INF/TE/IDP/R/5  
 
10 May  2022 
(22-3650) Page: 1/5 
 Original: English  
 
INFORMAL DIALOGUE ON PLASTIC S POLLUTION AND ENVIRONMENTALLY  
SUSTAINABLE PLASTIC S TRADE  
MEETING HELD ON 30 MARCH  2022 
Informal summary by the Coordinators1 
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1. The first plenary meeting of the Informal Dialogue on Plastics Pollution and Environmentally 
Sustainable Plastics Trade (IDP) planned for 2022 was held on 30 March 2022. The meeting was 
chaired by Ambassador  Valencia from Ecuador.  The agenda for the meetin g was contained in WTO 
document INF/TE/IDP/CN/4/Rev.1 , circulated on 25 March  2022. All WTO Members were invited to 
attend the meeting.  
2. The m eeting covered an update on the 18 March  2022 IDP Workstreams meeting , technical 
presentations from invited stakeholders , delegations' key priorities for implementation of the IDP 
Ministerial Statement , and domestic and regional trade -related policies and experiences to tackle 
plastic pollution.  
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS FROM THE COORDINATORS  
3. On behalf of the Coordinators, Ambassador Jose Valencia recalled IDP's commitment to 
contribute to tackling plastic pollution through trade and highlighted the importance of including and 
benefiting from the expertise of relevant stakeholders. He welcomed Bolivia, the Maldives, and 
Angola who had recently joined the dialogue. The Ambassador highlighted the  importance of the 
recently adopted United Nations Environment Assembly  (UNEA ) 5.2 resolution l aunching 
negotiations on a legally binding global agreement to combat  plastic pollution . He further n oted that  
part of IDP's work w ould focus on identifying avenues through which  WTO c ould contribute to the 
global response to plastic pollution . He underscored that coordinated national, regional and 
multilateral action would enable the effective control of  plastic pollution.  
4. Ambassador Li Chenggang (China) highlighted the progress made by IDP since the beginning 
of 2022 which included the enlargement of its membership, the adoption of a workplan as well the 
organization of workshops and discussions to draw up a plan for the next steps. He recalled that 
strengthen ing trade-related capacity building and technical assistance to support least developing 
countries (LDCs) and Small Islands Developing States (SIDS) was central to IDP's Ministerial 
Statement and wor k. He underscored that WTO had to play an important  role in identifying how 
trade and trade policies c ould help address critical global challenges  such as plastic pollution . 
5. Ambassador George Mina (Australia) underscored two recent developments related to global 
action on plastic pollution which included the IDP Ministerial Statement co-sponsored by 70 Members 
and the UNEA  5.2 resolution launching negotiations for a legally bi nding plastics treaty. He noted 
the need for collaborative action with other stakeholders and stressed the importance of enhancing 
 
1 This summary, prepared and circulated under the Coordinators'  responsibility, is being shared with a 
view to providing delegations with a record of the discussions and assisting them in reporting back to their 
capitals. It provides a non -exhaustive, illustrative review of the issues addressed by Members at the meeti ng. 
The voluntary Coordinators were Australia, Barbados, China, Ecuador, Fiji and Morocco . INF/TE/IDP/R/5  
 
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  transparency regarding plastics flows, identifying best practices as well as barriers to dissemination 
of green alternatives to plastics.  
6. WTO Deputy  Director -General  Xiangchen  Zhang  noted that it would be up to WTO Members 
to come up with concrete proposals and solutions to implement the ambitious Ministerial Statement . 
He added  that science -based, factual, and accurate information on the role of trade in addressing 
plastics pollution would be required to advance the ambition laid  by the statement. DDG Zhang  
emphasized the importance of keeping an open, focused, and transparent dialogu e and encouraged 
Members to continue to work closely with and report to the Committee on Trade and Environment  
(CTE) . Finally, he  underscored that  IDP co -sponsors needed to  ensure trade, trade policy and the 
WTO were equally well understood and appreciated  in the UNEA process.  
UPDATE ON 18 MARCH WORKSTREAMS MEETING  
7. Australia provided a brief on discussions held at the 18 March IDP Workstreams meeting, 
which was co -chaired by the United Kingdom, the Philippines and Colombia (IDP facilitators of each 
workstre am). Australia recalled the three workstreams and their respective facilitators which 
included workstreams on  cross-cutting issues – facilitated by Fiji, the UK and China; on promoting 
trade to tackle plastic pollution – facilitated by Australia and the Philippines; and on circularity and 
reduction to tackle plastic pollution – facilitated by Colombia and Ecuador. Australia highlighted a 
few issues raised at the meeting, inclu ding a call for collaboration with UNEA  5.2 process; a call to 
address the full lifecycle of plastics including upstream production to downstream processes such as 
recycling and waste management and to collaborate further with other international organizat ions 
such as the  Basel, Rotterdam , and  Stockholm (BRS) Conventions, the Organization for Economic 
Cooperatio n and Development (OECD) and the World Customs Organization (WCO) ; a call to look at 
circular economy approaches to the problem of plastic pollution ; the importance of enhancing 
transparency concerning plastics trade flows and national policies and practices to address plastic 
pollution; and the need to support  developing Members , including through Aid for Trade initiatives. 
An Aide -Memoire by the facilitators on the key takeaways and technical information provided by 
stakeholders was prepared and circulated before the plenary meeting ( INF/TE/IDP/RD/29 ) and was 
available online on the IDP website2, along with all presentations.  
8. Several participating Members took the floor to  respond to the brief and to  express their 
positions on the Ukrainian conflict.  
TECHNICAL SEGMENT: HOW TRADE AND TRADE POLICIES CAN CONTRIBUTE TO 
TACKLING PLASTIC POLLUTION – OUR WORK AHEAD  
9. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) made a presentation on the UNEA  5.2 
process an d the launch of negotiations on a global agreement on plastic pollution. The UNEA  5 
resolution established an  Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) which would work from 
the second half of 2022 to 2024 on forging a legally binding global agreement to end plastic pollution , 
including in the marine environment , addressing the full lifecycle of plastics, including its production, 
design, and disposal. UNEP would convene an ad hoc open -ended working group (OEWG) in 
May/June  2022 to prepare for the work of the INC. UNEP underscored that IDP's Ministerial 
Statement had sent an important political message and called for the continuation of this effort. 
UNEP encouraged IDP to share best practices and lessons learned in the UNEA  5.2 negotiating 
process.3 
10. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development  (UNCTAD) made a brief recap of 
some proposals and ideas already presented in the workstream s meeting on 18 March. UNCTAD 
briefed delegations  about its work on plastics trade flows, plastics substitutes an d the need to include 
trade-related aspects in the UNEA process . UNCTAD suggested some recommendations for the 4th 
Oceans Forum (6-8 April) , which included, inter alia : advocacy  to accelerate the adoption of the 
treaty on ending plastic pollution; collaboration, sharing of information, knowledge and best 
practices to eliminate plastic pollution; research, development, and adoption of material substitutes 
to single -use plastics ; exploration of opportunities to make use of natural materials, marine 
byproducts and post -harvest agricultural waste; development of the Harmonized System (HS), in 
special classifications relevant to material substitutes; incentives to eliminate plastics, i ncluding by 
 
2 Availa ble at : https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/ppesp_e/ppesp_e.htm . 
3 See INF/TE/IDP/RD/33 . INF/TE/IDP/R/5  
 
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  addressing the tariff rates applied to plastic and substitute materials to facilitate the trade of less 
polluting substitute materials.4 
11. The Forum on Trade, Environment and the SDGs (TESS)  presented suggestions for IDP 
workstreams looking at h ow trade and trade policies could contribute to tackling plastic pollution. 
TESS highlighted the need to boost capacity building in developing Members  through, among others, 
the Aid for Trade initiative, and to explore options for amendments to the HS clas sification to address 
information gaps related to plastic pollution. TESS noted that WTO was uniquely positioned to 
provide a forum for Members  to support and add value to existing efforts by working together on 
the trade dimensions of upstream and downstream efforts needed to reduce plastic pollution and 
promote greater sustainability  as well as boost partnerships between the WTO and existing 
international organi zations, such as UNEP and  the Basel Convention .5 
12. The WTO Secretariat  briefed delegation s on the upcoming Aid for Trade review taking place in 
July 2022 under the theme "Empowering  Connected,  Sustainable Trade ", noting there would be 
opportunities for side  events and engagement with the process . He informed participants that 
applications  for side events would need to be sent  by end of April or early May and submissions by 
groups of Members would be prioritized. A questionnaire looking at how Aid  for Trade priorities had 
changed over time revealed that there was greater attenti on to environmental issues in sustainable 
development strategies, both by developing members  and donors.  
OPEN DISCUSSION (WITH GUIDING QUESTIONS) AND INTERVENTIONS FROM OTHER 
DELEGATIONS AND STAKEHOLDERS  
13. A number of Members made statements to address the g uiding questions6 to identify key 
priorities for the implementation of the IDP Ministerial Statement. Generally, participating Members 
identified as a key priority the need to foster mutually complementary relations between the IDP 
and other international  organizations  and processes . They highlighted the need for the IDP to support 
the recently launched negotiations on a global agreement on plastic pollution under the UNEA  5.2 
process to ensure that its trade -related aspects were well addressed.  
14. Several pa rticipating Members identified issues in which the IDP could contribute to addressing 
plastic pollution which included enhancing transparency for national and regional initiatives to tackle 
plastics pollution  (potentially by way of a survey) , addressing tr ade-related capacity building and 
technical assistance needs, in particular, that of LDCs and SIDS,  facilitating access to key 
technologies,  identifying circular economy solutions for plastics  (in particular regarding single -use 
plastics)  and trade barrier s, positive and negative incentives  for environmentally sustainable and 
effective substitutes and alternatives to plastics. Furthermore, several participating Members noted 
that IDP's work needed to contribute a regulatory framework and policy levers to ot her ongoing 
international actions, such as the H S codes reforms at the World Customs Organization and the 
Basel Convention Plastic Waste Amendments.  
15. Some participating Members  indicated the role of the private sector in addressing the 
challenge and the nee d to involve them in the process. Some other delegations  pointed to the broad 
scope for the WTO's Aid for Trade initiative — through its Global Review and joint workshops — and 
the IDP to work together in tackling financing issues and technology gaps. One participating Member 
suggested that IDP could explore the effects of fossil fuels subsidies (FFS) on plastics. Several  
participating Members underscored the need for IDP to create synergies with other initiatives such 
as Trade and Environmental Sustainabil ity Structured Discussions  (TESSD), which was considering 
approaches for liberalizing  environmental goods and services  – which could include plastics based 
on inputs from the IDP – and where discussions on circular economy and FFS were also taking place. 
The Fossil Fuel Subsidy Reform (FFSR) initiative was also raised as a source of relevant input.  
 
4 See INF/TE/IDP/RD/32 . 
5 See INF/TE/IDP/RD/31 . 
6 The guiding questions for the meeting are included below. Additional guiding questions were provided 
as an annex to the agenda of the meeting ( INF/TE/IDP/CN/4/Rev.1 ). Answers will inform work going forward.  
What are the key priorities for the implementation of the IDP Ministerial Statement? How can the IDP 
implement these priorities? What tools can the IDP utilise and what actions can the IDP take to implement the 
Ministerial Statement?  INF/TE/IDP/R/5  
 
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  16. The Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) noted that the WTO was one of t he 
only international organizations with binding rules to regulate subsidies and an analysis on plastic s 
subsidies  would be more than pertinent to contribute to the UNEA process without prejudging its 
outcomes. CIEL called on the IDP, in collaboration with  inhouse initiatives, to examine this aspect, 
preferably in the format of a report related to the transparency workstream, which was an important 
element for the phase -out of fossil fuel subsidies.7 
 NATIONAL AND REGIONAL TRADE -RELATED ACTIONS AND POLICIE S TO TACKLE 
PLASTIC POLLUTION  
17. Several participating delegations  shared  their experience with national and regional trade -
related actions and policies, including trade -related challenges and opportunities.  
18. The Philippines briefed delegations on recent natio nal efforts to address plastic pollution and 
the main challenges faced. Under the  Philippines' law , environmentally unacceptable products should 
not be prohibited unless there were alternatives available to consumers at no more than ten percent 
greater cos t than the disposable product. It was thus very challenging to identify solutions  that met 
this legal  requirement. The Philippines was currently in the final stage of adopting a law on Extended 
Producers Responsibility (EPR) requiring  producers to implemen t and fund an EPR programme. The 
law set an implementation schedule and targets , as well as incentives and penalty provisions. The 
Philippines was promoting  mechanical recycling of plastic waste, using flexible plastic waste as filler 
material for plastic products and construction materials , as well as mixed plastic waste for road 
asphalt and plastic lumber. There were other opportunities for plastic waste processing such as 
waste to fuel or energy recovery and chemical recycling  under examination . 
19. The European Union presented on a set of  EU policies  to move from a linear to a circular 
economy. Several products would be banned from the EU  market , including , among others,  plastic 
cutlery , plates  and straws , food and beverage containers made of expande d polystyrene  whose 
content is  intended for immediate consumption , oxo-degradable plastic s and  cotton bud sticks made 
of plastic.  There would be a binding target of at least 25% of recycled plastic for PET beverage 
bottles by 2025, and 30% from  2030. There  were also requirements concerning marking and 
extended producer responsibility for several single -use products containing plastics. Several 
measures would specifically target microplastics, including working towards a general ban on their 
use in cosmetics , detergents, paints and other products. Work was underway to better understand 
biodegradable, compostable and bio -based plastics. Finally, there were measures to increase 
recycling content  of certain products  with an aim  to achieve  10 million  tons of recycled plastics in 
new products  in the EU market  by 2025.  
20. The Russian Federation briefed delegations on a legislative initiative to address secondary 
resources  that directly dealt with plastic pollution . The Russian government aimed to adopt a new 
concep t of producer  responsibility for goods and packaging many of which were made of plastic. The 
Russian Federation was also developing a regulation prohibiting the use of single -use dishes and 
goods of colourful plastics , which would  come into force in 2023.  
21. Canada shared its experience with respect to a  proposed ban on single -use plastics . The 
proposed ban i nvolved  many industry stakeholders but also other levels of government within 
Canada to ensure the law align ed with all policy responses. In developing po licy responses to reduce 
plastic waste and pollution, Canada work ed with intergovernmental and intragovernmental partners 
and stakeholders.  Canada noted that i mproved dialogue at the regional and international level would 
facilitate sharing of information and data, cooperation with major stakeholders, and the development 
of best practices and guidance that could be applied by the government.  
22. The United States encouraged the IDP co -sponsors to consider approaches to facilitating trade 
in recyclable materials, including plastic scrap, to support a more circular economy. These products 
had inherent economic and commercial value and support ed greater resource efficiency and 
circularity, and they need ed trade policies that facilitate d rather than impede d their movement so 
that it allowed closing the loop and keeping these materials in the economy, out of landfills, and out 
of the oceans.  
 
7 See INF/TE/IDP/RD/30 . INF/TE/IDP/R/5  
 
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  23. Japan stated that it w ould enact a new meas ure in April 2022, which w ould address the full 
life cycle of plastics  from design to disposal. Japan would  develop and promote guidelines for design , 
set criteria for retailers and service providers to reduce single -use plastics  as well as  enhance 
recycli ng not only through municipalities but also manufacturers and retailers. At an international 
level, Japan had propose d the Osaka Blue Ocean vision which aim ed to reduce marine litter to zero 
by 2050.  
24. Australia introduced its national waste policy that w ould require all packaging to be recyclable 
or compostable by 2025. Australia noted that t rade in waste could result in leaking into the 
environment . One way Australia was responding to this was by banning the export of waste plastics 
and transforming plas tic recycling and reprocessing into new products through the Recycling 
Modernization Fund. The National Plastics Plan included a  range of commitments from governments, 
industries, and the community to increase recycling rates and reduce plastic pollution.  
CONCLUDING REMARKS  AND NEXT STEPS  
25. DDG Zhang provided conclud ing remarks  by summarizing  his four takeaways from th e 
meeting. First, WTO and the IDP needed to increase their outreach and be involved and contribute 
to the UNEA  5.2 negotiations by putting forw ard a "trade" perspective. Second, it was important for 
IDP to continue conducting analytical research, including on topics such as plastics value chain, 
plastics flow, and plastic  leakage. Third, IDP needed to take a holistic approach to get a clear 
messa ge from developing members  on how to put the issue of plastics in the framework of the 
Global Aid  for Trade review  and how to ensure financing opportunities and fill technological gaps . 
Finally , one of the challenges for IDP was the transformation from policy dialogue to practical  rules 
addressing issues such as  single -use plastics,  international standards and non-tariff measures 
(NTMs ), among others.  
26. Ecuador noted that t hree more IDP plenary meetings were tentatively scheduled for th e 
following dates: 24 May, 6 October, and 7 December 2022. Workstreams meetings would be 
organized, in general, about two weeks before each plenary.  
 
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