WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION   
WT/CTE/EDB/9 
6 November 2012 
 (12-6141) 
Committee on Trade and Environment  
  
 
ENVIRONMENTAL DATABASE FOR 2009 
 
Note by the Secretariat 
  
This document has been prepa red under the Secretariat's own 
responsibility and without prejudice to the positions of Members 
and to their rights and obligations under the WTO.  
 
 
1. The WTO Environmental Database (EDB) for 2009 covers information on: (i) national 
environment-related measures or provisions of Re gional Trade Agreements (RTAs), notified in 2009 
under relevant WTO Agreements (Sections I and II);  (ii) national environment-related measures or 
programmes, mentioned in Trade Policy Review s (TPRs) carried out in 2009 (Section III).1   
2. In order to facilitate usage of EDB informati on,  the EDB is now being circulated in two 
parts: this document, in Word-format, which contai ns a brief description and overall analysis of the 
environment-related notifications and TPRs;  and document WT/CTE/EDB/9/Add.1, exclusively 
circulated in electronic format, which provi des the underlying data used for analysis.2   
3. EDB electronic data in WT/CTE/EDB/9/Add.1 enables users to search through all EDB 
environment-related information according to specifi c criteria, for instance by Member, agreement, 
type of measure, product, activity, or environmental objective.  The electronic file is divided into two 
main worksheets:  "Notifications", listing all th e environment-related notifications; and "TPRs", 
providing the environment-related information mentioned in TPRs.  In addition, a third worksheet 
entitled "Summary" is included to allow users to re trieve pre-defined summary tables and graphs.  
 
                                                      
1 To recall, the EDB was a recommendation in the 1996 Report of the Committee on Trade and 
Environment (CTE) to the Singapore Ministerial Conferen ce for the Secretariat to compile and update annually 
all environment-related notifications to the WTO (see WT/CTE/1) and was established in 1998 (see 
WT/CTE/3).  The list of search words is contained in A nnex II to this document; the list of abbreviations is 
contained in Annex V.  See also the following documents containing information on search words: 
WT/CTE/W/46, WT/CTE/W/78 and WT/CTE/W/102. 
Previous Environmental Databases have been circulated in the following documents: EDB 1996 in 
WT/CTE/W/46, EDB 1997 in WT/CTE/W/77, EDB 1998 in WT/CTE/W/118, EDB 1999 in WT/CTE/W/143, 
EDB 2000 in WT/CTE/W/195, EDB 2001 in WT/CTE/ EDB/1, EDB 2002 in WT/CTE/EDB/2, EDB 2003 in 
WT/CTE/EDB/3, EDB 2004 in WT/CTE/EDB/4, EDB 2005 in WT/CTE/EDB/5, EDB 2006 in WT/CTE/EDB/6, EDB 2007 in WT/CTE/EDB/ 7 and EDB 2008 in WT/CTE/EDB/8.   
2 Annex VI provides the electronic EDB user's guide.  WT/CTE/EDB/9 
 Page i 
 
 
  TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
I.  NOTIFICATIONS OF NATIONAL MEASURES ................................................................ 1  
A.  REGULATORY MEASURES  ........................................................................................................... 4  
1.  Quantitative Restrictions Provisions (QRs) ............................................................................ 4  
2.  Agreement on Import Lice nsing Procedures (ILP) ............................................................... 6  
3.  Agreement on Technical Ba rriers to Trade (TBT) ................................................................ 8  
4.  Agreement on the Application of Sanita ry and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) ............... 11  
B.  SUPPORT MEASURES  ................................................................................................................. 13  
1.  Agreement on Subsidies and Co untervailing Measures (SCM) ......................................... 13  
2.  Agreement on Agriculture ..................................................................................................... 15 
3.  Plurilateral Agreement on Government Procurement ........................................................ 17  
C.  OTHER MEASURES  .................................................................................................................... 18  
1.  Agreement on Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) ............... 18  
II.  NOTIFICATIONS OF TRADE AGREEMENTS ............................................................... 18  
1.  Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs) including the Understanding on the 
Interpretation of Article XXIV of the GATT 1994 .............................................................. 18  
2.  Committee on Trade a nd Development ................................................................................ 19  
III. INFORMATION CONTAI NED IN TRADE POLICY REVIEWS ................................... 20  
ANNEX I: ENVIRONMENT -RELATED NOTIFICATIONS (1997-2009) ........................................................ 22  
ANNEX II: ENVIRONMENT -RELATED SEARCH WORDS  .......................................................................... 23  
ANNEX III: SEARCH WORD FREQUENCY IN NOTIFICATIONS  ................................................................. 24  
ANNEX IV: SEARCH WORDS FREQUENCY IN TPR S ............................................................................... 25  
ANNEX V: ABBREVIATIONS  ................................................................................................................... 26  
ANNEX VI: ELECTRONIC EDB  USER'S GUIDE  ....................................................................................... 27  
 
    WT/CTE/EDB/9 
 Page 1 
 
 
  I. NOTIFICATIONS OF NATIONAL MEASURES 
1. This document provides an overall description and analysis of the notifications under relevant 
WTO Agreements of measures whose objective is rela ted to the environment.  These notifications 
were compiled as the result of a search on 3,321 documents submitted by Members in 2009 under the 
following WTO Agreements:  Agreement on Technical  Barriers to Trade (TBT); Agreement on the 
Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS); Agreement on Subsidies and 
Countervailing Measures (SCM); Agreement on Agriculture; Agreement on Anti-Dumping; 
Agreement on Import Licensing Procedures (ILP); Agreement on Safeguards; Agreement on Customs 
Valuation;  GATT Article XVII on State Trading Enterprises;  Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs), including the Understanding on the Interpretation of  Article XXIV of the GATT 1994;  Agreement on 
Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Righ ts (TRIPS);  the General Agreement on Trade in 
Services (GATS); Decision on Notification Procedures for Quantitative Restrictions (QRs);  Agreement on Trade-Related Investment Measures (TRIMs);  Understanding on the Balance-of-Payments 
Provisions of the GATT 1994 (BoP);  Agreement on Pr eshipment Inspection;  Agreement on Rules of 
Origin;  Agreement on Government Procurement (G PA);  Information Technology Agreement (ITA);  
and other notifications such as measures to the Committee on Trade and Development (CTD).   
2. Environment-related notifications can be broa dly grouped into two categories.  The first 
consists of notifications that lis t environmental protection as the principal objective of the notified 
measure.  The second category includes notifications that are not primarily aimed at environmental 
protection, but contain environment-related elements.  For instance, regional trade agreements notified may include a specific environmental provision.   In such cases, reference is made only to the 
environmental objective of the provision.  The notif ications may, and genera lly do, contain broader 
objectives.  
3. In 2009, of the 3,321 notifications submitted
3, 14.5 per cent were environment-related 
(475 environment-related notifications covering a total of 841 environmen t-related measures).  
Although there has been a substantial increase in the number of notifications of environment-related 
measures to the WTO (from 165 notifications in 1997 to 481 notifications in 2009), their share has 
remained relatively stable over the last four year s (13 to 15 per cent).  The average for 1997-2009 is 
11.2 per cent and 281 notif ications (see Annex I). 
                                                      
3 This number includes regular notifications, as we ll as addenda, corrigenda and revisions, except for 
TBT and SPS (regular) notifications. WT/CTE/EDB/9 
Page 2  
 
  Chart 1:  Share and Number of Enviro nment-related Notifications (1997 – 2009) 
 
 
4. In 2009, under the following WTO Agreem ents provisions, no environment-related 
notifications were made: Agreement on the impl ementation of Article VI of the GATT 1994 on 
Anti-dumping, Agreement on Safeguards, Custom s Valuation Agreement, GATT Article XVII on 
State Trading Enterprises, Understanding on the Ba lance-of-Payments Provisions of the GATT, 
Agreement on Preshipment Inspection, Agreement on Rules of Origin, GATS, Agreement on Trade-
Related Investment Measures and the Information Technology Agreement. 
Chart 2:   Number of environment-related Notificatio ns in Selected Agreements (1997-2009) 
 
 
  WT/CTE/EDB/9 
 Page 3 
 
 
  5. As in previous years, the TBT and SPS Agreem ents had the highest number of environment-
related notifications (274 and 81 notifications  respectively), accounting for 57 and 17 per cent 
respectively of all WTO environment -related notifications in 2009.   
Chart 3:   Environment-related Notifications by Agreement (2009) 
  
6. In 2009, environment-related notifications  were predominantly submitted under the 
Agreement on Government Procurement (62 per cen t), Agreement on ILP (28 per cent), Quantitative 
Restrictions provisions (25 per cent) and to the Committee on Trade and Development (25 per cent). 
Chart 4:   Share of Environment-related Notifica tions in Selected Agreements (2009) 
  
 WT/CTE/EDB/9 
Page 4  
 
  7. Sixty-nine Members made notifications of en vironment-related measures in 2009, with the 
European Union (71 notifications), the United States  (43), China (41), Canada (23) and Japan (19) 
leading the way.  
8. The search words with the highest frequency associated with the 475 environment-related 
notifications are:  "environment" (found in 62 pe r cent of all environment-related notifications), 
"energy" (24 per cent), "bio" (19 per cent) and "c onserv(ation)" (15 per cent) (See Annex III on the 
search word frequency in notifications). 
A. R
EGULATORY MEASURES  
1. Quantitative Restrictions Provisions (QRs) 
9. In 2009, of the eight notifications submitted pur suant to the Decision of the Council for Trade 
in Goods on Notification Procedures for Quantitative Restrictions, two contained environment-related 
issues (25 per cent), covering 14 e nvironment-related measures.   
Chart 5:   Environment-related QRs Notifications (1997 – 2009) 
 
 
10. Chemicals were identified in 50 per cent of all environment-related measures described in the 
QRs notifications.  Other produc ts covered by the environmen t-related QRs measures included 
vegetable products (21 per cent), animal and animal products (14 per cent), wood and wood products 
(14 per cent), motor vehicles (14 per cent), minera l products (7 per cent) and waste (7 per cent). 
11. Import licenses were mentioned in 43 per cent of all the 2009 envi ronment-related QRs 
measures.  Other types of measures included ba n/prohibition (36 per cent) and export licenses 
(29 per cent). 
  WT/CTE/EDB/9 
 Page 5 
 
 
  Chart 6:   Types of Environment-related QRs Notifications (2009)4 
 
 
                                                      
4 Since more than one product/measure/objective can be mentioned in a notification, the total number 
may exceed 100 per cent. WT/CTE/EDB/9 
Page 6  
 
  12. Compliance with obligations under Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs), such as 
the Convention on International Tr ade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), 
Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (Montreal Protocol), Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (S tockholm Convention), Rotterdam Convention on the 
Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Haza rdous Chemicals and Pest icides in International 
Trade (Rotterdam Convention) a nd Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of 
Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal (Basel Conve ntion), were mentioned in 64 per cent of all 
environment-related notified QRs measures.  Other environmental objectives included plant 
protection (36 per cent), animal protection (21 pe r cent), environmental protection from pests and 
diseases (21 per cent), biodiversity conservation ( 21 per cent), ozone layer protection (21 per cent) 
and air pollution reduction (21 per cent) as well as energy conservation (14 per cent), chemical 
management (14 per cent) and waste management (14 per cent). 
2. Agreement on Import Licensing Procedures (ILP) 
13. In 2009, of the 82 notifications
5 submitted by Members under the ILP Agreement, 
23 (28 per cent) were environment-related.  These 23  notifications referred to 40 environment-related 
measures.6  
Chart 7:   Environment-related ILP Notifications (1997 – 2009) 
 
 
 
                                                      
5 This number includes regular notifications as well as addenda, corrigenda and revisions. 
6 Most ILP notifications contain more than one measure.  WT/CTE/EDB/9 
 Page 7 
 
 
  Chart 8:   Types of Environment-related ILP Notifications (2009)7 
 
                                                      
7 Since more than one product/measure/objective can be mentioned in a notification, the total number 
may exceed 100 per cent. WT/CTE/EDB/9 
Page 8  
 
  14. Chemicals, such as ozone depleting substances and nuclear substances, were mentioned in 
58 per cent of all environment-related measures desc ribed in the ILP notifications.  Other products 
covered by the environment-related ILP measures in cluded animal and animal products (43 per cent), 
vegetable products (43 per cent), wood and wood products (43 per cent) and waste (20 per cent). 
15. All the 2009 environment-related ILP measure s relate to permits, automatic and non-
automatic import licenses.  In addition, 10 per cent of those notified measures also included export 
licenses. 
16. Compliance with obligations under MEAs, su ch as CITES, Montreal Protocol, Stockholm 
Convention, Rotterdam Conventio n, Basel Convention, and the International Plant Protection 
Convention (IPPC), was stated as the environmental objective of 80 per cent of the environment-
related ILP measures.   Other environment-related objectives included the conservation of biodiversity 
(48 per cent), ozone layer protection (45 per cent), animal and plant protection (43 per cent), as well 
as chemical and hazardous substances management (28 per cent). 
17. Developing countries notified 78 per cent of the environment-related I LP notifications, while 
18 per cent were made by developed countries, and four per cent by least-developed countries. 
3. Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) 
18. In 2009, among the 1,490 regular notifications
8 submitted by Members under Articles 2 and 5 
of the TBT Agreement, 274 (18.4 per cent) cited envi ronment as an objective of the notified technical 
regulation or conformity assessment procedure.  
19. Over the years, the number of TBT environment-related notifications have progressively risen 
(from 35 notifications in 1991 to 274 in 2009, i.e. from  7.9 per cent in 1991 to 18.4 per cent in 2009).  
During 1991-2009, on average, 13.3 per cent of all TBT notifications were environment-related.  
20. Eighty-eight per cent of the 2009 environmen t-related TBT measures were notified as 
technical regulation under Article 2 of the TBT Agreement, while six per cent were notified as 
conformity assessment procedures under Article 5.  The remaining six per cent were simultaneously 
notified as both technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures. 
 
 
                                                      
8 This number only includes regular notifications and excludes addenda, corrigenda and revisions.    WT/CTE/EDB/9 
 Page 9 
 
 
  Chart 9:   Environment-related TBT Notifications (1991-2009)9 
 
 
21. The products most frequently associated with th e 2009 environment-rela ted TBT notifications 
were machinery and electrical apparatus (for exam ple, electrical conductors, refrigerators, air-
conditioners, washing machines, heaters and boilers ).  They were found in 35 per cent of the 2009 
environment-related notifications, and were followed by chemical products including volatile organic 
compounds and waste (30 per cent);  mineral products including gas, oil, and bio-fuels (8 per cent);  
manufactured articles such as lamps and luminaries (7  per cent); animal and animal products such as 
wildlife species, living modified organisms and or ganic products (6 per cent) and motor vehicles 
(6 per cent).   
22. These environment-related TBT measures were mainly technical/quality specifications (found 
in 62 per cent of the environment-related TBT not ifications), conformity assessment procedures 
(39 per cent), performance/efficiency specifications  (27 per cent), and labelling/packaging/marking 
requirements (24 per cent).  Other measures included handling/transportation/storage/distribution 
requirements (10 per cent), ban/prohibition (8 per cen t) and harmonization specifications (7 per cent). 
23. Management of chemical, toxic and hazardous s ubstances were mentioned in 33 per cent of 
the environment-related notifications, and energy co nservation and efficiency in 30 per cent.  Other 
environmental objectives included water management  (19 per cent), soil management (16 per cent), 
biodiversity protection (15 per cent), plant protecti on (12 per cent), animal protection (11 per cent), 
air pollution reduction (10 per cent), the promotion of  alternative and renewable energy (9 per cent), 
and climate change mitigation (8 per cent).   
24. The 2009 environment-related TBT notificati ons were made by both developing and 
developed countries (63 per cent and 36 per cent, r espectively), with China (40 notifications), the 
European Union (32) and the United States (31), leading the way, followed by Kenya (16) and 
Tanzania (16).  
                                                      
9 Any discrepancy with figures from previous EDBs are due to the fact that addenda, corrigenda and 
revisions are not included here. WT/CTE/EDB/9 
Page 10  
 
  Chart 10:   Types of Environment-related TBT Notifications (2009)
10 
 
 
                                                      
10 Since more than one product/meas ure/objective can be mentioned in a notification, the total number 
may exceed 100 per cent.  WT/CTE/EDB/9 
 Page 11 
 
 
  4. Agreement on the Application of Sani tary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) 
25. In 2009, 81 regular notifications11 were made under the SPS Agreement.12  In 2009, 
11 per cent of all SPS notifications (81 no tifications) were environment-related. 
Chart 11:   Environment-related SPS No tifications (1997-2009)13 
 
 
26. Vegetable products (for example, nursery stocks of plant species, fruits, seeds and living 
modified organisms) were mentioned in 47 per cent of the 2009 environment-related 
SPS notifications.  Other products included animal and animal products (including wild birds and 
eggs and live fish) found in 38 per cent of the no tifications, wood and wood  products (20 per cent), 
fertilizers (7 per cent) and chemicals (6 per cent). 
27. These environment-related SPS measures were ma inly technical/quality specifications (found 
in 35 per cent of the environment-related SPS notifica tions), risk analysis and toxicological evaluation 
procedures (32 per cent), handling/transportation/ storage specification (30 per cent), movement 
control (20 per cent) and labelling/packaging/marki ng requirements (19 per cent).  Other forms of 
SPS measures included import licenses (14 per cent), ban/prohibition (14 per cent), conformity assessment procedures (7 per cent) and registration requirements (6 per cent).   
28. Plant and animal protection were menti oned in 60 per cent and 47 per cent of the 
environment-related SPS notifications, respectiv ely.  Other environmental objectives included 
preserving the environment from pests and diseases (including the outbreak of Avian Influenza) 
(found in 48 per cent of the notifications), the implementation and compliance with MEAs in particular the IPPC (48 per cent), biodiversity co nservation (19 per cent), and chemical, toxic and 
hazardous substances management (7 per cent).   
                                                      
11 This number includes only regular notifications and excludes addenda, corrigenda and revisions . 
12 Although SPS measures deal with the safety and protection of human, animal and plant health, not 
all of them have been included in this document.  For instance, notifications of measures dealing with pests 
pertinent to the protection of agricultural crops or farm animals have been excluded; yet they have been included if they pertain to the protection of "territory" or the wild-environment or plants in general. 
13 Any discrepancy with figures from previous EDBs are due to the fact that addenda, corrigenda and 
revisions are not included here. WT/CTE/EDB/9 
Page 12  
 
  Chart 12:   Types of Environment-related SPS Notifications (2009)
 14 
 
 
                                                      
14 Since more than one product/meas ure/objective can be mentioned in a notification, the total number 
may exceed 100 per cent.  WT/CTE/EDB/9 
 Page 13 
 
 
  29. Out of the 81 SPS environment-related notificati ons made in 2009, 62 per cent were made by 
developing countries.  New Zealand (13 notifications), Australia (9), Albania (5), Brazil (5), Korea (5) 
and the United States (5) were the countries which made the most environment-related 
SPS notifications. 
B. SUPPORT MEASURES  
1. Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (SCM) 
30. In 2009, of the 181 notifications15 submitted by Members under the SCM Agreement, 
40 (approximately 22.1 per cent) were environm ent-related (covering a total of 253 environment-
related measures).16  During 1997-2009, the number of environm ent-related SCM notifications varied, 
ranging from 5 to 40 notifications, with an aver age of 25 notifications per year, representing 
17.2 per cent of all SCM notifications. 
Chart 13:   Environment-related SCM Notifications (1997 -2009) 
 
 
31. In 2009, 27 per cent of all the measures me ntioned in the environment-related SCM 
notifications concerned the energy sector.  Ot her specific activities identified included R&D 
(21 per cent), fisheries and aquaculture (12 pe r cent), manufacturing (11 per cent), agriculture 
(10 per cent), public administration (11 per cent) and forestry (9 per cent). 
32. The notified measures mainly took the form of grants and direct payments (found in 
66 per cent of all the environment-related SCM me asures).  Other forms of support included tax 
concessions (23 per cent), loans (16 per cent)  and non-monetary support (4 per cent).  
                                                      
15 This number includes regular notifications as well as addenda, corrigenda and revisions. 
16 Most SCM notifications contain more than one measure. WT/CTE/EDB/9 
Page 14  
 
  Chart 14:   Types of Environment-related SCM Notifications (2009)
17 
                                                      
17 Since more than one product/meas ure/objective can be mentioned in a notification, the total number 
may exceed 100 per cent.  WT/CTE/EDB/9 
 Page 15 
 
 
   
33. The promotion of alternative and renewable en ergy, and energy conservation and efficiency 
were frequently mentioned as objectives in th e 2009 environment-related SCM notifications 
(36 per cent and 19 per cent of all the environmen t-related SCM measures, respectively).  Other 
environment-related objectives cited included c limate change mitigation (17 per cent), water 
management (15 per cent), sustainable fisherie s management (13 per cent), soil management 
(13 per cent), waste management (12 per cent), air pollution reduction (10 per cent), sustainable 
agriculture (9 per cent), chemical management (9 per cent), biodiversity conservation (7 per cent), and 
environmental friendly production (4 per cent).  
34. In 2009, 80 per cent of the environment-relate d SCM notifications were  made by developed 
countries, with 20 per cent made by developing countries. 
2. Agreement on Agriculture 
35. In 2009, of the 210 notifications18 submitted by Members under the Agreement on 
Agriculture, 36 (17.1 per cent) were environmen t-related and covered 140  environment-related 
measures.19   
36. Eighty-one per cent of the environment-rela ted measures were notified as Green Box 
measures, while 14 per cent were notified pursuant to Article 18.3 on new domestic support measures 
or modification of an existing measure.  The remaining 6 per cent of the environment-related 
agriculture measures were notified under Article  16 on bilateral assistance projects for Least-
Developed Net Food-Importing Countries.   
Chart 15:   Environment-related Agriculture Notifications (1997 -2009) 
 
 
                                                      
18 This number includes regular notifications as well as addenda, corrigenda and revisions. 
19 Most notifications under the Agreement on Agriculture cont ain more than one measure. WT/CTE/EDB/9 
Page 16  
 
  Chart 16:   Types of Environment-related Agriculture Notifications (2009)
20 
                                                      
20 Since more than one product/meas ure/objective can be mentioned in a notification, the total number 
may exceed 100 per cent.  WT/CTE/EDB/9 
 Page 17 
 
 
   
37. In addition to the agriculture sector, found in 98 per cent of all the environment-related 
notifications, a number of other activities, incl uding R&D (14 per cent), forestry (4 per cent) and 
fisheries (1 per cent), were also referred to. 
38. Non-monetary support, such as research, infrastructural services, training and advisory 
services, was found in 29 per cent of these environm ent-related measures.  Other types of domestic 
support included grants and direct payments (20 per cent) and loans (11 per cent). 
39. Soil management was mentioned in 51 per cent of all environment-related measures notified 
under the Agreement on Agriculture in 2009.  Other objectives included the promotion of sustainable 
agriculture management (41 per cent), conservation of water (37 per cent), promotion of biodiversity 
and ecosystem (24 per cent), conservation of natu ral resources (16 per cent) and the protection of 
plants (6 per cent) and animals (4 per cent). 
40. In 2009, developed countries notified 67 per cent of the environment-related notifications 
under the Agreement on Agriculture, while 33 per cen t were made by developing countries.  The 
European Union notified the most environmental -related notifications under the Agreement on 
Agriculture (10 notifications), followed by the Unite d States (4), South Africa (3) and Australia (3).  
3. Plurilateral Agreement on Government Procurement 
41. In 2009, of the 29 notifications21 submitted under the Agreement on Government 
Procurement, 18 (62.1 per cent) were environmen t-related, containing 16 environment-related 
measures relating to public pr ocurement statistics on environm ental goods and services and two 
measures relating to legislation promoting cont racts for the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) 
emissions.  
Chart 17:   Environment-related GPA Notifications (1997-2009)  
 
 
 
 
                                                      
21 This number includes regular notifications as well as addenda, corrigenda and revisions. WT/CTE/EDB/9 
Page 18  
 
  C. O
THER MEASURES  
1. Agreement on Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) 
42. In 2009, of the 84 notifications submitted by Members under Article 63.2 of the TRIPS 
Agreement, two (2.4 per cent) contained environm ent-related provisions, c overing four environment-
related measures.22   
43. All 2009 environment-related TRIPS measures were  related to legisla tion on patents and non-
patentability of plant and animal varieties for the pr oduction of plants or animals in order to protect 
animal, plant and biodiversity. 
Chart 18:   Environment-related TRIPS Notifications (1997 – 2009) 
 
 
 
II. NOTIFICATIONS OF TRADE AGREEMENTS 
1. Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs) including  the Understanding on the Interpretation 
of Article XXIV of the GATT 1994 
44. In 2009, of the 30 notifications23 submitted under the RTAs Agreement, four (13.3 per cent) 
mentioned an environment-related topic.24   
45. The sectors most frequently mentioned in the 200 9 environment-related RTA notifications are 
agriculture, fisheries and forestry (in three notifi cations), while the energy sector was mentioned in 
one notification.   
46. Out of the three environment-related notifie d RTAs, one involved developing countries and 
the remaining two involved both de veloped and developing countries. 
                                                      
22 Most TRIPS notifications contain more than one measure. 
23 This number includes regular notifications as well as addenda, corrigenda and revisions. 
24 The statistics only reflects keywords used in the text  of the notification.  Therefore, it is not excluded 
that additional notified RTAs contain environment-related provisions.  WT/CTE/EDB/9 
 Page 19 
 
 
  Chart 19:   Environment-related RTAs Notifications (1997-2009) 
 
 
2. Committee on Trade and Development 
47. In 2009, of the four notifications made to the Committee on Trade and Development, one was 
environment-related.  The measur e referred to the Generalized System of Preferences, among other 
objectives, to facilitate the implementation of multilateral/bilateral envi ronmental conventions. 
Chart 20:   Environment-related Other Notifi cation Provisions (1997-2009)  
 
 WT/CTE/EDB/9 
Page 20  
 
  III. INFORMATION CONTAINED IN TRADE POLICY REVIEWS 
48. The EDB refers to environment-related measu res, provisions or programmes contained in 
both Secretariat and government Trade Policy Revi ews (TPR) Reports.  The information has been 
summarized under the following three headings:  trade policy framework;  trade policies and 
practices; and trade policies by selected sector.  In general, trade policy framework includes 
government environmental policies, plans, programm es and investment policies.  Environment-related 
trade policies and practices include quantitative rest rictions (e.g. bans a nd prohibitions, import/export 
restrictions, quotas, controls, licenses and permits); technical requirements (e.g. standards, technical 
regulations and conformity assessment procedures); taxes, levies, subsidies and other government 
support.  The environment-related sectors include agriculture, industry, services, energy, fisheries, 
forestry, transport, mining and tourism.   
49. In 2009, 16 TPRs were carried out.
25  All included environment-related measures or 
programmes, representing 436 entries.26  The most frequently found search words were:  environment 
(48 per cent of the 436 entries), sustainable (22 per cent), energy (15 per cent), bio (9 per cent) and fish (9 per cent) (see Annex IV on TPR search word frequency).  
 
Chart 21:   Environment-related Measures, Provisions or Programmes in TPRs (2009) 
 
 
50. The most frequently reported environment -related measures were  import prohibitions, 
licensing and restrictions (41 per cent of all entr ies), export prohibitions, licensing and restrictions 
(25 per cent), technical regulati ons and standards (14 per cent). 
                                                      
25 TPRs of Brazil, Chile, European Union, Fiji, Georgia, Guatemala, Guyana, Japan, Maldives, 
Morocco, Mozambique, New Zealand, Niger and Senegal, South African Customs Union (SACU, members: 
Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa and Swaziland), Solomon Islands and Zambia.  
26 The number of environment-related Trade Policy Reviews entries corresponds to the number of 
times environment-related measures or programmes are mentioned in the Secretariat and government TPR 
Reports.  WT/CTE/EDB/9 
 Page 21 
 
 
  Chart 22:   Type of Environment-related Measures in TPRs (2009) 
 
 
 
 51. Regarding environment-related trade policies by selected sector, the most frequently 
mentioned sectors are energy (26 per cent of th e 436 environment-related information entries), 
followed by agriculture (18 per cent), fisheri es (14 per cent) and forestry (12 per cent).  
 
Chart 23:   Sectors with Environment-related Measures in TPRs (2009) 
 
  WT/CTE/EDB/9 
Page 22  
ANNEX I: ENVIRONMENT -RELATED NOTIFICATIONS27 (1997-2009) 
GATT 1994 and 
WTO Agreements 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 
TBT  89(795) 98(648) 83(671) 97(610) 67(539) 114(582) 100(794) 107(638) 121(771) 155(874) 168(1032) 238(1265) 274(1490) 
SPS  8(286) 21(296) 12(402) 26(402) 25(621) 47(610) 50(687) 57(612) 105(1298) 140(901) 98(849) 84(889) 81(737) 
SCM  16(136) 32(133) 27(126) 38(160) 24(159) 31(177) 34(171) 13(122) 27(168) 8(97) 33(164) 5(99) 40(181) 
Agriculture 20(237) 22(216) 27(195) 40(228) 40(242) 32(197) 34(173) 29(157) 25(148) 24(126) 32(119) 24(137) 36(210) 
Anti-Dumping 4(109) 1(133) 3(133) 0(127) 0(134) 1(166) 2(155) 3(134) 0(127) 0(112) 0(118) 0(134) 0(157) 
ILP 13(51) 20(63) 10(68) 21(77) 7(55) 13(96) 16(57) 12(40) 20(45) 19(62) 13(65) 20(51) 23(82) 
Safeguards 0(42) 1(47) 0(99) 1(110) 1(137) 1(170) 1(147) 3(75) 1(80) 0(86) 0(59) 0(73) 0(171) 
Customs Valuation 0(9) 1(14) 1(15) 3(36) 1(41) 1(41) 0(11) 0(17) 1(13) 0(1) (9) 0(12) 0(6) 
State Trading 0(37) 2(36) 0(50) 0(50) 1(56) 5(58) 3(38) 0(43) 1(12) 1(37) 0(20) 1(24) 0(29) 
RTAs  6(55) 8(74) 14(75) 8(56) 10(64) 0(41) 0(56) 0(70) 0(63) 0(30) 0(25) 4(37) 4(30) 
TRIPS 0(172) 1(106) 3(69) 5(333) 6(236) 16(225) 5(147) 7(251) 2(59) 2(38) 3(72) 7(139) 2(84) 
GATS 0(24) 1(25) 0(21) 0(25) 0(46) 7(43) 0(41) 4(52) 1(53) 1(29) 0(41) 0(49) 0(68) 
QRs 5(15) 3(11) 2(13) 5(18) 2(10) 4(14) 2(8) 7(10) 1(6) 2(8) 3(6) 4(12) 2(8) 
TRIMs  0(18) 0(22) 0(12) 0(10) 0(2) 0(29) 0(13) 0(12) 0(14) 0(14) 0(13) 0(9) 0(21) 
BoP Provisions  1(23) 0(11) 0(7) 0(9) 0(7) 0(4) 0(0) 0(1) 0(1) 0(0) 0(1) 0(0) 0(9) 
Preship. Inspection 0(2) 0(1) 0(1) 0(0) 0(1) 0(0) 0(0) 0(1) 0(0) 0(0) 0(0) 0(1) 0(0) 
Rules of Origin 0(4) 0(6) 0(3) 0(4) 0(6) 0(4) 0(4) 0(3) 0(2) 0(1) 0(7) 0(4) 0(5) 
GPA 2(7) 0(14) 0(9) 0(19) 2(14) 9(21) 0(8) 1(11) 5(11) 4(10) 3(8) 8(14) 18(29) 
Info. Technology  0(0) 0(18) 0(0) 0(0) 0(0) 0(0) 0(0) 0(0) 0(0) 0(0) 0(0) 0(0) 0(0) 
Other notification 
provisions 1(5) 0(5) 0(3) 1(8) 0(6) 0(4) 0(3) 1(7) 1(3) 1(2) 0(5) 0(8) 0(4) 
Total environment-
related notifications 165 211 182 245 186 281 247 244 311 357 353 395 481 
Total notifications 2027 1879 1972 2282 2376 2482 2513 2256 2874 2428 2613 2957 3321 
Percentage of 
environment-related 
notifications  8.1 11.2 9.2 10.7 7.8 11.3 9.8 10.8 10.8 14.7 13.5 13.4 14.5 
 
                                                      
27 The total number of notifications, including addenda, corrigenda and revisions (except for TBT and SPS notifications), made un der each relevant WTO Agreement is 
provided in parenthesis. WT/CTE/EDB/9 
 Page 23 
 
 
  ANNEX II: ENVIRONMENT -RELATED SEARCH WORDS  
 
Basel Convention HCFCs  
Bio Indigenous  Carbon Kyoto Protocol 
Cartagena  Modified organism  
CFCs  Marking CITES  Montreal Protocol Clean Natural resources Climate Novel  
Conserv(ation) Organic  
Desertification Ozone Diversity Package(ing) Eco-label  Pollution Ecology Preservation 
Emissions Preserve 
Endangered Recycle Energy Renewable Environment Saving  Extinct   (Soil) erosion Fauna Species 
Fish  Sustainable 
Flora Toxic Forest Tree Genetic  Waste GHGs  Wildlife  
Green (house) Wood 
Hazardous  
 WT/CTE/EDB/9 
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  A
NNEX III: SEARCH WORD FREQUENCY IN NOTIFICATIONS  
 WT/CTE/EDB/9 
 Page 25 
 
 
  ANNEX IV: SEARCH WORDS FREQUENCY IN TPR S 
 WT/CTE/EDB/9 
Page 26  
 
   
A
NNEX V: ABBREVIATIONS  
 
Basel Convention  Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of 
Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal 
 
Cartagena Protocol  Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety to the Convention on Biological 
Diversity 
CFCs  Chlorofluorocarbons 
CITES  Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild 
Fauna and Flora  
GHG 
 Greenhouse Gas 
HCFCs  Hydro Chloro Fluoro Carbons 
IPPC  International Plant Protection Convention 
Kyoto Protocol  Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on 
Climate Change 
 
MEAs  Multilateral environmental agreements 
Montreal Protocol  Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer 
R&D  Research and development 
Stockholm Convention  Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants 
SPS  Sanitary and phytosanitary 
Rotterdam Convention  Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for 
Certain Hazardous Chemicals and P esticides in International Trade 
 
TBT  Technical Barriers to Trade 
TPR  Trade Policy Review 
 
  WT/CTE/EDB/9 
 Page 27 
 
 
  ANNEX VI: ELECTRONIC EDB  USER'S GUIDE  
I. W HAT INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE IN THE ELECTRONIC EDB? 
1. The electronic EDB compiles all environment-re lated notifications made under the various 
WTO Agreements and environment-related measur es/activities reported in the TPRs in an Excel 
Workbook.  It allows users to search through the EDB environment-related in formation according to 
specific criteria, for instance by Member, agreem ent, type of measure, product, activity, or 
environmental objective.   
2. The Excel Workbook is divided into two main worksheets:  "Notifications", listing all the 
environment-related notifications; and "TPRs", providing the environment-related information 
mentioned in TPRs.  In addition, a third worksheet  entitled "Summary" is included to allow users to 
retrieve pre-defined summary tables and graphs. 
A. "N OTIFICATIONS " WORKSHEET  
3. The "Notifications" worksheet displays the following information: 
 Agreement:  the WTO Agreement being notified; 
 Document symbol:  the symbol of the notification document (when available); 
 Document link:  the Web link to the notification document through WTO Documents 
Online website ( http://docsonline.wto.org/ );   
 Notifying Member:  the Member notifying the environment-related measure; 
 Region group:  the region of the notifying Member; 
 Development status:  the development status of the notifying Member; 
 Year:  the year of notification; 
 Notification pursuant to:  the provisions of  the relevant Agreement under which the 
notification is made; 
 Measure description:  a description of the measure as indicated in the notification; 
 Type of measure:  the type of measure stated in the notification; 
 Subject to the measure:  products/activ ities subject to the notified measure; 
 ICS - HS code:  ICS or HS classification of  the relevant products (when available); 
 Implementation period:  the impl ementation period or date of the entry into force of the 
notified measure; 
 Environment-related objective:  the environm ent-related objective of the measure;  and  
 Keywords:  the environment-related keywor d search included in the notification (see 
Annex II). WT/CTE/EDB/9 
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4. Three harmonized categories have also  been created to facilitate research: 
 Category of environment-related objectives;  
 Category of measures; and 
 Category of products/activities. 
B. "TPR S" WORKSHEET  
5. The "TPRs" worksheet displays  the following information: 
 Type of TPR:  TPR reports prepared by either the Secretariat (S) or the Member (M); 
 Document symbol:  the symbol of the TPR document; 
 Document link:  the web link to the TPR document through WTO Documents Online 
website ( http://docsonline.wto.org/ );   
 Document reference:  the reference made to  the paragraph number "§" of the original 
TPR document; 
 Member:  the Member subject to the TPR; 
 Region group:  the region of the Member; 
 Development status:  the development status of the Member; 
 Year: the year of publication of the TPR; 
 Type of information:  the type of enviro nment-related information found in the TPR; 
 Type of measures or sectors:  the measure or sector associated with the environment-
related information; 
 Relevant information:  a description of th e environment-related measure, provision or 
programme; and 
 Keywords:  the keyword search include d in the TPR reports (See Annex II). 
C. "S UMMARY " WORKSHEET  
6. The "Summary" worksheet provides pre-define d information and graphs on environment-
related notifications to each WTO Agreement and measures mentioned in TPRs.   WT/CTE/EDB/9 
 Page 29 
 
 
  II. HOW TO USE THE ELECTRONIC EDB? 
7. The Excel Workbook allows searches through all the variables mentioned above by using the 
filter function.  Users can, by clicking on the right -bottom arrow icon of the heading of the selected 
variable, either select the information on a drop-down list (see left Figure 2) or type in the relevant 
information (see right Figure 2). 
Figure 1: Search function 
 
8. Multiple criteria search is also possible, for instance, to search all notifications made by a 
given country or region/developmen t status group with a specific environment-related objective or a 
specific type of measure.  
9. For example, retrieving all TBT notifications that contain performance/efficiency 
specification measures to promote energy conserva tion and efficiency, can be done as follows:  
1. select the "Notifications" spreadsheet; 
2. select the TBT Agreement in the column "Agr eement" by clicking on the bottom-right 
arrow icon and typing "TBT" in the search box; 
3. select the type of measure in the column "Category of type of measure" by clicking on 
the bottom-right arrow icon of the heading and typing "performance/efficiency specification" in the search box; 
4. select the type of measure in the column "Category of environment-related objective" by 
clicking on the bottom-right arrow icon of th e heading and typing "energy conservation 
and efficiency" in the search box. WT/CTE/EDB/9 
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10. After the search, to go back to th e full database, it is important to follow the reverse order of 
the selection:   
1. click on the bottom-right arrow icon of the heading of the variable "Category of 
environment-related objective" and select the "Select All" box; 
2. click on the bottom-right arrow icon of the head ing of the variable "Category of type of 
measure " and select the "Select All" box;  and  
3. click on the bottom-right arrow icon  of the heading of the variable "Agreement" and 
select the "Select All" tick box. 
11. Once the data is selected through the filter, the user can print the records by hiding the 
variables of no interest (select the column, right-clic k and select "hide" option).  In addition, the user 
can apply the scaling option available with the printe r to fit all the selected columns on one page.  
 
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