. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/CTE/14 
4 December 2007 
 
 (07-5360) 
  
  
 
REPORT (2007) OF THE COMMIT TEE ON TRADE AND ENVIRONMENT 
 
 
1. The Committee on Trade and Environment in Regul ar Session (CTE) held meetings in 2007 
under the chairmanship of Ambassador Manuel A. J. Teehankee (Philippines).
1 
2. During the review period, the work of the CTE was organized in accordance with the mandate 
contained in Paragraph 32 of the Doha Ministerial Declaration (DMD).2  Particular attention was 
given to market access issues (Paragraph 32(i))3, the relevant provisions of the TRIPS Agreement 
(Paragraph  32(ii)), and labelling requirements for environmental purposes (Paragraph  32(iii)).  The 
CTE also continued its analysis of the other items of its work programme.  Pursuant to Paragraph 33, 
Members discussed technical assistance, capacity building and environmental reviews.  Under 
Paragraph 51, Members undertook to identify and debate the developmen tal and environmental 
aspects of the negotiations, in order to help achie ve the objective of having sustainable development 
appropriately reflected. 
3. At the meeting of 2 May 2007, on Paragraph 32( i) regarding the effects of environmental 
measures on market access, the CTE held discussi ons based on two Secretariat notes which provided 
overviews on:  (i) work carried out in the TB T and SPS Committees with respect to environment-
related notifications and specific trade concerns;  and (ii) findings of recent studies in OECD Trade 
Policy Studies 2005 and UNCTAD Trade and E nvironment Review 2006 (WT/CTE/W/244).  A 
discussion was also held on trade liberalization on organic agricultural products, and a number of 
developing countries shared their national a nd regional experiences in this sector.  UNCTAD 
informed the CTE of its recent studies and technical  assistance activities in this area, as well as the 
work of the International Task Force on Harmoni zation and Equivalence in Organic Agriculture 
(ITF).4  Under Paragraph 32(iii) on labelling requir ements for environmental purposes, a presentation 
on the US "Energy Star Product La belling" generated interest.  
4. Regarding Paragraph 33 on technical  assistance and capacity building,  Norway presented a 
paper on the Norwegian Action Plan for Environmen t in Development Cooperation which highlighted 
that most Norwegian development funds would be targeted to integrate the principles of sustainable 
development into country policies and programmes.   
5. Also on Paragraph 33, regarding experience sh aring on environmental reviews, a Member 
informed the CTE of a environmental review it c onducted on a free trade agreement.  UNEP provided 
an overview of its activities on integrated assessmen t of trade-related policies.  The Secretariat 
consolidated a list of trade related environmental reviews which have been, or, are being carried out 
under the headings of multilateral trade liberali zation initiatives, regional and bilateral trade 
                                                      
1  The reports of the meetings are contained in documents WT/CTE/M/44 and [45].  
2  Hereafter paragraph numbers refer to those of the Doha Ministerial Declaration. 
3 The full text of paragraph 32(i) reads:  "the ef fect of environmental measures on market access, 
especially in relation to developing countries, in partic ular 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". 
4  A task force created by UNCTAD, FAO and IFOAM. WT/CTE/14 
Page 2  
 
  liberalization initiatives and national projects (WT/ CTE/W/245).  This note also provides a brief 
description of the Committee's discussions on environmental reviews in the context of Item 2 of its work programme and subsequently of Paragraph 33 of the DMD.  Members were invited to submit 
any supplementary information to the Secretaria t, and this list could be updated regularly.   
6. On Paragraph 51, the Chair invited delegations  to further discuss the Secretariat note on 
Environmental Aspects of the DDA Negotiations  which compiles the environment-related issues in 
the following negotiating groups:  agriculture, NA MA, rules, services and trade and environment 
(WT/CTE/W/243).   
7. W
ith respect to the transparency of trade measures used for environmental purposes, 
the Committee took note of the Secretaria t note on the 2004 Environmental Database 
(WT/CTE/EDB/4).  Moreover, the Committee took not e of the request from the Basel Convention for 
observer status in the Committee (WT/CTE/COM/13) and (WT/CTE/INF/6/Rev.4).  
8. At the meeting of 30 November 2007, under Paragraph 32(i), the CTE heard statements on 
effects of environmental requirements on market ac cess.  UNCTAD informed the CTE of the outcome 
of the UNEP-UNCTAD CBTF Symposium on Environmental Requirements and Market Access held on 3 October 2007.  On sectoral discussion, UNEP info rmed the CTE of its recent activities regarding 
fishery subsidies.  Under Paragraph 33, the Secretar iat informed the CTE of its trade and environment 
technical assistance activities undertaken in 2007 and planned for 2008-2009.  The European 
Communities updated the CTE of its recent activiti es regarding environmental reviews.  UNEP 
informed the CTE of its work aimed at supporting national efforts to assess impacts of trade-related 
policies.  Finally, the Committee adopted its 2007 Annual Report.  
 
 
 
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