for other Members, 
which is also spelled out in the docum ent, is how should these principles, environmental principles 
and international trade principles, be reflected in the designing of measures that are related to the 
environment. In the same document , Members of the Committee are invited to attend the inform al 
special session in order to discuss these principles and to establish a specific action plan that will be 
realistic, in order to advance the discussion and implementation of these concepts. A lot of these 
principles arise from international treaties suc h as the Rio Convention, all of us are signatory to that. WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  From our delegation we hope and agreement can be reached and this will allow for further dialogue 
on the relevant subjects.  
6.86.  Following this presentation, some delegations had the following reactions . 
6.87.  The representative of Türkiye  delivered the following statement:  
6.88.  We would like to thank Colombia for tabling this proposal to the agenda, the document is 
under consideration in Ankara, but we can share with the Committee that at the initial stands, we 
believe that the document serves to open a much needed discussion on issue of principles and 
parameters. This has been an area where Türkiye has also emphasi zed consistently in our 
discussions in relation of trade and environmental measures, from the very be ginning we have also 
underlined that as the trade -related environmental measures or environment -related trade 
measures are hybrid in nature, they must borrow the principles from international trade and 
environmental law, which are both driving their resour ces from international law.  
6.89.  It is important that we agree around the principles and parameters that should form the basis 
upon which our measures must be built, so that we can check our measure against these and act in 
an international cooperation and pre vent fragmentation. These principles then would then become 
the benchmark against which we can see if our measures meet the criteria of international law. We 
believe there will be value in this work. We take note of principles outlined in Colombia's docume nt 
and stand ready to discuss them and other proposals that may be submitted in the process following 
a special and informal sessions on this topic as suggested by Colombia, or maybe more informal 
sessions as we can decide in an action plan.  
6.90.  Finally, we a lso believe it is important to include in our debates key stakeholders and experts 
of international trade and environment law, to develop our understanding and base our discussions 
on an enhanced knowledgebase.  
6.91.  The representative of Argentina  delivered the  following statement:  
6.92.  Argentina would like to thank Colombia for presenting this document as a way of starting a 
discussion on principles and parameters that should orient our discussion on trade and environment 
at the WTO. The document underscores the spe cific needs of developing countries. Argentina shares 
the concerns expressed by Colombia. And as much as we also see that there is a partial and unilateral 
approach to these challenges in regard to finding solutions, Argentina considers that the discussion s 
held so far at the WTO do not holistically reflect the trade concerns neither do they address the 
Members concerns. Most of the discussions so far have been dominated by the concerns and 
interests of a limited number of countries and by the way of contra st, there has not been as much 
attention to the interests of the developing countries.  
6.93.  In light of the measures of environmental nature in the trade area, they seem to be exclusively 
based on principles which run to the detriment of other dimensions such as for example economic 
development and against trade, as an instrument of development. So, I think that the discussion 
suggested by Colombia is urgent and necessary. In Argentina's view the discussion shall take place 
bearing in mind agreement already rea ched at the WTO with special reference to principles in Rio 
Declaration and also, respecting the work of other competent entities such as international 
commission.  
6.94.  The representative of Uruguay  delivered the following statement:   
6.95.  Thank you very much to the Colombian delegation for presenting this document. In our view, 
it is a fundamental subject because these are principles and parameters that should orient our 
discussions here at the CTE.  
6.96.  As many other Members, we consider that this is the natural forum for this discussion to take 
place. However, due to different reasons, this Committee has worked more as an information point 
from which the developed Member countries provide information without actually providing 
background infor mation on the principles that are being looked at in the capitals. We understand 
that this discussion would be worth having here in order to establish new priorities in our work here 
at the CTE.  WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  6.97.  The representative of Paraguay  delivered the following state ment:   
6.98.  I would just like to thank Colombia for presenting this document. I would like to say that in 
general terms we agree on the need to bear in mind these principles. But just like we have the 
framework targets that we looked at previously, there is a c ertain disconnection between what was 
agreed between the Members and what is accepted in international environmental law and the 
environmental measures and their impact in the area of trade. Although the area of trade is the area 
of competence here, it is in these types of measures where we can see the translatio n into practice 
by law the commitments undertaken Members. That said, we wish to continue with the discussion 
and see how we can better take into account these principles in the measures we adopt.  
6.99.  The representative of  India delivered the following stateme nt:  
6.100.   We thank Colombia for their paper RD/CTE/221 . Coherence between international trade law 
and international environment law is important. The paper brings out this need. We look forward to 
further engagement with Colombia on this paper  
6.101.   The representative of  Costa Rica  delivered the follow ing statement:  
6.102.   Costa Rica wanted to express our gratitude for the record and thank the delegation of 
Colombia for its statement because we believe that it is a very important contribution that provides 
a lot of hope. This is also present in the statements made by other delegations throughout the 
proceedings of this Committee.  
6.103.   We consider that those statements provide value and substance to the work we are doing 
here at the CTE and we hope that we can build on the basis of these contributions we have heard in 
order to strengthen the functioning of this body.  
6.104.   The representative of the  European Union  delivered the following statement:  
6.105.   The European Union welcomes the presentation by Colombia. Unfortunately, we are keeping 
reservation s on it, but welcome any co ntribution by Members to the discussion.  
6.106.   The representative of Peru delivered the following statement:  
6.107.   Peru would just like to add our voice to the responses to Colombia for the presentation of 
this document. In our capital, it  is still being studied but I would just like to underscore the 
recommendations made by the document concerning special decisions or informal meetings in order 
to strengthen the discussions that we have in this Committee. I also think it  is very important that 
we include other intere sted parties and stakeholders because it will enrich any discussion we could 
have in this forum. I am convinced that all of the Members would agree on that . 
6.2.3   Members ' views and comments on the CTE and Paragraph 14 of the MC12 Outcome 
Document  
6.108.   The representa tive of the European Union  delivered the following statement : 
6.109.   The European Union recently presented its ideas for improving deliberating function of the 
WTO as part of the ongoing WTO reform discussions. The paper is the recognition that the WTO 's 
effectiveness has been eroded over the past decade across its three pillars, with a paralysed dispute 
settlement system, limited progress in multilateral rulemaking, and a deliberating function that is 
not being used to its full potential to address the pr essing global trade challenges.  
6.110.   The EU paper therefore focuses on the deliberative function as the third essential pillar of 
WTO reform. If the organi zation is to maintain relevance, it needs to re -establish itself as a forum 
for more meaningful deliberati on in areas that impact global trade policymaking.  
6.111.   The European Union proposes reinforced deliberation in the following three areas of systemic 
importance:  (1) trade policy and state intervention in support of industrial sectors; (2) global 
environmental c hallenges; and (3) trade and inclusiveness.  WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  6.112.   Focusing on environment that is of importance to this Committee, there is an increasing 
interest among Members for environment and climate to figure more prominently on the WTO 
agenda given the urgency of the cli mate and environmental challenges. The European Union 
proposes to reinforce deliberations on trade and global environmental challenges in the Committee 
on Trade and Environment (CTE).  
6.113.   In view of the scarce resources in many delegations we need to make sur e that the 
Committee work is useful and brings added value for delegation to take part in it. We believe that 
transparency provided by the EU has been increasing the interest by the Members, you can see that 
our proposals goes in line with what we see got traction.  
6.114.   The proposals outlined in the EU submission are fully in line with the CTE mandate to identify 
relationship between environmental policies relevant to trade and environmental measures with 
significant trade effects and the provisions of the multi lateral trading system , 
6.115.   The objectives would be enhanced transparency, coordination, and policy dialogue on trade -
related environmental measures. We suggest early information exchanges on measures and 
discussions on the design of measures that maximi ze climate and environmental benefits while 
minimi zing trade -restrictive impacts. We also suggest the discussions should continue once measure 
entered into force and also look in ways to facilitate trade.  
6.116.   More thematic discussions in the CTE could also be consi dered. The paper makes some 
suggestions, but the list is by no means exhaustive, and it will be up to Members of the CTE to agree 
on the topics. From the current debates we see an interest for Members to discuss methodologies 
to calculate embedded emission s in the internationally traded goods. We could start with that topic 
in the CTE, based on some useful work already done in the TESSD initiative, but also globally in 
other fora's.  
6.117.   Given the interlinkage between development and environmental challenges, it  would also be 
important to reinforce the capacity of developing countries in terms of their participation but also 
identify means to support them in the challenges they face in complying with trade -related climate 
and environmental measures.  
6.118.   We also see r oom for closer committee coordination between the CTE and other relevant 
bodies (e.g., TBT, SPS, SCM, and Agriculture). We see that climate is discussed everywhere – (only 
last week we have TBT Committee informal session on climate and plastics as well as decarboni zation 
event organi zed by WTO Secretariat).  
6.119.   While we fully appreciate the complex nature of these debates, we believe it is a discussion 
that the WTO cannot avoid. In line with the outcome of the recent General Council meeting where 
the EU submission was discussed, we intend to reach out to Members on the best way forward to 
continue discussions and enhance deliberation in the CTE in line with our submission. We are open 
to hearing the views of others on the overall focal role of the CTE and on how to take this 
conversation further in a structured ma nner, including by identifying concrete issues for discussion 
in addition to those that we have suggested.  
6.120.   The representative of Congo , on behalf of the African Group , delivered the following 
statement:  
6.121.   Regarding the discussion on possible environment -related outcomes in the CTE and at MC13, 
the African Group would like to remind the Committee that paragraph 14 of the Outcome Document 
of the 12th Ministerial Conference notes, inter alia , the importance of the contribution of the 
multilateral trading system  to the promotion of the SDGs in its economic, social and environmental 
dimensions and the role of the CTE as a permanent forum dedicated to dialogue among Members 
on the relationship between trade measures and environmental measures.  
6.122.   As such, the results of our work should not obscure those carried out in other international 
organizations, respect, or if necessary supplement, the commitments made by certain developed 
countries in the context of environmental protection and climate change in others fora and  not 
modify their substance or annihilate them.  WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  6.123.   They should also facilitate and promote technology transfer including special and differential 
treatment. Our discussions must fully integrate the principle of common and differentiated 
responsibility and the  primary responsibility of developed countries in the current environmental 
crisis.  
6.124.   Similarly, the conclusions of the work should not result in new and binding rules and, even 
less constitute an additional technical barrier to trade for market access for A frican goods and 
products.  
6.125.   The representative of the Maldives  delivered the following statement:  
6.126.   At the outset, may I take this opportunity to commend Ambassador Simon Manley for his 
leadership enabling steering the work of CTE, in good cheer, I might add, and enabling valuable and 
productive outcomes over the last year.  
6.127.   As it has been agreed by the WTO Members to hold the 13th Ministerial Conference from the 
week of 26 February 2024 in Abu Dhabi, it is pertinent, I believe, to start the discussion now on 
concrete, pragmatic and effective outcomes on matters relating to trade and environment. From this 
perspective, I would like to focus my comments on the blue economy.  
6.128.   Maldives is inextricably tied with the ocean, and effectively protected ocean is esse ntial for 
the health of Planet Earth and all its inhabitants. In this regard, the Maldives welcomes the recent 
landmark agreement on a text for a legally binding treaty to protect marine biodiversity in areas 
beyond national jurisdiction. This historic ach ievement will no doubt reinforce efforts to protect 
marine resources in line with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The Maldives being a 
large ocean state has implemented several measures to safeguard our island ecosystems and 
instituted measure s for the sustainable use of environmental and marine resources. To ensure 
sustainable use of our natural resources, the Government of Maldives plans to declare 20% of 
Maldivian seas protected by 2030. This plan is in line with the worldwide initiative of the Global 
Ocean Alliance to protect at least 30% of the global ocean as marine protected areas by 2030.  
6.129.   To ensure environmental protection, including the preservation of marine life as well as 
guaranteeing that the areas are utili zed in a sustainable mann er, three  atolls in the Maldives has 
been declared as biosphere reserves. Additionally, protected status has been granted to 103 species 
of birds, 14 marine species and black turtles, as well as dive sites, mangroves and other ecologically 
significant isla nds. We believe trade can play a synergistic role in the sustainable use of 
environmental resources, including marine resources, on which a large proportion of our people 
depend for their livelihoods.  
6.130.   Maldives is one of the few nations that has a strict po licy on preventing all forms of net 
fishing and is committed to more sustainable methods based on pole and line fishing, for which we 
have become renowned and have been practising for centuries. It is imperative that global trade 
practices within the rules -based system incentivize sustainably sourced marine products in order to 
protect the environment, prevent biodiversity loss and promote economic growth.  
6.131.   Before I conclude, may I once again thank the Chair for initiating dialogue on outcomes for 
MC13 relat ed to trade and environment. The Maldives stands ready to work with WTO colleagues to 
further the trade and environment agenda, and in particular, in finding ways to incentivize goods 
that are sustainably sourced and promote inclusiveness in trade, leaving  no one behind.  
6.132.   The representative of Paraguay  delivered the following statement:  
6.133.   I will make some comments on the EU's statement but also more br oadly on agenda item  6.2 
and your question in particular at the end of the agenda.  
6.134.   As regards the document p rovided by the EU, we believe a greater level of understanding is 
necessary among Members in order to identify good practices and to develop non -binding 
instruments and to reach convergence on various subjects. Ultimately, this should lead to the 
reduction  of unilateral measures imposed by some Members , because these have an impact on 
trade.  WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  6.135.   As regards the trade policy and state intervention in the industrial sector, I  would like to 
note that the least regulated sector is  the agricultural sector, and that t he Agreement  on Agriculture 
was something that was considered on an incremental basis.  
6.136.   As regards environmental agreements and trade, we agree with the thematic deliberations, 
for example , on subjects such as the negative effects of industrial subsidies or  agricultural subsidies.  
6.137.   As regards the exchange of information within the framework of this Committee and tied 
with the development of our Members, we would like to see here at the CTE a better process that 
would allow Members to ask questions on matters notified by Members rather than just listening to 
the descriptions of what Members are doing. We believe that these presentations generate a very 
heavy workload and also make it more difficult for the developing countries.  
6.138.   Our presentation today is precis ely one of the ideas relating to information exchange  and 
we believe that the tool suggested could be a very useful one. We do  not think it should be an 
instrument for declaring an alert in any extent, and that is why our intent was to initiate a discussio n 
on fulfilling the mandate and maybe lightening up the workload as well. We nevertheless believe 
that this Q&A process could be installed so that we can achieve an updated EDB by the end of the 
year.  
6.139.   The representative of Japan  delivered the following st atement :  
6.140.   Japan would like to comment on the EU's paper. The EU's proposal to address today's trade 
challenges through reform of the WTO's deliberative function is an interesting approach and worth 
considering.  
6.141.   With regard to trade and environmental issues, we believe that early and voluntary exchange 
of information on national measures could help prevent trade frictions, provided that the information 
shared is sufficiently transparent. Thematic deliberations would stimulate discussion a mong 
Members and facilitate the WTO's contribution to solving specific issues. In addition, as pointed out 
by the EU, development and environmental issues are closely related, and it is important to further 
promote developing countries' participation in di scussions at the CTE to enhance its inclusiveness.  
6.142.   Japan's view is that it  is desirable to discuss and prepare for these points so that possible 
elements can be implemented even before MC13 and thematic sessions can be held before the end 
of the year.  
6.143.   The representative of the United Kingdom  delivered the following statement:  
6.144.   We thought that we would share a few thoughts on the EU's paper and some other proposals 
we've heard so far. Overall, the UK is in broad agreement with many of the EU's proposals from their 
paper. We are particularly supportive of the ambition for increasing transparency, dialogue and 
enhanced cooperation, as well as the need to increase awareness about how domestic measures are 
used to respond to climate and other global  environmental challenges, how they are designed and 
their impact on trade.  
6.145.   We have heard a number of proposals from Members this week on the need to improve the 
deliberative functions of the CTE. We were looking forward to hearing from China; we had a few  
thoughts on their proposals. Apologies to Colombia, we received the document late so we have not 
had as much time to digest.  
6.146.   But, in general, there are some common themes across the proposals, so perhaps the idea 
of thematic sessions is one example, along side early and effective voluntary information exchange. 
We need to make sure we do this in a streamlined way without overloading the agenda, so some 
creative thinking will be needed to avoid duplicating work that's already underway to avoid repetition 
of statements and perhaps having a broad policy theme with Members coming forward to present, 
as opposed to going measure by measure, something like the TBT thematic sessions, that could 
work – we are still considering this further. We should make sure that w e're approaching topics in 
an evidence -led way, ensuring that we're being clear and precise in our language and targeted in 
our discussions.  WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  6.147.   The UK thanks Members for all these ideas this week. These contributions reflect our shared 
desire to make progress  in this Committee and demonstrate that the WTO is capable of responding 
to the biggest issues of our time and ensure we are delivering on the environment paragraph in the 
MC12 declaration as well.  
6.148.   The representative of Australia  delivered the following st atement:  
6.149.   Australia, you will be proud to hear, shares your aspirations for concrete outcomes at MC13 
that we can then go on to deliver on as we should be delivering on the MC12 paragraph as well.  
6.150.   Australia is committed to a reinvigorated WTO deliberative function that could focus more 
on the intersection between trade policy and the environment, and in particular, climate change. We 
firmly believe that trade and the multilateral trading system must be a part of the solution to 
environmental problems, inclu ding climate change. We do need to reinforce and reinvigorate the 
deliberative function of the C TE, and we need to attract deeper engagement through information 
sharing and thematic discussions. We welcome all contributions in that light to this discussion , 
including the EU's paper, India's paper, China, and Colombia's paper as well.  
6.151.   We support the idea of greater thematic discussions, which we think would enable a greater, 
deeper dive into particular issues relevant to Members and could support Members abi lity to target 
discussions into particular areas of interests, which support more informal sessions to support those 
discussions. And we also support greater collaboration between the Committee on Trade and 
Environment and other bodies of the WTO for issue s that cut across the various regular body. That 
could be, for instance, the TBT, the thematic sessions of the TBT which were held last week on 
climate change and plastics have great relevance to this Committee, and we think there was an 
opportunity there to share those thematic sessions, convening notices with environment delegates 
to promote greater collaboration between the CTE and the TBT Committee as well. But it may not 
just be the TBT Committee. There's a significant amount of overlap in other areas of the WTO, 
particularly the development dimension, so the CTD and the subsidiary bodies of the CTD could be 
engaged in thematic cross cutting  conversations.  
6.152.   We think that there's a need for greater transparency, but more than simply greater 
transparency, w e think there's a need for effective transparency, so transparency that enables 
Members to engage with the trade -related elements of different policies and approaches that 
Members are taking in a time effective and efficient way. We have heard some of the rationale for 
that today, particularly raised by a number of developing countries, but I can assure you that it 
doesn't just affect developing countries. We're all time poor here and the significant load of 
presentations that we are receiving means that a more efficient and effective transparency that 
enables us to cut to the core of the trade -related elements of the different policies that Members are 
taking will enable a fuller and more effective conversation on how trade can contribute to 
environmental c hallenges.  
6.153.   We have also heard the perspectives raised by Columbia on how we can take a greater 
approach to understanding the principles that underpin the discussions here and we will reflect on 
those comments in that perspective.  
6.154.   We would also like to wel come further contributions to the analytical discussions that have 
been occurring and we would be particularly interested in discussing with other Members how we 
can capture from those analytical discussions options for the WTO to move forward. An example is 
the very useful dialogue, the Secretariat hosted last week on carbon in the steel sector, but we also 
welcome work in in other areas of this vein. An area for potential growth would be in the hydrogen 
sector, which will be a key technology in the transi tion to net zero, and more work is certainly 
required to understand how trade can facilitate the transition to net zero, including through the 
support of the growth of the hydrogen sector and any growing or appearing barriers to trade in 
hydrogen.  
6.155.   In addit ion to the work of the CTE Chair, the environment issues discussed here are broader 
than those discussed just in the CTE, and Australia is pleased with the growing momentum in the 
TESSD  and the Dialogue on Plastics Pollution, and we would welcome views fro m other Members on 
what can be drawn from those substantive discussions for outcomes at the WTO's 13th Ministerial WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  Conference. Australia would certainly support an attempt to gather best practice guidelines from the 
discussions that have occurred in the TE SSD and the Dialogue on Plastic Pollution.  
6.156.   The representative of New Zealand  delivered the following statement:  
6.157.   New Zealand would also like to offer some comments more broadly across the question that 
you've posed, on ideas and ways to improve the current output of the Committee.  
6.158.   We would first of all like to thank all of those that have made presentations and specific 
proposals and put forward papers. It's very useful in helping us to look at ways that that we can 
strengthen the work that we undertake in t his Committee. In particular, we see merit in the 
suggestions around thematic discussions. We think that that would be an efficient way to enable 
information exchange on policy areas of particular interest to all of us and to be able to benefit from 
unders tanding the approaches that a range of countries are taking in these areas, so we see thematic 
discussions as a helpful suggestion. We also very much support the notion of closer coordination 
with other bodies within the WTO and particularly areas like TBT , the Agriculture Committee, but 
also benefiting from the discussions. that are underway in TESSD and in other dialogue and other 
environment -related initiative under the WTO.  
6.159.   In regard to the way that we go about this, we agree with the comments that it's  going to 
be important that if we are focusing in more thematic discussions that we look for subjects and 
topics that have real practical value added for us in relation to the trade intersect with environment 
and climate change, and that we strive to make these discussions as relevant and inclusive as 
possible, including to stakeholders that domestically will have an interest.  
6.160.   So we are very much interested in engaging and continuing to engage with other delegations 
on how we look to strengthen the work in  the Committee.  
6.161.   The representative of Chile delivered the following statement:   
6.162.   During MC12, the role of this Committee as a forum for permanent dialogue on trade and 
environment matters was noted. Along these lines, we would like to suggest that a work sc hedule 
be established for the Committee that considers sessions that allow this dialogue to be deepened, 
so that it is possible to identify those environmental challenges where trade can make a contribution 
to address them.  Dialogue on possible areas of wo rk, the challenges we face and how trade can 
contribute, will open the necessary spaces for collaboration that are indicated in the recently adopted 
ministerial declaratio n. 
6.163.   The representative of Switzerland  delivered the following statement:  
6.164.   Switzerland's  comments refer to all of the other folks in general and all of the proposals 
submitted by Members. We'd also like to thank all Members for their presentations in this regard.  
6.165.   With regard to possible outcomes multilaterally, as indicated at the last meetin g, thanks to 
the mandate from MC12, climate change is now fully recogni zed as part of the WTO agenda and 
numerous discussions have already taken place within various initiatives within the WTO. We agree 
that climate change, the loss of biodiversity, and po llution should not only be recogni zed as a global 
challenge, but we should also engage to address them at the next Ministerial Conference, which 
would be an important next step.  
6.166.   First of all, we believe that trade policy can make an important contribution  to resolving 
climate and environmental challenges and to addressing the sustainable development of all 
Members. Secondly, climate change is a threat for development, peace and future prosperity, which 
must be addressed urgently by the whole of the communi ty of Members. In other words, this requires 
a global and urgent response, and therefore a multilateral response. Thirdly, if trade alone cannot 
solve the threats of climate change, economically viable and effective solutions require a strong 
global govern ance of trade and the environment. Therefore, with multiple proposals on the table in 
this Committee, we can also already see progress and will on the part of the Members to improve 
the functioning of the CTE to bring concrete solutions to the table.  WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  6.167.   We ha ve also heard the request to have a discussion on principles on issues relating to trade 
and environmental sustainability. Switzerland stands ready to examine them all and to discuss them 
in depth. We support a constructive, structured discussions of how t he multilateral trading system 
can contribute to the solution. The proposal to have thematic sessions in this Committee, for 
example, would be a good start.  
6.168.   This Committee must build trust among Members and improve transparency, which goes 
beyond an ordina ry meeting, a regular meeting of this Committee. It goes without saying that, given 
environmental sustainability can touch upon other technical bodies of the WTO, better synergies 
could be explored, and I won't reiterate what other delegates have already s aid on thematic sessions, 
for example, what was done with the TBT session.  
6.169.   Finally, just a small logistical remark. In view of the numerous proposals that have been 
submitted by Members, and in view of the many delegations who have not been able to see certain 
proposals, it would be welcome if the Secretariat could send out an e -mail to all of the Members with 
all of the proposals.  
6.170.   The representative of Türkiye  delivered the following statement : 
6.171.   My statement will also be in relation to the broader discus sion in relation to improving the 
relevance and reactivity of the CTE and will naturally address some ideas raised in EU's paper as 
well.  
6.172.   First of all, we would like to emphasize the significant work undertaken in the CTE 
Committee. In this regard, we rec ognize particularly the growing importance of the mandate of the 
Committee in providing transparency and understanding of issues at the nexus of trade and 
environment. We believe that this work is of immense importance given the increasing number and 
diversity of TrCMs .  
6.173.   The work of the CTE Committee is also very significant in terms of ensuring inclusivity in this 
new area of measures, not only by encouraging transparency but also by its potential to serve as a 
forum where the important principle of international cooperat ion in fight with climate change can be 
taken into life.  
6.174.   In this regard, we would like to thank all Members who have contributed to this discussion 
through their proposals we have been hearing today and yesterday. We find them helpful and 
relevant in many  aspects and hope that we can soon arrive at agreed course of action for the 
Committee work.  
6.175.   In this sense, as briefly mentioned in our previous interventions in other items, we believe 
that the Committee can increase its contribution in the nexus of trad e and environmental measures 
through increased voluntary transparency, more focused discussions – be it through informal 
sessions or dedicated discussions and always keeping in mind the all the dimensions of sustainability 
giving particular importance to t he respective needs and concerns of Members at different levels of 
economic development as referred to in paragraph 14 of the Outcome Document.  
6.176.   We also believe that strengthening cooperation among different organs of the WTO such as 
the Committees mention ed by my colleagues before me and the TESSD might also be of help to 
understand all facets of this issue we have at hand and to enforce the discussions' knowledge base.  
6.177.   The representative of Norway  delivered the following statemen t: 
6.178.   Norway would like to th ank other Members for their written submissions that are relevant 
for this discussion, notably the EU document on the deliberative function of the WTO that was tabled 
at the General Council – as well as the submissions by China and Colombia, to which we mu st come 
back at the next meetings.  
6.179.   Norway is pleased that the contribution of trade to climate and environmental policies has 
been lifted on the WTO's agenda over the last few years. Paragraph 14 of the MC12 Outcome 
Document contained a timely recognition of the link between the Multilateral Trading System and 
the SDGs.  WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  6.180.   In Norway's view, MC13 should deliver further progress on the WTO's contribution to solving 
our common environmental challenges. They are cross cutting  global issues, also for trade and the 
WTO. It comes into our work on subsidies, on market access, on least trade -restrictive measures 
(TBT and SPS), on technology transfer, trade and development, and more. The whole membership 
needs to work on green solutions and find their respective comparati ve advantages, including 
through WTO negotiations.  
6.181.   The CTE is the central forum to deliberate on trade and global environmental challenges, 
and Norway would support efforts to reinvigorate this work through ways of working that can 
enhance transparency, in formation exchange and policy dialogue. Outreach to and coordination with 
other relevant WTO bodies could be one measure, several delegations have mentioned last week's 
TBT sessions as an example, and such work could perhaps be done more systematically. Th ematic 
discussions could be another way of digging deeper into issues that are of a complex nature or that 
span the responsibilities of other committees.  
6.182.   Contributions from the three initiatives – TESSD, DPP plastics pollution, and FFSR – would 
also be wel come. Having said this, we do understand that there are also capacity constraints that 
put limitations on the ability of many Members to attend ever more meetings. With many ideas on 
the table, it would be recommendable that we find the small steps, but th e right steps, that can 
create value for the whole membership in the important work of the CTE.  
6.183.   The representative of the Philippines  delivered the following statement : 
6.184.   I wanted to react to the statements and comments that have been made on this topic. We 
thank Colombia and China for their papers and I think it is very useful in helping us develop a positive 
agenda as we move forward to MC13. Of course, we also have the EU's paper on strengthening the 
deliberative functions of the WTO, which does highlight some suggestions on the CTE and its work.  
6.185.   We are broadly supportive of the EU's suggestions to convene thematic sessions, to 
streamline the agenda, and I have heard others mentioning cross cutting  collaboration with other 
Committees and the TBT session on plastics and climate change was very useful. It was very heavy 
as well because there were a lot of presentations and I would say limited chance for engagement 
between delegations. One other aspect that we would find valuable is to allow for open dialogue i n 
these thematic sessions which is sometimes missing when we have been organizing some of these 
activities.  
6.186.   We do support as others have mentioned continued work on transparency. We value 
stakeholder engagement and I think this has been valuable in the co ntext of the DPP in which the 
Philippines is engaged. One thing that could also be looked at is periodically that the mandate of the 
CTE has itself been updated so that could be examined by Members.  
6.187.   Lastly, I would draw attention to the fact that, at this  meeting, we have heard some 
discussions on the issues of labelling. That is a mandated issue of the CTE, but we have not really 
done much work on it for many years. Given the discussions on this topic, I would imagine there 
would be more resonance on it m oving forward.  
6.188.    The representative of Brazil  delivered the following statement:  
6.189.   Reflecting on possible outcomes for MC13 on trade and sustainability, Brazil believes that 
the priorities believe in a robust commitment to both the multilateral trading syste m and the MEAs , 
as well as to the mutually supportive and harmonious rapport between these two regimes.  
6.190.   Trade is an underlying force on global efforts to mitigate climate change. Unfortunately, that 
also means that unilateral measures can hamper our progre ss and lead to the fragmentation of both 
trade and climate frameworks. In order to reduce emissions and to adapt to climate change, the 
world will need more trade and more development, not less. We share the sense of urgency to rein 
in emissions and guaran tee a sustainable future for the coming generations. In our view, that 
political will should be channelled into stronger national pledges under the UNFCCC, not to mention 
a more complete fulfilment of the commitments that we have already made in terms of f inancing, 
for instance.  WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  6.191.   In that regard , the attempts to shift the burden and impose specific decarbonization 
strategies on other economies using trade -restrictive measures as a way to renegotiate or backtrack 
on agreed commitments will only undermine the MEAs, bringing about waves of measures and 
countermeasures and move us further away from a decarbonized economy.  
6.192.   A global challenge such as climate change, requires a global response. It requires firm 
decisions within each society and the will to take econo mies through deep structural transformation. 
It takes trust and a shared political conviction that cannot be achieved if the world is fragmented 
between carbon clubs. Multilateralism may involve compromises, but it is also the only way to deliver 
legitimat e, effective solutions. In our view, sustainable development in its three dimensions must 
be organi zed in principle for outcomes on the trade and environment agenda at MC13.  
6.193.   The WTO has a key role to play on facilitating trade in low carbon products, lowe ring carbon -
related trade barriers and promoting investment and transfer of technologies that Members need to 
fight climate change. Developing countries will not accept to be relegated to the roles of mere 
suppliers of raw material. In that sense, we welco me proposals such as that made by Colombia, that 
contribute with principles and concepts for an adequate multilateral treatment of trade and 
environmental matters.  
6.194.   We look forward to hear the Chinese proposal in detail. From what we have heard it should 
consider a very helpful input in terms of process for these discussions, and potentially could be tied 
up with the Colombian paper in the sense that the second one could contribute with principles to 
guide the specific proposal being advanced by the first on e. So we see a lot of value in in this 
exchange and we look forward to continue engaging.  
6.195.   The representative of the United States  delivered the following statement:  
6.196.   Like others, I am also offering comments more broadly, but very much appreciate everyone 
who has presented today. Likewise, we would also appreciate an e -mail with all of the papers, noting 
that there are several floating around out there.  
6.197.   The United Stat es shares an interest in reinvigorating the role of the C TE as the venue for 
engagement among WTO Members on trade and environmental issues. That said, we think it's 
premature to start talking about concrete outcomes for MC13 at this time. MC13 is less tha n a year 
away and we already have a full scope of work based on Ministers' instructions we received at MC12. 
Rather, in the CTE, we believe we should focus on doing the work to revitalise this Committee and 
engage on the important discussion of how to move  forward rather than focusing on deliverables for 
MC13.  
6.198.   Attention on the relationship between trade and environment has grown significantly, and 
WTO Members have been engaging in discussions in a variety of configurations regarding the role 
for the WTO on these issues. We are open to considering how Members can work to reduce the silos 
between the regular committees at the WTO and ensure that our work across the organization is 
coherent and informed by discussions that are happening throughout the organi zation. 
6.199.   One option that we've heard for increasing the CTE's relevance and functioning would be to 
utilize Committee meetings to identify and discuss environmental measures pursued by Members to 
address particular trade and environment challenges. We could, a s others have noted, identify 
thematic areas of particular measures, for example, deforestation and climate change, and Members 
could then share respective approaches that they've taken to address these concerns and challenges.  
6.200.   The United States supports f inding a pathway forward to making the work of the CTE more 
relevant to addressing and discussing current trade and environmental challenges, rather than only 
serving as a forum for reporting, which appears to have been what we have been focused on 
recentl y.  
6.201.   Revitalising the CTE is an outcome that we strongly support and one that we're prepared to 
work together with other WTO Members to deliver.  
6.202.   The representative of Singapore  delivered the following statement:  WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  6.203.   I will address item 6.2 in general in my stat ement. Given the growing salience of climate 
change issues and greater recognition of the role that trade can play in tackling climate change, it 
is crucial that we reinvigorate discussions at the CTE in order for the WTO to remain relevant. In 
this regard , we thank China, Colombia, India and the EU for their papers and suggestions. These 
have presented us with valuable ideas which we are studying.  
6.204.   Preliminarily, we see value in having Members continue sharing about any new 
environmental measures implemente d which have broader trade implications. This will enhance 
transparency and provide Members with the opportunity to assuage any concerns of other Members 
on these measures. However, as Japan had mentioned earlier, this will also only be effective if 
Member s are sufficiently transparent in their sharing.  
6.205.   As many other Members have also mentioned, it would be useful to have thematic 
discussions at the CTE to focus our work. One particular area of discussion could be on how we can 
support developing and LDC Me mbers in their efforts to achieve sustainable development, as later 
in paragraph 14 of the MC12 Outcome Document. For example, Members who are able to can 
conduct targeted technical assistance and capacity building programmes for developing and LDC 
Members . At the same time, it will also be helpful if developing and LDC Members could articulate 
the areas in which such assistance would be useful in the context of environmental sustainability 
and trade.  
6.206.   In addition to the ideas presented, we would also like t o highlight that other environmental 
initiatives such as the FFSR, TESSD and DPP are also useful ways to contribute to our discussions 
here at the CTE as they allow us to explore specific issues in greater depth. As such, it will be useful 
for us to contin ue receiving regular updates on these initiatives at the CTE.  
6.207.   Lastly, we should ensure that our discussions here complement rather than duplicate 
discussions taking place in other international organi zations. Singapore will continue to participate 
actively in these discussions at the CTE as we work towards delivering concrete outcomes at MC13.  
6.208.   The representative of India delivered the following statement : 
6.209.   I will be addressing all items under agenda item 6.2 in this intervention. India thanks the 
EU for its paper on which we had commented at the General Council as well. We thank China for its 
paper, leveraging CTE as the multilateral forum for discussing relevant issues on trade and the 
environment, in line with the MC12 mandate contained in paragraph 14 of the Outcome Document. 
Our capital is currently studying this paper and we may revert with more substantive comments in 
the coming days.  
6.210.   India believe s that WTO Members should not rush into rulemaking on the topic of 
environment  and any M C13-related discussions should be based on this understanding. In this 
regard, we also note the statements made by some Members in the last Trade Negotiations 
Committee that advise caution on pursuing specific MC13 outcomes on environment.  
6.211.   Reflecting on t he Decarbonization Standards event held last week and carefully analysing 
the statements made by some participants, including t he Ambassador s, who spoke at the event, it 
appears that there is a need to first clarify what role the WTO can and should play in  the discussions 
on environment.  
6.212.   The representative of Uganda , on behalf of the LDC Group , delivered the following 
statement : 
6.213.   We do not have a statement as such but let me say, on behalf of the LDC Group, on the 
question of the CTE and environment -related outcomes at MC13, we wish to discuss this further and 
reserve at this moment in time. We take note of the comments made by the delegate from Singapore 
and also thank those that have made proposals already. We look forward to constructive 
engagement in the lead up to MC13.  
6.214.    The representative of Indonesia  delivered the following statement : WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  6.215.   Since this is the first time Indonesia is taking the floor in this Committee allow me to convey 
Indonesia's appreciation for the updates from Members on several initiativ es presented yesterday 
and today, including from the Secretariat on the Environmental Database.  
6.216.   Indonesia shares the same views that environment is one of the urgent issues that we have 
to resolve together. We also recognize that we need to address trade and environment -related 
measures that fall under the purview of the WTO.  
6.217.   In this connection, we appreciate the submission by India yesterday and from Colombia as 
well as China today. These submissions are useful in generating more balanced perspectives on t he 
interlinkage of trade and environment in the WTO.  
6.218.   In line with the MC12 outcome, we would like to underline the important role of CTE as a 
standing forum dedicated to dialogue related to trade and environment measures.  Indeed, Indonesia 
is of the view t hat WTO's relevance will depend on its ability to deliver concrete solutions as a 
response to global challenges, including those related to trade and environment.  
6.219.   Moreover, we share the same concerns regarding the use of environment measures as 
non-tariff measures by certain Members. Environmental measures should not be used as a disguised 
protectionism measures that bring detrimental impacts to developing country and LDCs. We should 
not neglect their need to use trade as a way to promote economic gr owth and bring welfare to its 
people, especially the small scale producers.  
6.220.   In line with paragraph 14 of the MC12 Outcome Document, we need to carefully identify 
issues that are acceptable to all to be followed up given the principles we have mentioned, with a 
view to promote the UN 2030 Agenda and the SDGs. At the same time, differences in the level of 
economic development should also be taken into account.  
6.221.   With these considerations in mind, on environment -related outcomes at MC13, Indonesia 
has three main points to convey: First, we need to ensure that trade environment -related outcomes 
should be consistent and relevant with the fundamental principles of the WTO. Second, WTO should 
focus on trade and we should not be side-tracked  to other agen das that are already undertaken 
extensively under other frameworks, while WTO's primary agendas remain unresolved. Third, we 
should be mindful and ensure that discussions on these issues under the WTO would not disrupt the 
carefully balanced commitments ac hieved under other international fora, such as in the UNFCCC.  
6.222.   Indonesia understands the views to consider environment factor as part of consideration in 
the implementation of trade measures. However, we would like to underline that such measures 
should res pect the basic principles of "Common But Differentiated Responsibilities " and "respective 
capabilities ". 
6.223.   More importantly, trade measures related to environment and climate change must not be 
counter -productive with the goals of achieving the SDGs in all o f its three main pillars namely 
economic, environment, and social.  
6.224.   The representative of Thailand  delivered the following statement:  
6.225.   I would like to step in because we have a very constructive discussion today and I would like 
to share our preliminary view  based on the papers mentioned in this meeting today and what we 
see it would be beneficial to the CTE work in the upcoming MC13. We would like to also thank India, 
China, Colombia and EU for their submission and their presentations which we are still revi ewing 
and will provide feedback at a later stage.  
6.226.   In general, we welcome the idea to have the space for the discussions at the multilateral 
setting, taking into account emerging global environmental challenges that have a significant 
implications for Membe rs, trade and policy making. We also share the observation made by prior 
interventions that the proposals have some common aspects that are worth for Members' 
consideration and could be material used to prioriti ze the area of discussion, delve into details , and 
promote understanding, among others.  WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  6.227.   Lastly, we also agree that the CTE is the primary standing forum for Members to have a 
dialogue on the specific aspect on trade and environmental linkage. And we underscore the 
importance of the evidence -based ap proach to support our discussions, information sharing, 
thematic sessions, and collaboration with other WTO committees as well as the contribution from 
other informal dialogues or relevant stakeholder would be beneficial complements for improving the 
outpu t of the CTE. And lastly, we look forward to the discussion and are happy to engage in any 
form of the configurations.  
6.228.   The representative of Korea  delivered the following statement : 
6.229.   Like others, we would like to comment on agenda item 6.2 in general. We th ank all Members 
who have submitted proposals on this topic.  
6.230.   Given the fact that the United Arab Emirates will be hosting COP28 later this year and the 
MC-13 successively in February 2023, it will be timely to make joint efforts to achieve meaningful 
outco me in the area of environment -based on the 2021 Ministerial Statement and the MC12 Outcome 
Document.  
6.231.   We recognize that multilateral discussions on the impact for environmental measures are 
necessary as trade -related environmental measures are on the rise and may act as unnecessary 
barriers to trade. In this vein, we believe that we should revitali se the CTE to act as a standing forum 
for discussing trade -related environmental measures and that we should review utilizing existing 
fora to address this issue.   
6.232.   As for the follow -up actions to para 14 on the MC12 Outcome Document, we acknowledge 
that there have been active discussions on TrCMs among others, but we should also continue review 
on whether the CTE is playing a constructive role in the actual impleme ntation of each Members' 
environmental measures and conduct further in  depth discussions.  
6.233.   The representative of the United Kingdom  delivered the following statement : 
6.234.   For MC13 to be a success, it must have meaningful outcomes on the most important issue 
of our time: the existential threats of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution.  
6.235.   There are three broad categories of work that fall under this:  
i. Improving transparency in trade -related environmental measures, and improved 
deliberative functions to cre ate certainty for businesses and facilitate communication 
and informational sharing between the right decision -makers in the trade, finance, 
industry and environment space.  
ii. Converging around best practices and methodologies  – creative thinking is needed t o 
ensure that the emerging policy tools, which will be vital for achieving our green 
transition, are designed to be as consistent as possible, and in accordance with WTO 
rules. The WTO can play a role in convening the relevant experts and supporting and 
endorsing progress being made in other fora.  
iii. Using trade policy to advance environmental objectives – we should aim to explore 
what commitments we can make to remove barriers and facilitate the uptake of critical 
goods, services and technologies that we nee d for the low carbon and nature -positive 
transition. We know not all Members might be ready to participate immediately, but a 
group of willing Members could lead from the front in the hope that this will set a 
strong foundation that expands to include the whole WTO membership. We are 
open-minded about the sorts of commitments – voluntary or otherwise – that this 
might include.  
6.236.   Throughout, we need to ensure as a priority that developing country voices are adequately 
represented, and their unique needs addre ssed. This might involve looking more closely at climate 
adaptation and resilience or thinking more creatively about differentiated commitments, capacity 
building, or how aid for trade can be used for climate goals.  WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  6.237.   These are just some high -level ideas, but we look forward to further discussion with Members 
on what a good outcome at MC13 might look like.  
7  RELATIONS WITH INTERGOVERNMENTAL AND NON -GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS  
– CTE WORK PROGRAMME ITEM 10  
7.1  Convention on International Trade in Endan gered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora  
(CITES )  
7.1.  The representative of CITES  delivered the following statement:  
7.2.  CITES is an international agreement between 184 Parties (183 countries and one regional 
economic integration organization). It aims to ensure that  international trade in specimens of wild 
animals and plants does not threaten the survival of the species in the wild. The Convention was 
adopted in 1973 and entered into force in 1975.  Over 38,000 species of wild fauna and flora are 
included in one of th ree appendixes to the Convention (Appendix I, Appendix II or Appendix III).  
7.3.  The Conference of the Parties (C OP) is the ultimate decision -making body of CITES; it convenes 
every three years to review the implementation of the Convention and take decisions on:  
Amendments to Appendices I & II ; Resolutions (incl. budget and costed programme of work for the 
Secretariat) ; and Decisions (the decisions constitute the work programme of the Convention) . 
7.4.  The C OP makes every effort to decide by consensus. Wh en no consensus is emerging, the C OP 
moves to a vote: it requires two -thirds of Parties present and voting for a decision to pass.  
7.5.  The 19th meeting of the C OP (CoP19) was held in Panama City from 14 -25 November 2022. It 
was attended by 164 Parties and hund reds of observer organizations. The Conference adopted a 
total of 367 Decisions, 45 proposals to amend the Appendices and five new Resolutions.  
7.6.  The vast majority of the 52 proposals submitted to the Conference by 49 Parties aimed at 
increasing the protect ion of the species by including new species in Appendix II.  A total of about 
500 new species were included in Appendix II. This includes the following :  
• 104 species of sharks and rays ; requiem sharks (including blue shark) and hammerhead 
sharks ; freshwater  stingrays and guitar fishes ;  
• more than 150 species of trees:  African Mahogany ( Khaya spp.), African rosewood 
(Pterocarpus spp.) and Afzelia (African populations) ; Trumpet trees ( Tabebuia) and Dipteryx ; 
• 160 species of amphibians, including  tropical frogs ;  
• 50 species  of reptiles ; and  
• 1 bird species: white -rumped shama . 
7.7.  The new listings entered into force on 23 February 2023 except for Dipteryx  spp and Trumpet 
trees ( Handroanthus  spp. Roseodendron  spp. Tabebuia  spp.); for these species it was agreed that 
the entry into force will be delayed until 25 November 2024.  The Appendices as revised by the 
Conference  of the Parties are available on the CITES website.3 
Decisions of relevance to the WTO  
7.8.  The CoP also adopted a wide range of decisions4, which are directed the work of the Convention 
bodies, the Secretariat and the Parties in the intersessional period until CoP20 in 2025 : 
• Decision 19.30 -31 on the World Wildlife Trade report: At CoP19, the Secretariat and  a number 
of partners, including the WTO released the first ever report on Wildlife Trade. The Conference 
requested the Standing Committee to consider the value of a regular World Wildlife Trade 
Report – and options for the collection of data.  
• Decisions 19 .150-152 on Electronic systems and information technologies: Continue work with 
UN/CEFACT, UNCTAD, UNECE, ITC, the World Bank, WCO, WTO, IPPC, and other relevant 
 
3 https://cites.org/eng/app/app endices.php   
4 All valid Decisions are available h ere: https://cites.org/eng/dec/index.php  WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  partners on standards and implementation of electronic licen cing or permitting systems, 
includ ing the use of two -dimensional barcodes.  
• Decisions 18.31 – 18.35 (Rev. CoP19): The Standing Committee is requested to consider how 
to effectively engage Indigenous People and Local Communities in CITES processes. Parties 
are requested to collect/develop c ase studies on sustainable use of CITES listed species 
(livelihoods)  
• Decisions 19. 15- 19.19: Role of CITES in reducing risk of future zoonotic disease emergence 
associated with international wildlife trade: Gather information on measures and identify 
oppor tunities for additional practical collaboration.  
• Decisions 19.158 -159: Transport of live specimens: Promote the use of the International Air 
Transport Association (IATA) Live Animals and Perishable Goods Regulations.  
7.9.  The online Introductory Course to CITE S has been updated after the 19th meeting of the 
Conference of the Parties and is available on the InforMEA website.5 The n ext meeting  of the 
Conference of the Parties (CoP20) will take place in 2025; the venue will be decided by the CITES 
Standing Commit tee. 
7.2  United Nations Economic Commission for Europe  (UNECE ) 
7.10.  The representative of UNECE  delivered  the following statement:  
7.11.  Let me start by thanking the Committee on behalf of the Economic Cooperation and Trade 
Division of the UNECE and its Director, Ms. Elisabeth Türk, for insightful discussions during the last 
two days and, given the limited time, I would like to use this opp ortunity to only briefly share some 
details on the upcoming UNECE 's activities of relevance to the WTO C TE.  
7.12.  There is little doubt that in a world of increasingly scarce resources, moving toward 
sustainable practices and, most notably circular economy has become a new imperative. Recognizing 
this, and following the 69th UNECE Commission session, the UNECE, already since 2021, has been 
taking steps to integrate circular economy aspects in the scope of its relevant activity streams, which 
include:  
i. sustainable  and innovation -enhancing procurement;  
ii. financing for the circular economy transition;  
iii. traceability of value chains;  
iv. reducing food loss and waste; and  
v. standards and regulatory frameworks, more specifically, through the UNECE 's 
analytical work under the fl agship Studies on Regulatory and Procedural Barriers to 
Trade.  
7.13.  Taking the green agenda further, UNECE Member States decided that a cross cutting  theme 
of the upcoming 70th session of UNECE, which will take place already next month, on 18 -19 April 
2023, wil l be on 'Digital and green transformations for sustainable development in the UNECE 
region '. 
7.14.  As part of the Commission 's Session, the  Economic Cooperation and Trade Division will 
contribute to the discussion on how digital tools may be used to support the green transformation 
and enhance trust and transparency.  
7.15.  Furthermore, ahead of this main Commission session, UNECE is also hosting virtual side 
events from 3 to 5 April 2023. Three thematic areas will be explored during these three days, which 
include prom oting circularity through transparency in value chains, leveraging digital solutions for 
the circular economy, and ways of developing 'future -proof' circular norms and conventions. We look 
forward to seeing many of you at these events.  
 
5 https://elearning.informea.org/  WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  7.16.  As it has been itera ted many times during this event, countries pursue a range of different 
policy and regulatory approaches to meet shared environmental goals. This has put international 
trade before a double challenge of promoting higher environmental ambition while at the same time 
minimizing unnecessary or unfair barriers to trade. UNECE has been actively elaborating on means 
of how to ensure that green regulations do not turn into market access barriers for their Member 
States and, in particular, transition and developing  economies, which remain the most vulnerable. 
UNECE is doing so by integrating green and circular economy dimensions into its Studies on 
Regulatory and Procedural barriers to trade.  
7.17.  In this context, I am delighted to invite you to the UNECE Steering Commi ttee on Trade and 
Capacity and Standards (SCTCS) which will take place on 26th and 27th June, where we, together 
with our high  level speakers and Member States, will discuss the topic of circular economy, also in 
the context the non -tariff trade measures, and other topical issues in depth.  
7.18.  Let me conclude by once again thanking the C TE for its vital contribution in support of a global 
trading system that protects and preserves the environment and promotes a circular economy.  
7.19.  As I said, the switch to sustainable trade practices is a new global imperative. My plea to you, 
therefore, is to  continue with your strong leadership in promoting and facilitating trade that supports 
environmental objectives, including the circular economy transition, and sustainable supply chains, 
while recognizing the social and economic needs of the more vulnerab le. This combination of 
environmental, social and economic considerations is at the core of the United Nations Sustainable 
Development Goals, SDGs, and at UNECE we look forward to working on this important agenda 
together.  
7.3  United Nations Environment Progr amme (UNEP ) 
7.20.  The representative of UNEP  delivered  the following statement:  
7.21.  First, UNEP will start a project spanning from 2023 to 2027 working with three beneficiary 
countries in Latin America and the Caribbean region: Brazil, Costa Rica and Colombia or Arg entina, 
on repurposing agricultural subsidies to finance NbS for sustainable recovery . The project will provide 
technical assistance, analytical guidance, and support the capacity of target countries to implement 
policies geared towards scaling up finance for nature through the use of public finance instruments, 
with a focus on agricultural subsidies reform, contributing to strengthening the enabling policy 
environment for more sustainable, inclusive and resilient food, forest and land -use systems . 
7.22.  The appr oach will be shaped around two main types of activities:  The first approach is the 
development of national toolkits, analysing  existing fiscal environment and financial tools for 
financing nature -based solutions (NbS), and identifying actionable and contex tualized priority reform 
plans to accelerate the alignment of the fiscal policy environment and green finance instruments 
with targets for nature -based solutions across food, forest and land -use systems. The toolkits will 
be developed in close collaboratio n with national stakeholders and disseminated to targeted decision -
makers. Spatial prioritization tools will be used to identify areas that can support multiple benefits 
for people and nature and ensure more targeted impact .  
7.23.  The second approach is technic al workshops with relevant stakeholders on the use of public 
finance for NbS at national level, and of policy dialogues at regional level, building on existing 
networks and coalitions to facilitate country dialogue and sharing of good practices, guidance, and 
tools.  
7.24.  The expected impact in the target countries include the following: a reduction in potentially 
environmentally harmful elements of government support to agriculture ; and an increase in finance 
from public and private sources invested in protecti ng and restoring nature.  
7.25.  The first regional consultation will be in collaboration with the International Trade Cen tre, 
focused on promoting a nature -positive trade for sustainable agricultural supply chains.  
7.26.  The consultation will take place on 27 -28 of M arch in Sao Paulo, Brazil and online, and will 
convene stakeholders from public sector, private sector – smallholders, MSMEs, trading 
cooperatives, commodity associations, policymakers, civil society, research and financial WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  institutions  – to discuss priori ties, challenges and opportunities in the region, and together produce 
recommendations for actionable solutions towards a sustainable, fair and inclusive nature -positive 
trade that supports countries to: achieve sustainable and resilient agricultural suppl y chains ; 
facilitate a market access that is inclusive of all stakeholders ; and a dvance national plans for 
sustainable socio economic  development.  
7.27.  The second update is UNEP 's partnership in the Trade, Development and Environment Hub 
project, which is funded by the UK Global Challenges Research Fund. The project aims to promote 
policy solutions that promote the trade of agricultural commodities supportive of biodiversity and 
sustainable socio economic  development. As part of this, in 2023 UNEP will host three regional 
stakeholders consultations, one in Asia, in Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean.  
7.28.  The next regional stakeholders consultation will be in Africa, hosted in Yaoundé, Cameroon 
on 17 and 18 May in hybrid format; and the third consultation will be in Asia in Q3 of this year.  
7.29.  In the context of this project, this week UNEP published a policy paper produced in 
collaboration with the Forum on Trade, Development and the SDGs (TESS), which seeks to present 
synergies between sustainable trade, biodiversity and development, with the WTO 's multilateral 
trade framework as its backdrop. Key insights of  this paper were presented yesterday at the 
roundtable hosted by WTO and UNEP, with the participation of the Secretariat of the Convention of 
Biological Diversity (CBD).  
7.30.  UNEP and the WTO have a strong partnership on environment and trade, which can bring our 
respective constituencies together to build collaboration between trade, environment, and 
sustainable development.  
7.31.  We look forward to continuing our partnership with the WTO and to supporting Members with 
environmental science, data, and outcomes from  UNEP 's initiatives and work to move these 
important agendas forward.  
7.4  Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm (BRS) Convention s  
7.32.  The representative of the BRS Secretariat  delivered  the following statement:  
7.33.  Thank you for providing us an opportunity to brief the C TE on some of the developments 
under the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Convention which have impacts on international trade 
and international trade measures.  
7.34.  First of all, under the Basel Convention, following the 2019 amendments on plastic waste and 
the 2 022 amendments on electronic and electrical waste which will enter into force in 2025, the 
implementation of these amendments by Parties is now in full swing. The amendments have direct 
impacts on transboundary movements of these two waste streams making t hem more transparent 
and predictable. The concrete impact of the amendments is that the competent authorities to the 
Basel Conventions are involved in the national decision -making process for the import, transit and 
export of the wastes. This serves to pro tect countries that are not in a position to manage imported 
wastes in an environmentally sound manner and provides the legal basis for preventing and 
combatting illegal traffic. Some of the efforts to support Parties with the implementation of the 
amendme nts include the updating of legislation and training customs. The Secretariat is planning to 
raise awareness and support Parties to prepare for the entry into force of the e -waste amendments 
with the generous support by the Government of Switzerland . 
7.35.  Also under the Basel Convention, there is ongoing work related to electronic approaches to 
the notification and movement documents going to the heart of the Prior Informed Consent 
Procedure. A report with recommendations was developed while Parties and stakehol ders have been 
encouraged to implement pilot projects on electronic approaches to the notification and movement 
documents, taking into account the experiences and the work carried out by international 
organizations and others . 
7.36.  This work had now been comple mented by a new track of work to improve the functioning of 
the Prior Informed Consent procedure which serves as a backbone of the trade control regime under 
the Basel Convention. So far, the Secretariat has collected information from Parties and observers  WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  on challenges in the implementation of the prior informed consent procedure and on best practices, 
possible approaches, initiatives and views to improve the functioning of the procedure. The upcoming 
Conference of the Parties will consider how to take thi s work forward, and it can be expected that a 
small intersessional working group would be established.   
7.37.  A few more updates related to plastic wastes:  
• The technical guidelines on the environmentally sound management of plastic wastes are 
being updated. Par ties are working hard to advance with work its prior to the COP under the 
leadership of Governments of China, Japan and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and 
Northern  Ireland.  
• The Secretariat submitted to WCO for consideration by HS Review Committee a p roposal for 
amendments to HS for plastic waste alongside with waste mineral oils unfit and waste/articles 
containing PCBs, PCNs, PBB and waste pneumatic tyres.  
• As part of its technical assistance and capacity building the Secretariat runs several 
programme s and projects thanks to the financial support from the governments of Canada, 
France, Germany, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland, the European Union, 
the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation and the Norwegian Retailers Environment  
Fund. This includes 16 projects being implemented by the Basel and Stockholm Convention 
regional centres under the Small Grants Programme on plastic waste, projects implemented 
by the Secretariat in cooperation with the governments of Ghana, Sri Lanka, Ma lawi and 
Zimbabwe, and activities on plastic waste in remote and mountainous areas. Various new 
projects are being prepared, covering Cambodia, Lesotho, Mauritius, Nepal, North Macedonia, 
Peru, Rwanda and Zambia.  
• The Partnership on Plastic Waste continues  its work aiming to improve and promote the 
environmentally sound management of plastic waste at the global, regional and national levels 
as well as prevent and minimize their generation so as to reduce significantly and, in the long  
term, eliminate the di scharge of plastic waste and microplastics into the environment, in 
particular the marine environment. On the issue of trade and transboundary movements, the 
partnership has been looking into the relevant customs codes on plastics and plastic waste 
and the ir relation to the amendments and into collecting information on actions taken by 
countries to implement the amendments and on their interpretation (e. g. "almost free from 
contamination ") and challenges experienced in their implementation. Moreover, 16 pi lot 
projects are being launched under the Plastic Waste Partnership.  
• Finally, the Secretariat has been participating in the Intergovernmental Negotiating 
Committee developing a new treaty on plastics as requested by Parties. There is a need to 
ensure that  the international legally binding instrument is fully coherent with and 
complementary to the Basel, Rotterdam and the Stockholm conventions, that it avoids the 
duplication of actions set out in the relevant provisions of those conventions, and that it 
promotes cooperation and coordination with those conventions.  
7.38.  Now, on the work related to chemicals, Parties to the Stockholm Convention will consider 
three new candidate POPs for listing in Annex A of the Convention: methoxychlor, dechlorane plus, 
and UV -328 in the upcoming COP. With UV -328, this will be the first time the Conference of the 
Parties will consider listing a non -halogenated compound heralding a whole new scope of the 
Convention. UV -328 is widely used as an additive in plastic products.  
7.39.  Parties to the Rotterdam Convention will consider listing in Annex III two new chemicals, 
namely , iprodione and terbufos , both under the pesticide category. The Parties will also have in front 
of them recommendations for listing five chemicals that were already co nsidered by the previous 
meetings of the Conference of the Parties. Very importantly, the Parties to the Rotterdam Convention 
will consider proposals to amend the Convention, including a new proposal on how to proceed with 
chemicals recommended by the Chem ical Review Committee for listing, for which the Conference of 
the Parties cannot reach consensus on listing.  WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  7.40.  It is important to note that listing chemicals under the annexes of the Rotterdam and 
Stockholm conventions does not mean that their international  trade is banned, however specific 
trade control procedures will apply in order to better protect human health and the environment.  
7.41.  The issues mentioned above will, among others, be addressed by the upcoming meetings of 
Conferences of the Parties taking p lace in Geneva from 1 to 12 May. The Regional Preparatory 
meetings taking place in Thailand, Senegal, Panama and Croatia between this week and the end of 
March will give regions the possibility to consult each other in advance of the COPs.  
7.42.  Finally, subjec t to the final confirmation in upcoming dates, the WTO -UNCTRAD in cooperation 
with the Secretariat would lead a side -event on plastic waste amendments at the COPs.  
8  OTHER BUSINESS   
8.1  Comments by India on the request for Observer status from the  International Solar 
Allianc e (ISA)6  
8.1.  The representative of India delivered  the following statement:  
8.2.  The International Solar Alliance (ISA) has communicated its intent to seek an observer status 
in the C TE. My delegation speaks in support of this request.  
8.3.  Through its letter of October 2022, the International Solar Alliance  communicated that it  is an 
international intergovernmental  organization having  114 Signatories  of its Framework Agreement  
including  92 full-fledged Members. The ISA aims to mobilize USD 1 trillion investment in solar by 
the year 2030. ISA works with and in its Member countries, in areas of programmatic support, 
capacity building and analytics and advocacy.  
8.4.  The ISA was conceived as a joint effort by India and France to mobilize efforts against climate 
change through deployment of solar energy solutions. It was conceptualized on the side -lines of the 
21st Conference of Parties (COP21) to the United Nations Fra mework Convention on Climate Change 
(UNFCCC) held in Paris in 2015. With the amendment of its Framework Agreement in 2020, all 
Member States of the United Nations are now eligible to join the ISA.  
8.5.  The ISA is working in an area which can immensely benefit t he world in reducing greenhouse 
gas emissions. This gain from ISA's initiatives will automatically be reflected in Trade as well.  
8.6.  In just a few years of its formation, ISA initiatives like scaling solar applications for agriculture 
use, scaling solar mini -grids, rooftops, e -mobility and storage, solarizing heating and cooling 
systems and solar for waste management and green hydrogen are already being discussed with 
various Members. There has also been specific country focus in these activities. For example , during 
2019 before the pandemic,  the ISA secretariat concluded country missions to eight countries: Benin, 
DR Congo, Guinea, Malawi, Mali, Niger, Togo, and Uganda to strengthen the 'buy-in' for ISA 's 
programmes and to understand the ground level challeng es and issues.   
8.7.  By having an observer status to the CTE, the ISA will benefit from the deliberations of the CTE 
as well as by engaging with the WTO Members. The observer status will enable ISA with improved 
visibility on both resource mobilization and prog ram design.  
8.8.  We seek the support of the CTE in welcoming an Environment -focused, action -oriented, 
collaborative platform to the WTO.  
8.2  Briefing by Kenya on the Coalition of Trade Ministers for Climate  
8.9.  The representative of Kenya , on behalf of the Coalition of Trade Ministers for Climate , delivered  
the following statement:  
8.10.  On 19 January 2023, the Coalition of Trade Ministers on Climate was launched at an inaugural 
meeting held on the margins of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos. Led by Ecuador , the 
 
6 See document WT/CTE/COM/17 . WT/CTE/M/7 7 
 
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  European Union, Kenya and New Zealand, the Coalition brings together 56 Ministers from a diversity 
of countries from all regions and levels of development to provide high  level leadership and guidance 
on the nexus of climate, trade, and sustainable d evelopment.  
8.11.  Ministers that were present or represented highlighted the importance of the Coalition to 
explore new and innovative approaches for cooperation and collective action by providing a space, 
at the political level, to discuss and coordinate effort s to tackle climate challenges through trade 
policy. They also reiterated their attachment to the key principles of inclusivity and diversity 
enshrined in the launch statement.  
8.12.  The Ministerial segment of the launch was followed by stakeholder roundtable, which brought 
together the co -leads and Members of the Coalition for an exchange with representatives of 
international organizations, business, NGOs, and academia. All speakers present warmly welcomed 
the Coalition as an excellent and timely initiative.  
8.13.  We have prepared a summary of the launch, which we will share with the Secretariat for 
circulation to all Members. On behalf of the Members of the Coalition, I take this opportunity to invite 
all the other WTO Members to join the coalition.  
9  DATE OF THE NEXT  MEETING AND CHAIRMANSHIP CHANGE  
9.1.  The next meeting of the CTE is scheduled to take place during the week of 12 June 2023 
back-to-back with the WTO Trade and Environment Week.  
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  ANNEX 1: ITEMS OF THE CTE WORK PROGRAMME (1994)  
Item 1:  The relationship between the provisions of the multilateral trading system and trade 
measures for environmental purposes, including those pursuant to multilateral 
environmental agreements.  
Item 2:  The relationship between environmental policies relevant to tra de and environmental 
measures with significant trade effects and the provisions of the multilateral trading 
system.  
Item 3(a):  The relationship between the provisions of the multilateral trading system and 
charges and taxes for environmental purposes.  
Item 3(b): The relationship between the provisions of the multilateral trading system and 
requirements for environmental purposes relating to products, including standards 
and technical regulations, packaging, labelling and recycling.  
Item 4:  The provisions of  the multilateral trading system with respect to the transparency of 
trade measures used for environmental purposes and environmental measures and 
requirements which have significant trade effects.  
Item 5:  The relationship between the dispute settlement mechanisms in the multilateral 
trading system and those found in multilateral environmental agreements.  
Item 6:  The effect of environmental measures on market access, especially in relation to 
developing countries, in particular to the least dev eloped among them, and 
environmental benefits of removing trade restrictions and distortions.  
Item 7:  The issue of exports of domestically prohibited goods.  
Item 8:  The relevant provisions of the Agreement on Trade -related  Aspects of Intellectual 
Property Rights.  
Item 9:  The work programme envisaged in the Decision on Trade in Services and the 
Environment.  
Item 10:  Input to the relevant bodies in respect of appropriate arrangements for relations 
with intergovernmental and non -governmental organizations refe rred to in Article  V 
of the WTO.  
 
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  ANNEX 2: DOHA MINISTERIAL DECLARATION PARAGRAPHS  
32. We instruct the C TE, in pursuing work on all items on its agenda within its current terms of 
reference, to give particular attention to:  
 
(i) the effec t of environmental measures on market access, especially in relation to 
developing countries, in particular the least  developed among them, and those situations in 
which the elimination or reduction of trade restrictions and distortions would benefit trade , 
the environment and development;  
 
(ii) the relevant provisions of the Agreement on Trade -Related Aspects of Intellectual 
Property Rights; and  
 
(iii) labelling requirements for environmental purposes.  
 
Work on these issues should include the identificatio n of any need to clarify relevant WTO rules. The 
Committee shall report to the Fifth Session of the Ministerial Conference, and make 
recommendations, where appropriate, with respect to future action, including the desirability of 
negotiations. The outcome of this work as well as the negotiations carried out under paragraph  31 
(i) and  (ii) shall be compatible with the open and non -discriminatory nature of the multilateral 
trading system, shall not add to or diminish the rights and obligations of Members unde r existing 
WTO agreements, in particular the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary 
Measures, nor alter the balance of these rights and obligations, and will take into account the needs 
of developing and least  developed countries.  
 
33. We recogni ze the importance of technical assistance and capacity building in the field of trade 
and environment to developing countries, in particular the least  developed among them. We also 
encourage that expertise and experience be shared with Member s wishing to perform environmental 
reviews at the national level. A report shall be prepared on these activities for the Fifth Session.  
 
51. The Committee on Trade and Development and the C TE shall, within their respective mandates, 
each act as a forum to identify and debate developmental and environmental aspects of the 
negotiations, in order to help achieve the objective of having sustainable development appropriately 
reflected.  
 
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