WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  TN/TE/W/78 
14 February 2011 
 (11-0752) 
Committee on Trade and Environment 
Special Session Original:   English 
 
 
 
DRAFT DECISION FOR AN OUTCOME UNDER DOHA PARAGRAPHS 31(I) AND 31(II) 
 
Communication from the United States  
 
 
 The following communication, dated 14 Febr uary 2011, from the delegation of the 
United States is being circulated to the Comm ittee on Trade and Environment in Special Session. 
 
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Draft Decision for an Outcome under Doha Paragraphs 31(i) and 31(ii) 
Ministers , 
Recalling  that: 
- Paragraph 31(i) of the Doha Declaration ca lled for negotiations on th e relationship between 
existing WTO rules and specific trade oblig ations (STOs) set out in multilateral 
environmental agreements (MEAs) and stated that the negotiations were to be limited in 
scope to the applicability of such existing WTO rules as among Parties to the MEA in question, and were not to prejudice the WTO rights of any Member that is not a Party to the MEA in question; 
- Paragraph 31(ii) of the Doha Declaration called for negotiations on procedures for regular 
information exchange between MEA secretariats  and the relevant WTO Committees, and the 
criteria for the granting of observer status; and 
- Pursuant to paragraph 32 of the Doha Declar ation, the outcome of negotiations carried out 
under paragraphs 31(i) and 31(ii) was to be co mpatible with the open and non-discriminatory 
nature of the multilateral trading system, not to add to or diminish the rights and obligations 
of Members under existing WTO Agreements, in particular the Agreement on the Application 
of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures, nor a lter the balance of these rights and obligations, 
and was to take into account the needs of  developing and least-developed countries: 
Affirming  our commitment to the objective of sust ainable development, as stated in the 
Preamble to the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization (WTO 
Agreement), and as reiterated in para graph 6 of the Doha Declaration: 
Recognizing  the importance of technical assistance a nd capacity building in the field of trade 
and environment to developing co untries, in particular the least-developed among them:     
Determined  to enhance the mutual supportiveness of trade and the environment: TN/TE/W/78 
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  Recognizing that : 
- A STO set out in an MEA is one that requires an MEA Party to take, or refrain from taking, a 
particular action,  
- Each MEA Party has been able to tailor STOs to  meet particular environmental objectives in a 
way that takes account of each Party's WTO ri ghts and obligations, and no formal disputes 
have arisen challenging the implementation of an STO set out in an MEA,  
- Efforts undertaken by Members at the domestic le vel to coordinate the views of all relevant 
government agencies and stakeholders when negotiating and implementing STOs have been 
essential to enhancing the mutual supportiveness of trade and the environment and have contributed significantly to the compatibility  between Members' international trade 
obligations and domestic implemen tation of STOs set out in MEAs,  
- Several features of STOs set out in MEAs also appear to contribute to the positive 
relationship between such obligations and exis ting WTO rules such as, careful tailoring of 
STOs to meet a particular environmental objectiv e, clarity of scope and application of STOs, 
certain procedures laid out in the MEA that rely on objective criteria and scientific input to 
make decisions, and other built-in procedures in  the MEA for changes to its scope that are 
inclusive, transparent and appropriately flexible.     
With a view to maintaining the mutual supportiv eness of trade and the environment, hereby 
decide  as follows: 
1. Members are encouraged to coordinate - at the domestic level am ong relevant government 
agencies when negotiating, implementing, and applying WTO rules and STOs set out in MEAs.  
2. The WTO Secretariat shall cooperate and collaborate with MEA secretariats, including 
through:  increased information exchange; as appr opriate, document sharing and preparation; and 
enhanced trade and environment-related techni cal assistance and capacity building activities, 
particularly those related to domestic implementation of STOs set out in MEAs. 
3. While affirming that requests for observer status of international intergovernmental 
organizations are subject to the criteria and proce dures set out in Annex 3 of the Rules of Procedure 
for Sessions of the Ministerial Conference and M eetings of the General Council, Members shall, 
when examining requests for observer st atus from MEA secretariats, consider, inter alia , the 
following additional criteria:   
(a) the relevance of the MEA's scope of work to the WTO Committee to which a request 
is addressed (e.g. whether the MEA cont ains provisions that have potential 
implications for international trade) , as well as the relevance of the WTO 
Committee's scope of work to the MEA;   
(b) the MEA secretariat's participation in WTO Committees and its prior contribution to 
WTO work, including workshops, capacity building activities and preparation of documents;  and/or the mutual benefit that may accrue to the relevant WTO 
committee and the MEA from the MEA secretariat's participation in meetings of the 
relevant WTO Committee;   
(c) the MEA's membership, such as whether it broadly corresponds to the membership of 
WTO;    TN/TE/W/78 
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  (d) the reciprocity provided by the ME A to the WTO with respect to access to 
proceedings, documents, and other aspects of observer status.   
4. Members shall also consider, in the event that  they cannot reach a consensus with respect to a 
request from a particular MEA for permanent ob server status to a WTO Committee, inviting the 
relevant MEA secretariat to observe on a meeting- by-meeting basis, until a consensus on the request 
for permanent observer status can be reached.   
5. The Committee on Trade and Environment shall: 
(a) continue to share experiences of individual Members with respect to the negotiation 
and implementation of STOs set out in MEAs , including the efforts taken to facilitate 
coordination at the domestic level pursuan t to paragraph 1 of this Decision;  
(b) hold information exchange sessions with MEA secretariats on a regular basis.  The 
sessions will provide opportunity for two- way information exchanges between MEA 
and WTO secretariats and their respective memberships on topics of common interest;   
(c) grant observer status to those MEA secretar iats that have applied for such status in 
the Committee and who have met the criteria and procedures set out in Annex 3 of the Rules of Procedure for Sessions of the Ministerial Conference and Meetings of the General Council, as well as those set out in paragraph 3 above
1;   
(d) oversee the provision and, as necessary, the development of technical assistance 
activities by the WTO Secretariat focused on the implementation of STOs set out in 
MEAs, drawing on the WTO Secretariat's knowledge of provisions of the WTO 
Agreement, as well as the relevant MEA sec retariat's knowledge of  particular STOs.  
The Committee shall ensure that such ac tivities draw on experiences and expertise 
shared in the Committee on Trade and Envi ronment pursuant to this Decision, and 
take into account, inter alia , the following important objectives: 
(i) maintenance of the independence of the respective secretariats; 
(ii) avoidance of duplication of resources and efforts; and 
(iii) consideration of least-developed countries as priority recipients of technical 
assistance. 
 
 
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1 WT/L/161.