. /.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  TN/TE/17 
25 July 2007 
 (07-3184) 
Committee on Trade and Environment 
Special Session  
 
 
COMMITTEE ON TRADE AND ENVIRONMENT IN SPECIAL SESSION 
 
Report by the Chairman, Ambassador Mario Matus,  
to the Trade Negotiations Committee1 
 
 
1. Since the last report to the TNC in July 20062, the Committee on Trade and Environment in 
Special Session (CTESS) has met on 1-2 March, 3-4 May, 11-12 June and 18 July 2007.  The first 
three meetings were held under the Chairmanship of  my predecessor, Ambassador Toufiq Ali.  This 
report provides an update of the discussions in the Committee under each item of the mandate in 
Paragraph  31 of the Doha Declaration.   
I. STATUS OF WORK 
A. PARAGRAPH  31( I)  
2. The CTESS has before it two main proposals for an outcome under Paragraph 31(i), which 
relates to the relationship between existing WTO ru les and specific trade obligations set out in 
multilateral environmental agreemen ts (MEAs).  The first proposal was discussed in July 20063 and 
the second one at the CTESS meeting of 3-4 May 2007.4  These proposals present two rather different 
perspectives with regard to the scope of the manda te in Paragraph 31(i).  Some additional ideas were 
mentioned at the meetings in June and July.  These ideas may be discussed further as Members start 
working on elements that could form part of an outcome to fulfil the mandate.   
B. PARAGRAPH  31( II) 
3. Discussions under Paragraph 31(ii) have progressed significantly over the past year.  New 
submissions by Members, which built upon earlier pr oposals on information exchange and criteria for 
the granting of observer status to MEAs, were particularly helpful in advancing the work.5   
4. As convergence started to emerge on basic elements for an outcome, the Chair circulated 
in June an informal paper entitled "Elements of a Draft Text under Paragraph 31(ii)".  The text was 
refined through various rounds of discussion held in  June and July.  With respect to information 
exchange, it contains concrete s uggestions regarding MEA informati on exchange sessions to be held 
by the CTE;  document exchange;  and future colla boration in the context of technical assistance and 
capacity-building activities.  As regard s observer status, the text sets out, inter alia , some criteria that 
could guide WTO committees in their consideration of requests for observer status by MEAs.  Other 
suggestions on the table will require further consulta tions, and some questions may need to be further 
                                                      
1 This report is submitted on the Chairman's own responsibility and is without prejudice to the position 
of Members.   
2 TN/TE/16.   
3 TN/TE/W/68 (European Communities).  See also TN/TE/16.   
4 TN/TE/W/72/Rev.1 (Australia and Argentina).  
5 TN/TE/W/70 (United States) and TN/ TE/W/71 (Canada and New Zealand).   TN/TE/17 
Page 2  
 
examined when the elements are converted into lega l text.  However, the elements discussed in the 
Committee provide a solid basis for achieving an outcome on this part of the mandate.   
C. P
ARAGRAPH  31( III) 
5. With regard to the negotiations under Para graph 31(iii) on environmental goods and services, 
there remain at this stage some differences of views among Members on how to respond to the 
mandate.  Nevertheless, much useful work has been  carried out over the last year, particularly as 
proponents of the different approaches have come forward with revised proposals.   
6. In April 2007, a group of delegations (including  most delegations that had tabled individual 
lists of environmental goods) submitted jointly a revised list proposing a much reduced set of 
products, which in their view offered the best prospects for moving the process forward.6  
Two delegations that had previously tabled propo sals for alternative approaches also came forward 
with a new "integrated approach" in an attempt to  address some of the concerns shared by several 
Members in this negotiation.7   
7. Delegations will have to pursue the dialogue in  a constructive and pragmatic manner with a 
view to narrowing down existing differences.  With r espect to the way forward, it was suggested that 
environmental categories or activities mentioned by  Members in their submissions could provide a 
useful starting point for conducting further work.  The Committee could also use this framework for 
discussing how S&D treatment, NTBs, and other issu es of interest to developing country Members 
can be addressed more concretely in the negotiations.   This suggestion, as well as other ideas on the 
way forward, will need to be further explored wh en discussions resume in September.  Delegations 
will have to intensify the work in this area in orde r for the Committee to be able to contribute to the 
work of other groups at the appropriate time, as necessary.   
II. CONCLUSION 
8. While there has been good progress in the Committee 's work over the last year, particularly 
on Paragraph 31(ii), there has been limited move ment towards convergence on other important 
aspects of the negotiations, partly due to the overa ll state of the Round.  Continued efforts will be 
required to reach common ground on these aspects of the mandate, with the objective of achieving an 
outcome that will equally benefit trade, the envi ronment and development.  I will be engaging in 
further consultations with delegations ahead of  the next CTESS Meeting to discuss how we can 
advance the work on all three items of Paragraph 31.   
__________ 
                                                      
6 Job(07)/54 (Canada, European Communities, Ja pan, Korea, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland, 
United States and the Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu). 
7 Job(07)/77 (India and Argentina).