RESTRICTED  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/CTE/M/46 
12 January 2009 
 (09-0071) 
Committee on Trade and Environment  
  
 
REPORT OF THE MEETING HELD ON 3 NOVEMBER 2008 
 
Note by the Secretariat
 
  
1. The Committee on Trade and Environment (CTE Regular) met on 3 November 2008 under 
the Chairmanship of Dr. Wieslaw Karsz (Poland).
1  The first agenda item was on Paragraph 32 of the 
Doha Development Agenda (DDA ) which included Paragraph 32(i ) on environmental requirements 
and market access (pages 1-7) and sectoral analys is (pages 7-8);  Paragraph 32(iii) on labelling for 
environmental purposes (page 8);  and other items of the CTE work programme, namely item 4 on 
transparency of trade measures used for envir onmental purposes (page 9).  It was followed by 
Paragraph 33 of the DDA on technical assistance a nd capacity building, and environmental reviews 
(page 9);  and Paragraph 51 on environmental aspec ts of the negotiations (page 9).  Under other 
business, the CTE heard briefings from CBD and CI TES on latest developments related to their 
respective MEAs (pages 9-11), and from OECD on e nvironment and regional trade agreements (pages 
11-13).  Trade and climate change was also taken up under other business (pages 13-19).  
I. PARAGRAPH 32 
A. PARAGRAPH 32(I) (ENVIRONMENTAL REQUIREMENTS AND MARKET ACCESS ) 
The effect of environmental measures on market access, especially in relation to developing 
countries, in particular the least-developed am ong them, and those situations in which the 
elimination or reduction of trade restric tions and distortions w ould benefit trade, the 
environment and development.  
1. Market Access 
2. The Chairman  recalled that in 2007 the Committee ha d held discussions on environmental 
requirements and market access based on two S ecretariat background notes which provided overviews 
on work carried out in the TBT and SPS Committees with  respect to environment-related notifications 
and specific trade concerns (JOB(06)/263);  and findings of recent studies in the OECD Trade Policy 
Studies 2005 and the UNCTAD Trade and Environment Review 2006 (WT/CTE/W/244).  Exchange 
had included market access issues related to or ganic agricultural products and private voluntary 
standards.  At the present  meeting, the Chairman proposed to revert to these two topics and also take 
up biofuels certification.  
Organic agricultural products  
 
3. The representative of International Trade Centre (ITC ) said that organic agriculture was a 
production management system that enhanced biodi versity and soil biological activity.  Its key 
features included non-use of agrochemical inputs (pesticides and fertilizers);  non-acceptance of 
                                                      
1 The airgram convening this meeting was circ ulated in document WTO/AIR/3244, dated 25 
September 2008. WT/CTE/M/46 
Page 2  
 
  GMOs;  use of crop rotation and manure to build soil fertility;  and natural pest and disease control.  
Organic agriculture could provide farmers, in par ticular smallholders, the opportunities to move up 
the value chain in the food market.    
4. He said that the global organic agriculture mark et, while remained small, was growing fast, in 
particular comparing with the conventional sector, and had doubled its value since the beginning of 
the decade (from USD 23 billion in 2002 to USD 39 billion in 2006).  This was mostly due to the 
growing concerns among consumers towards food safety, as well as environmental and animal 
welfare.  While Europe (e.g. Switzerland and Dema rk) and the United States had the most demand for 
organic products, the organic market in developing  countries remained small.   However, the Asian 
market was growing fast.  Recent surveys had show n that, among the various sustainability standards 
(including those related to organic, fair trade a nd carbon footprint), organic was the most recognized, 
and was likely to survive even with the ongoing gl obal economic recession due to its wide consumer 
base and credibility.  
5. He said that although developing countries' share of the global organic revenue remained 
small (one to two percent), there was great potential.  He pointed to a number of challenges faced by 
developing country organic producers.  These included the high costs of compliance with standards, 
in particular private standards;  difficulties in in fluencing standards development;  and the need for 
support at the national level through extension services,  research and development.  He believed that 
efforts should not be diverted from the bigger issue of building up agricultural productivity in developing countries through infrastructural investme nt and agricultural research and development.   
6. He informed the CTE on ITC's work to assist de veloping countries with respect to the organic 
sector, and highlighted the ITC Trade and Envir onment Programme funded by the governments of 
Demark, Germany and Switzerland.  Activities includ ed assistance to reinfo rce SME competitiveness 
on global markets for organic products;  providing market analysis and information;  and advocacy for developing countries on private sta ndards setting (e.g. on food miles).
2     
7. The representative of UNCTAD  highlighted a number of trade and development issues 
related to the organic sector:  (i) lack of inte roperability among the numerous mandatory and/or 
voluntary organic agriculture standard requirements;   (ii) tendency of "gold plating" of voluntary 
organic standards with additional requirements (e.g . on food miles);  (iii) proliferation of voluntary 
sustainability standards and the marginalization of smallholders in developing countries due to the 
disproportionately high compliance costs;  (iv) in centive to create in the market place new standards 
or requirements as soon as the level of harmonizat ion/equivalence of existing standards increases;  
and (v) incoherent government policie s in supporting the organic sector.  
8. He suggested that developing country govern ments could address challenges in a number of 
areas.  First, on standards, governments could en sure transparency, inclusiveness, legitimacy and 
avoidance of trade restrictiveness in standard setti ng;  as well as encourage the use of international 
organic standards (i.e. the Codex Alimentarius Framework on Organic Agriculture and the Basic 
Organic Standards of the International Federati on for Organic Agriculture (IFOAM)).  Governments 
could also facilitate the interoperab ility of various organic standards and influence to ensure that "gold 
plating" of voluntary standards would not result in market domination.  
9. On addressing capacity weaknesses, he said the role of governments would be to direct donor 
funding accordingly and to facilitate investment in  physical and quality management infrastructure, 
including accreditation institutions.  They could de vise support policies aimed at raising awareness, 
granting financial support, providing training, inform ation and support to small farmers.  They could 
                                                      
2 Information on ITC’s support for the organic sector in developing countries, including its publications 
and projects can be found at http://www.intracen.org/dbms/organics/index.asp.  WT/CTE/M/46 
 Page 3 
 
 
  facilitate stakeholder dialogue on the development of  organic agriculture.  He believed that organic 
agriculture should be considered as a developmen t priority.  Governments should ensure policy 
coherence among agencies dealing with or ganic and conventional agriculture.   
10. He said that the International Task Force on Harmonization and Equivalence in Organic 
Agriculture (a joint initiative of UNCTAD, IFOAM  and the FAO) had developed two tools which 
could facilitate harmonization and e quivalence of organic standards:  Equitool for the comparison and 
determination of technical equivalence of standa rds (mandatory and voluntary) for organic production 
and processing, which provides a set of procedures and criteria, as well as a model for equivalence 
assessment;  and International Requirements for Orga nic Certification Bodies (a set of performance 
requirements for organic certification), whic h is a normative document included ISO 65 and 
additional organic-sector requirements.  
11. Other UNCTAD activities in this area for de veloping countries included the assistance 
provided by UNCTAD-UNEP Capacity Building Force on Trade, Environment and Development (CBTF) to develop the East African Organic Produc t Standard in 2007;  and, in collaboration with 
ITC, to support regional cooperation in South an d East Asia.  On horticultural products, UNCTAD 
Consultative Task Force on Environmental Requ irements and Market Access for Developing 
Countries was involved in the development of a matching tool between Organic Standards and 
GlobalGAP.
3   
12. The representative of UNEP  underlined the potential of organic agriculture as adaptation and 
mitigation opportunities for climate change.  He  recalled that the CBTF initiative on "Promoting 
Production and Trading Opportunities for Organic Agri cultural Products in East Africa" launched in 
2005 had the objective of supporting East African c ountries to capitalize the environmental, social, 
economic and trade benefits of organic agriculture.  The first part of the CBTF initiative comprised of 
three background studies to give an overview of the sector.  The first study entitled " Overview of the 
Current State of Organic Agriculture in Kenya, Uganda and the United Republic of Tanzania and the 
Opportunities for Regional Harmonisation"  provided information on the stakeholders, production, 
domestic markets, exports, standards, certification and policies in each of these countries.  It also 
highlighted the potential benefits of increasing re gional cooperation (e.g. ha rmonization of organic 
standards) and made recommendations to promote further development.  
13. The second study entitled " Organic Agriculture and Food Security in East Africa"  presented 
evidence to support the argument that organic agricu lture could be beneficial for food security in 
Africa and more likely to be sustainable in the longer-term.  Organic farming could increase per 
hectare productivity, farmers' incomes and envi ronmental benefits, strengthen communities and 
enhance human capital.  The conclusions of this study had been confirmed by the findings of the 
International Assessment of Agricultural Knowle dge, Science and Technology Panel, which stated 
that "... the way the world grows its food will have  to change radically to better serve the poor and 
hungry if the world is to cope with growing popul ation and climate change while avoiding social 
breakdown and environmental collapse";  and orga nic farming had been recommended as an option.  
14. The third study entitled " Best Practices for Organic Policy: What Developing Countries 
Governments Can Do to Promote the Organic Agriculture Sector"  where eight case studies were 
carried out in developed and de veloping countries and 35 recommenda tions were made for countries 
interested in developing the organic sector.  Gove rnments were advised to work in close cooperation 
with stakeholders and start by undertaking an in tegrated assessment of the sector to understand the 
condition of the sector and how current policies could affect it.  Governments should take an enabling 
and facilitating role (rather than a controlling one ) to support the building of organic agriculture 
                                                      
3 Relevant information can be downloaded from the following websites:  www.unep-unctad.org/cbtf, 
www.itf-organic.org and www.unctad.org/trade_env.   WT/CTE/M/46 
Page 4  
 
  supply capacities through education, research, exte nsion services, access to certification services, 
local and regional market deve lopment and export facilitation.  
15. The second part of the CBTF initiative consisted of  country projects in Kenya, Tanzania and 
Uganda under the leadership of government agenci es and with the technical support of CBTF.  The 
aim of the projects was to help governments develo p policies that support the promotion of organic 
agriculture, taking into account the social, environm ental, economic aspirations and the sustainable 
development goals as defined at na tional level.  Each project was the result of a combination of 
scientific research and participatory process.  The reports provided information on the current state of 
the sector, policy options, assessment of the potential environmental, economic and social impacts of the proposed policy options, and futu re capacity-building requirements.  
16. The third part of the CBTF initiative resulted in the launching of the East African Organic 
Product Standard (EAOPS) in April 2007.  He reca lled that at the time when the East African 
Initiative was launched in 2005, there had been sever al public and private organic standards in the 
region, creating obstacles to trade.  The process thus had started with a comparison of existing 
national standards to identify the similarities a nd differences and the establishment of a Regional 
Standards Technical Working Group.  The Gr oup was co-chaired by representatives from UNEP-
UNCTAD CBTF and IFOAM and included representativ es from national standard bureaus, organic 
movements and organic certifying bodies of Kenya,  Tanzania, Uganda, Rwa nda and Burundi, as well 
as the East African Business Council.  He said  th at EAOPS was currently the second regional organic 
standard in the world, after that of the EU, and the first to have been developed through a public-
private-NGO partnership, bringing together stak eholders from national, re gional and international 
levels.   
17. He said that the impacts of the CBTF initiativ e also included the following:  (i) Uganda 
National Export Strategy had include d organic product as a priority for export promotion;  (ii) in 
Kenya, the national food and nutrition po licy currently under review included, inter alia , a section on 
organics;  and (iii) in Tanzania, organic agriculture had been incorporated into the national agriculture 
policy.  Numerous requests had been received by CBTF for follow-up activities in East Africa and for 
expansion of activities to other regions.
4   
18. The representative of the European Communities (EC ) said that organic farming offered 
producers the opportunities to benefit and to move up the value chain, thus increasing revenues.  He 
believed this sector could be useful to promote deve lopment in developing countries.  He highlighted 
the importance of equivalency of standards to facilitate trade, given the increasing number of 
certification schemes and consequently the challe nges faced by producers and exporters.  He 
welcomed the work done by the International T ask Force on Harmonization and Equivalence, and 
said that the EC would support the attempts to fac ilitate trade in organic products.  The European 
Union would use as much as possible the tools provided  by the Task Force, and would try to integrate 
its guidelines into the European system.  He  invited other Members to follow suit.  
19. He sought further information on the UN EP-UNCTAD CBTF country studies regarding 
Tunisia, Sri Lanka and the Pacific Islands.  He  believed that although differences existed among 
nations, it would be helpful to share countries'  experiences to improve understanding on how 
governments could foster organic agriculture, and how  importers and exporters tackled the challenges. 
                                                      
4 All publication and reports of the UNEP-UNCTAD CBTF can be downloaded from www.unep-
unctad.org/cbtf.  
  WT/CTE/M/46 
 Page 5 
 
 
  20. The representative of UNCTAD  said that the UNEP-UNCTAD CBTF study on Best 
Practices for Organic Policy had carried out twelve country studies including those in Tunisia, Sri 
Lanka and the Pacific Islands.  In the case of T unisia, the government had revised its general 
agriculture support policy by making organic agricu lture a development priority.  It had removed 
unhealthy subsidies and policy measures to seek po licy coherence.  A National Organic Centre had 
been established to advise the government on polic ies and support research.  Financial support was 
provided to small and medium-sized organic producers,  in particular in the transition period.  Other 
support included training, extension services, in formation exchange programmes and stakeholder 
dialogue at national level.  He said that the a pproach in Sri Lanka was similar, although less 
comprehensive.  The Pacific Islands was a different  case due to the size of the islands that required 
specific measures for organic farming.5   
21. The representative of ITC  emphasised the importance of inte rnational organizations' supports 
in national policy making process, and in this respect,  he thanked the EU for its funding to support the 
ITC's activities in Thailand and Rwanda.  Referring to  equivalence and harmoniza tion of standards, he 
said that the proliferation of private standards was the outcome of a market strategy to differentiate, 
aimed at conquering the green market.  He pointed out that although private standards were dynamic 
and could create interest among c onsumers regarding social and envi ronmental benefits, there was the 
trade off - these standards were not necessarily created  based on science and could be discriminatory.  
He said that in the EU, regulations existed, which defined organic products, as well as the various 
private (gold plated) standards which added on el ements and requirements, and he wondered whether 
it was the most efficient way to proceed.   
22. The representative of UNEP  agreed that the issue of equivalence of standards was an 
important one, and said that the CBTF would further contribute to facilitate the process of harmonization.  He pointed out that even in the ex isting situation, there were still great market access 
opportunities for developing countries in the organi c sector.  He gave the example of the rapidly 
growing Middle East market.  
Private standards 
 
23. The representative of UNCTAD
 presented UNCTAD's recent studies on trade and 
development impacts of private horticultural standa rds on developing countries in Africa and Asia.  
The main finding was that private standards posed a risk of marginalising small farmers, unless 
governments put in place supportive measures to ensu re transparency (including consultation with 
stakeholders) and active participati on in standard setting processes, and played a surveillance role to 
ensure that requirements were not unduly restrictive.  Furthermore, governments should focus on facilitating export capacity, strengthening physical  and institutional infrastructures and research 
laboratories.  The studies had shown that expor t performance was better in countries where 
governments had taken a proactive role.
6   
24. He informed the CTE of other UNCTAD activities relating to private standards.  A matching 
exercise had been carried out between GlobalGAP  Secretariat and IFOAM on public and private 
organic standards aimed at creating a tool which could assist small producers to implement organic and GlobalGAP standards with reduced costs.  UNCT AD, together with the International Institute for 
Sustainable Development (IISD) and other organiza tions such as the UNIDO and the World Bank, 
was part of the "Sustainable Commodities Initia tive" which sought to elaborate a measuring 
mechanism to evaluate sustainability claims of specific standards (e.g. on coffee and cocoa).  The 
Initiative also aimed at reducing the impacts of sustainability standards on producers by supporting 
them to better understand and implem ent sustainability standards from a practical point of view, and 
                                                     
 
5 The studies and recommendations can be downloaded from the CBTF website. 
6 Relevant publications can be found at:  http://www.unctad.org/trade_env/EurepGAP_series.asp.   WT/CTE/M/46 
Page 6  
 
  addressing capacity building and tr aining needs.  UNCTAD had also been participating in the SPS 
Committee discussions on private standards, and was pr epared to play an active role in its current 
analytical exercise.   
Biofuels certification 
 25. The representative of UNCTAD
 informed the CTE of UNCTAD's recent work related to 
biofuels certification.  It had been carried out  within the framework of the UNCTAD Biofuels 
Initiative.  Its activities included to carry out analy tical work (including on biofuels technologies and 
on the interface of biofuels and food security), conduct intergovernmental meetings and provide 
technical cooperation in favour of developing countries that set up biofuels policies.  She said that 
many developed and deve loping countries had decided to embark in biofuels production because 
biofuels could have the potentia l to reduce carbon emissions, contribut e to energy security, diversified 
energy portfolio, and enhance rural development by offering new markets for agricultural commodities.  However, evidence had shown that if the right policies were not put in place, biofuels production could represent a threat to biodiversity conservation, create new environmental problems 
and aggravate problems related to food security.  Biof uel certification was therefore to ensure that the 
negative and unwanted side effects were minimized.  
26. She said that on one hand, biofuels certificati on distinguished products and could influence 
consumers.  They could become a market instrument  to impact trade.  As well, governments might 
link such schemes to tax breaks and other incentives, or use them as preconditions for products to be 
included in national energy targets.  On the other hand, concerns had been raised on a number of 
ongoing certification initiatives.  First, the prolifer ation of schemes developed at different stages - 
involving actors such as governments, NGOs and companies - might damage the efficiency and credibility of certification and create segmentation.  Secondly, the principles and criteria on which 
certification schemes were based were diversified a nd often far-reaching.  For example, in addition to 
greenhouse gas emissions, some of them covered is sues such as biodiversity preservation, land use 
changes, food security, social well- being and local prosperity which were difficult to evaluate in a 
subjective way.  Thirdly, there were concerns related to the additional costs associated with 
compliance and conformity assessments, in particular, in developing countries where there was limited capacity of conformity assessment bodies. 
27. In light of these difficulties, UNCTAD had suggest ed that efforts should be deployed towards 
the convergence of existing initiatives and formulation of internationally agreed principles and criteria 
that were flexible to accommodate the varying environmental and socio-economic conditions of 
different producing countries.  These criteria should be quantifiable, verifiable and scientifically 
informed, and should be the result of an inclusiv e process where stakeholders from various regions 
were effectively represented.  Certification prog rammes should make allowances to small producers, 
especially in developing countries, to comply with requirements.  Support was needed to improve 
developing countries' ability to issue credible decl arations of conformity.  Capacity building was 
essential to meet the rural development goal, whic h was one of the important objectives related to 
biofuel production.  
28. She said that UNCTAD's study included a chapte r dedicated to WTO-consistency of biofuels 
certification.  It aimed at analyzing the releva nt WTO provisions and jurisprudence for biofuel 
certification, and provide general indications on those aspects of certain schemes that might prove 
problematic under the WTO.  These included the issue of "like-products" based on how goods were 
produced and life cycle analysis.
7   
                                                      
7 The study can be downloaded from http://www.unctad.org/en/docs/ditcted20081_en.pdf.    WT/CTE/M/46 
 Page 7 
 
 
  29. The representative of the United States  said that UNCTAD's study had highlighted the 
complexities of biofuels sustainability issues.  She appreciated that the study did not arrive at definitive conclusions, considering th at national biofuels policies were only beginning to take shape.  
She believed that broad legal analysis of "certif ication schemes" in the abstract would not be 
enlightening at this point, especially considering that the relevant WTO legal enquiries were highly 
fact-intensive in their nature. 
30. The representative of Australia
 said that the presentations made under this agenda item - 
including those related to biofuels, organic and pr ivate standards - had raised an important issue 
concerning the need for standards to be science-based and to provi de science-based information to 
consumers.  She noted that sometimes, these product standards could be misleading to consumers, for 
example those related to food miles.   
31. With respect to biofuels, she said that part of  the Australian government's strategy to address 
sustainability issues associated with biofuels wa s to promote further research and development on 
second-generation biofuels.  On 24 October 2008, her governme nt had launched a AUD 15 million 
programme on research and development on second-ge neration biofuels as part of its broader 
commitment under the AUD 500 million Renewable Ener gy Fund.  Australia welcomed any further 
research and information sharing on contribution that biofuels could make to sustainable 
development, and how the sustainability concerns as sociated with biofuels might be addressed.  She 
said that, as recognized in the UNCTAD report, cau tion should be taken to ensure that policies to 
address sustainability concerns of biofuels production did not present artificial barriers to international 
trade. 
32. The representative of the European Communities  said that the UNCTAD biofuels study had 
pointed to two important aspects:  on one hand, the proliferation of sustainability schemes might damage the efficiency and credibility of certificat ion and could lead to market segmentation and 
opacity;  and on the other, the need to address the su stainability of the production of biofuels and the 
need to promote the use of sustainable-produced biofuels and to discourage the use of poorly 
performing ones.  Thus, there was a need to stri ke a balance between the comprehensiveness of the 
criteria included in schemes and the technical and administrative feasibility of applying them in 
practice.   
33. The representative of China
 said that although food security was a priority for China with a 
population of 1.3 billion, China recognized the importance of biofuels as an important way of addressing climate change and energy problems.  To  coordinate these two important objectives, China 
had decided to manufacture biofuels, such as ethanol , using stalks and plants produced in wasteland 
and low quality land which were not suitable for f ood production.  He said that China would share 
information on this with other Members. 
34. The Committee took note
 of the statements made.  
2. Sectoral Analysis  
Energy subsidies  35. The representative of UNEP
 informed the CTE of the findings of a recent UNEP report 
entitled Reforming energy subsidies: Opportunities to  Contribute to the Climate Change Agenda .  The 
report estimated that energy subsidies worldwide amounted to approximately USD 300 billion per year, most of which went to fossil fuels.  Subsidi es in such cases were being used to artificially lower 
or reduce the real price of fuels like oil, coal and gas.  He said that encouraging the production and 
use of fossil fuels had harmful consequences, particul arly related to climate change and air pollution.  
These subsidies could also act as a drain on govern ment finances and reduce the incentive to use WT/CTE/M/46 
Page 8  
 
  energy efficiently.  The report had found that e liminating these subsidies might reduce greenhouse gas 
emission by as much as 6 per cent, while contributing 0.1 per cent to global GDP.  
36. He said that certain subsidies could, if well-de vised and time-limited, meet important social 
and environmental goals (e.g. feed-in-tariffs fo r renewable energy, well-devised and targeted 
subsidies to increase rural electrification, and su pport measures to encourage a switch away from 
fossil fuels).  The main conclusion of the study w as that reforming energy subsidies could make an 
important contribution to the fight against climat e change and also had positive economic effects. 
Hence, the report called upon governments to urgently  review their energy subsidies policies and 
offered recommendations for policymakers on how to design and implement subsidies in an 
environmentally, socially and economically sound ma nner.  It called for the international community 
to be more active on this issue, notably through sharing of experiences and best practices, data 
compilation to increase transparency, and reporting, including through such mechanisms as the WTO Committee on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures.
8   
37. The representative of the European Communities  said that energy subsidies was a broad 
category of many different measures.  He noted th at the report had briefly addressed the definition of 
subsidies, and sought further information on how the definition of subsidies in the study could have 
affected the study's conclusions.  He highlighted th e need to have detailed analysis on the impacts of 
the different subsidies in drawing conclusions on the environmental impacts of such actions.  He 
noted that certain subsidies were potentially envi ronmentally harmful.  However, it could be proven 
only once there was detailed analysis on their impact s.  On this, the lack of information was the 
difficulty.  He asked whether UNEP, in carrying out its study, had encountered difficulties in 
gathering the necessary information to make a conc lusion on whether to begin or to stop a certain 
energy subsidy with respect to their impacts on the environment.  
38. The representative of UNEP  agreed that energy subsidy was a terminology difficult to define, 
and said that the UNEP study had noted that.  In the case of the UNEP study, five main types of government interventions had been referred to:  direct financial transfers;  pref erential tax treatments;  
trade restrictions;  energy-related services provided di rectly by government at less than full cost;  and 
regulations of the energy sector, including price cont rols and market access restrictions.  He said that 
using a broad definition of energy subsidies had affected the outcome of the study.   
39. He said that the study represented a first attempt to define the global amount of energy 
subsidies, and had highlighted the need for furthe r information on the subject.  Given its importance 
and its direct relation to climate change, UNEP had ca lled for further analysis in order to draw a more 
detailed picture of energy subsidies.  He said that  it had been difficult to gather information on this 
subject, and the study had been based primarily on data produced by the Inte rnational Energy Agency 
and looking at price-gap analysis.   
40. The Committee took note  of the statements made.  
B. PARAGRAPH 32(III) (LABELLING FOR ENVIRONMENTAL PURPOSES ) 
41. The representative of Australia  shared information on the Australian standards and mandatory 
labels for energy efficiency.  She said that in Au stralia, minimum energy performance standards and 
mandatory energy product labels, de veloped in liaison with New Zealand, had been highly successful 
in transforming the market for a range of goods.  For example, the entire market for freezers in 2005 
                                                      
8 The publication can be downloaded from:  
http://www.unep.ch/etb/publica tions/Energy%20subsidies/EnergySubsidiesFinalReport.pdf. 
  WT/CTE/M/46 
 Page 9 
 
 
  was more energy efficient than that in 2001.  Sh e recalled that in 2001, highly energy efficient 
freezers comprised of only 5 per cent of the market, but by 2005, that share had risen to over 50 per 
cent.  The market transformation had occurred also in other appliance categories.  She said that the 
Australian energy rating label enjoyed a high level of  consumer recognition.  In 2005, 94 per cent of 
Australian consumers were able to recognize the la bel, as a result of its credibility assured by the 
singleness of the labelling scheme.  
42. The Committee took note  of the statement made.  
C. OTHER ITEMS OF THE CTE  WORK PROGRAMME  
Item 4 on transparency of trade meas ures used for environmental purposes 
43. The Chairman  drew the CTE's attention to document WT/CTE/EDB/5  which contained the 
environmental database for the year 2005.  He not ed that each year, the Secretariat devoted around 
eight to ten weeks to prepare the EDB document, and invited Members to provide feed back on any 
experience regarding the usefulness of the EDBs, and to consider the cost-benefit of this activity of 
the Committee.  
44. There were no statements from delegations on this issue.  
II. PARAGRAPH 33 
We recognize the importance of technical assistance and capacity building in the 
field of trade and environment to d eveloping countries, in particular the 
least-developed among them.  We also en courage that expertise and experience be 
shared with Members wishing to perform envi ronmental reviews at the national level.   
1. Technical Assistance and Capacity Building 
45. The Chairman  drew the CTE's attention to a room document on the Secretariat's 2008 
technical assistance activities in the area of trade and environment (see annex 1).  
2. Environmental Reviews 
46. The Chairman  recalled that in order to facilitate the experience sharing exercise and to 
provide the CTE with factual background informati on in environmental reviews, the Secretariat had 
consolidated a list of reviews which had been or  were being carried out under multilateral, regional 
and bilateral trade liberalisation in itiatives, as well as national projects.   He drew the CTE's attention 
to an update of that document (WT/C TE/W/245/Add.1, dated 28 October 2008).  
47. There were no statements from delegations on this issue.  
III. PARAGRAPH 51 
The Committee on Trade and Development and the Committee on Trade and 
Environment shall, within their respective mandates, each act as a forum to identify 
and debate developmental and environmental aspects of the negotiations, in order to  help achieve the objective of having sustai nable development appropriately reflected. 
48. There were no statements from delegations on this issue.  WT/CTE/M/46 
Page 10  
 
  IV. OTHER BUSINESS 
CBD COP-9 
 
49. The representative of UNEP
, on behalf of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD ), 
briefed the CTE on the outcome of the ninth CBD meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP) 
held in Bonn, Germany, on 19-30  May 2008.  He informed the CTE on the progress made by the Ad 
Hoc Open-ended Working Group on Access and Be nefit-sharing established at COP-8 as the 
negotiating body of an international regime on acc ess and benefit-sharing with regard to genetic 
resources.  In this regard, COP-9's decision had established a roadmap for the finalization of the 
international regime to be adopt ed at COP-10 in October 2010.  
50. On invasive alien species, he recalled that CO P-8 had identified gaps and inconsistencies in 
the international regulatory framework in this area,  and had requested the CBD Executive Secretary to 
consult with relevant interna tional bodies and instruments, including the WTO, on whether and how 
to address this.  Subsequently, c onsultations had been taken place in  the SPS Committee by way of an 
informal information session in October 2006, of whic h the results had been considered by COP-9.  
COP-9 had further invited the SPS Committee to note th e lack of international standards on invasive 
alien species and to consider ways and means so that the SPS Agreement provisions could be implemented to address risks from invasive alien sp ecies associated with international trade.  This 
invitation had been transmitted to the chairman of the SPS Committee noting the desirability of a 
response for consideration by COP-10.   
51. Referring to the fourth meeting of the Conference of the Parties serving as a Meeting of the 
Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (COP-MOP 4) held in Bonn on 12-16 May 2008, he 
said that the meeting had achieved a breakthrough in furthering the process for the elaboration of international rules and procedures in liability a nd redress for damage resulting from trans-boundary 
movements of living modified organisms (LMOs) .  The Parties had agreed to work towards 
international rules and procedures that would co mprise both binding and non-binding elements.  As 
regards to risk assessment and risk management, the Pa rties had agreed to the development of training 
activities in order to assist countries to prepare and evaluate risk assessment reports in accordance to 
the Protocol.  The Parties had also adopted measures to promote long-term biosafety education and training and to strengthen the coordination of capac ity building.  They had decided to convene an 
online conference with a view to id entify existing standards with rega rd to the handling, packaging, 
transport and identification of LMOs, to identify any gap in standards, and to suggest possible 
modalities to fill such gaps.   
52. He said that, as requested by the COP, appli cations for observer status in relevant WTO 
bodies had been renewed by way of a letter to the WTO Director-General.  It was believed that observership in WTO committees could further e nhance the mutual supportiveness between the trade 
and environment regimes.  
CITES SC57 
 
53. The representative of Convention on Intern ational Trade in Endangered Species (CITES
) 
briefed the CTE on recent CITES activities.  She reca lled that the COP to CITES met in June 2007 in 
The Hague, the Netherlands.  Among other things, the Parties had adopted:   a legally-binding set of 
amendments to the lists of species covered by th e Convention;   the CITES Strategic Vision: 2008-
2013 which seeks to enhance cooperation with releva nt international environmental, trade and 
development organizations and to ensure that CI TES and other multilateral instruments and processes 
are coherent and mutually supportive;  a Guide on CITES compliance procedures; and Guidelines on the management of nationally established export quot as.  The COP had paid greater attention to the 
socio-economic context in which the Convention operated by adopting decisions which addressed  WT/CTE/M/46 
 Page 11 
 
 
  CITES and livelihoods of the poor, further work on na tional wildlife trade policy reviews, incentives 
for implementation of the Convention and the promo tion of multilateral measures.  She said that the 
background documents, reports and resolutions or decisions for COP14 were accessible on the CITES 
website. 
54. She further briefed the CTE on the fifty-seven th meeting of the CITES Standing Committee, 
the Convention's interim policy body, held in Geneva in July 2008.  She said that at the meeting, one 
of its agenda items addressed c ooperation with the WTO.  The Standing Committee had been given an 
oral report by its Chairman concerning his di scussions with the WTO Secretariat regarding 
strengthening cooperation between the two organizations.  The Chairman had explained that CITES 
had participated in the CTESS on an ad hoc  basis, even though no overall agreement on observer 
status had yet been reached in the WTO General Council.  He had been informed that the WTO  
Secretariat was not in a position to enter into a formal cooperative arrangement on behalf of 
members.9   
55. She said that the Standing Committee had taken note of the report of the Secretariat and 
comments of its Chairman, and had agreed that th ere was no reason for the Chairman to send another 
letter to the WTO requesting permanent observer status in WTO  bodies.  However, the Committee 
had agreed that its Chairman should send a letter to WTO to indicate the interest of CITES in participating on an ad hoc basis in meetings of WTO  bodies whose work had relevance to CITES, 
such as the General Council, the Committee on Sani tary and Phytosanitary Measures, the Committee 
on Technical Barriers to Trade, the Committee on Trade and Development and the Committee on Regional Trade Agreements.  The Committee had al so agreed that continued communications 
between CITES and the WTO would be of value to the members of both organizations and had 
endorsed a proposal made by the Chairman that further, informal discussions should take place. 
56. At that meeting, under another agenda item, the Standing Committee had reviewed the initial 
results of a joint project on national wildlife trad e policy reviews undertaken by four pilot countries 
(Madagascar, Nicaragua, Uganda and Viet Nam) , the CITES Secretariat, the UNEP-UNCTAD CBTF 
and the University of Geneva's Graduate Institute  for International and Development Studies.  The 
two-year project had been funded by the CBTF, usi ng funds provided by the European Union, and the 
Geneva International Academic Ne twork.  The national reviews involved a description of the policy, 
the operation of the policy, an overall analysis  of the policy's effectiveness, including the 
identification of its biodiversity and socio-ec onomic impacts, and recommendations for policy 
improvements.  As a result of mapping and analyzin g 'value chains' for specific CITES-listed species 
in trade, the reviews had found that it was essentia l to involve local commun ities in the development, 
implementation and enforcement of wildlife trade po licies.  They also had found that more emphasis 
was needed on evidence-based polic y making, as distinguished from opinion based policy making.  
The four national review reports we re available on the CITES website.  
Environment and regional trade agreements (RTAs) 
 
57. The representative of OECD
 brief the CTE on recent activiti es of the OECD Joint Working 
Party on Trade and Environment with regard to regi onal trade agreements and the environment.  He 
drew the CTE's attention to the OECD 2007 publication entitled Environment and Regional Trade 
Agreements which summarized recent developments in RT As containing environmental provisions.  
He said that an update of that publication could be found at the OECD website with examples of how 
specific environmental issues had been inserted in to RTAs.  He recalled that in June 2007, a 
workshop for the Asian region was held in Tokyo.   With the support of the Japanese government, a 
checklist of environmental provisions had been pr epared, which provided practical examples of 
approaches in place.  Furthermore, in October 2008, a workshop on RTAs and the environment was 
                                                      
9 See CITES document SC57 Doc. 12 and the SC57 Summary record. WT/CTE/M/46 
Page 12  
 
  held in Santiago, Chile.  Two themes had been rai sed in the workshop:  why environmental provisions 
are included in RTAs;  and the implementation of environmental provi sions and co-operation 
activities.  He said that a further regional works hop was under consideration with possible thematic 
focus on areas such as climate change.  
58. He noted that there had been development in th e trade and environment debate in the context 
of RTAs.  Although the concerns of developing count ries, in particular related to competitiveness 
issues or the fear of sanctions in trade agreements , still existed, the emphasis had moved onto a series 
of positive issues.  There was also a shift from th e old debate on potential ne gative effects of trade 
expansion on the environment, and from envir onmental provisions of a general sustainable 
development objective, to the seeking of commitm ents without lowering standards, attracting 
investments, and concrete  cooperation activities.   
59. He said that cooperation in the context of RTAs could permit syne rgies with regional 
neighbours, for instance the possibility to promote tr ade in environmental goods, given that they could 
be more easily categorized and liberalized in the context of RTAs.  Moreover, there was the possibility to promote trade by defining environm ental standards and finding niche markets which 
could be otherwise difficult at a multilateral level.   He said that the inclusion of environmental 
cooperation in the framework of RTAs had proven to  be able to increase the environmental profile 
within governments, so that funding could be more  easily sought.  It could stimulate consultations 
with stakeholders, and promote interagency cooperation (e.g. am ong environment, trade, energy, 
agriculture and fisheries ministers, as well as w ith civil society and the private sector).  The 
implementation of MEAs (e.g. on c limate change, biodiversity, chemicals) had also been a subject of 
environmental cooperation in the context of RTAs.  
60. He said that to implement environmental provisions and cooperation activities in RTAs, 
usually some institutional arrangements were require d.  For example, under some agreements, Parties 
had set up joint institutions, or had extended the mandate of an existing institution to oversee 
implementation.  In other cases, a national contact  point or new environmental agencies had been 
created.  He gave examples of RTAs with environmental elements - such as NAFTA, the agreements 
being negotiated between the United States and Cana da with Peru and Colo mbia, Chile's cooperation 
with China, and the European Union with the CA RICOM - and said that New Zealand, Switzerland, 
Norway and Japan had announced intentions or had negotiating mandates to bring up the subject of 
environment with their future partners in RTAs.   
61. On cooperation activities, he gave exampl es which included New Zealand's mutual 
cooperation activities with its RTA pa rtners on issues such as trans port policies and green house gas 
abatement regarding life stocks;  US and Chile agre ement, on good practices in agriculture;  in Central 
America, the training of judges to address enforcemen t of national environmental regulations;  and in 
CAFTA on air quality monitoring equipments and capacity building.
10   
62. The representative of New Zealand  welcomed OECD recent work on environment provisions 
in RTAs, and its recognition of New Zealand's appr oach to incorporate environmental objectives in 
free trade agreements (FTAs).  She said that New Zealand placed high value on protecting and 
enhancing the environment.  The linkages between  trade and environmental policies were complex 
and important.  In New Zealand's view, the envi ronment was an important part of sustainable 
development which needed to take an integrat ed approach to the goals of economic, social, 
environmental and cultural development.  Trade did not take place in a vacuum and trade partnership 
agreements did not end in themselves.  The goal of  trade agreements was to improve living standards 
                                                      
10 Relevant information can be found at:  
http://www.oecd.org/document/8/0,3343,en_2649_34287_38768584_1_1_1_1,00.html and 
http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/2/24/38599709.pdf . and www.oecd.org/trade/santiago2008.  WT/CTE/M/46 
 Page 13 
 
 
  in the countries involved.  Inclusion of environmen t provisions in RTAs was therefore recognition of 
the fact that trade affected environment and vice ve rsa, and the need for the relationship to encompass 
these factors.     
63. She informed the CTE of New Zealand's approach grounded in its 2001 Government 
Framework for the Integration of Envir onment Issues into Free Trade Agreements .  It encompassed 
the following:  (i) a set of common understandings or  commitments on environmental matters as they 
relate to trade and economic development;  ( ii) a framework and mechanisms for cooperative 
activities and capacity building;  and (iii) a mean s of consultation and communication between the 
parties on relevant issues.  She believed that New Zealand's approach which focused on dialogue, 
consultation and cooperation - rath er than penalties or sanctions - was the way to make progress on 
trade and environment-related issues.  
64. The representative of European Communities  sought explanation on why a different approach 
could be taken by some governments when negotia ting environmental provisions in RTAs and in 
multilateral systems.  He said that some issues were better addressed by multilateral efforts, but 
pointed to the argument that it was politically easier to discuss issues in the c ontext of RTAs than in 
the multilateral trading system. 
65. The representative of OECD  said that evidence had shown that around 50% of world trade in 
goods was covered by RTAs which were under way or being negotiated, and thus  in reality, there was 
growing cooperation on the trade front in the cont ext of regional and free trade agreements.  He 
believed that there were opportunities to raise the li nks between trade and environment, and to take 
advantage of the synergies that could be built in the framework of RTAs.  
Trade and Climate Change  
 
66. The representative of Indonesia  presented the Chair's summary of the " Informal Trade 
Ministers Dialogue on Climate Change Issues" held in Bali, Indonesia, on 8-9 December 2007 
(document WT/L/717, dated 25 January 2008), and said that the CTE regular was the appropriate 
forum to introduce the document.  This first ev er informal dialogue amongst trade ministers on 
climate change issues was held in parallel with th e thirteenth Conference of Parties (COP-13) of 
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Ch ange (UNFCCC).  It had been chaired by the 
Minister of Trade of Indonesia and attended by 34 trade ministers, vice Ministers and senior officials 
together with international agencies related to international trade (e.g. the WTO, World Bank and 
UNCTAD) and other invited resource persons.     
67. She recalled that the dialogue had been conducted in an open way and with a positive spirit.  
The initiative to hold such a dialogue had been taken against diversity of background such as:  (i) a 
wide recognition that climate change is the defini ng issue of the century and inaction is unacceptable, 
in particular the burden will be most felt by de veloping countries;  (ii) awareness that managing 
climate change can no longer be considered an envi ronmental issue alone, but very much an economic 
and development issue;  the inter-linkage between trade, development and c limate change have long 
been recognized;  and (iii) there is an urgency a nd timeliness for the global trade community to further 
engage and build confidence in the ongoi ng global dialogue on climate change.   
68. She said that the meeting had not been intended to be a negotiating forum, but to take the 
opportunity of the UNFCCC COP-13 to discuss and be tter understand the role of international trade 
and the growing global concerns over climate change , and to explore possible policy instruments that 
could help achieve the mutual supportiveness of c limate and trade objectives.  The outcome of the 
dialogue was the Chair's summary which reflected di scussions among Ministers and other participants 
during the two-day dialogue.   WT/CTE/M/46 
Page 14  
 
  69. She recalled that Ministers had emphasized the need for a multilateral approach in dealing 
with the issue of trade, development and clim ate change, to optimize the current multilateral 
frameworks and their linkages, and to ensure that  the multilateral principles that existed in both 
climate change and international trade frameworks were not undermined.  The multilateral consensus 
on the framework for climate change which would define the targets, approaches, policies and 
instruments, based on the principle of common but differentiated respons ibilities and respective 
capabilities, was needed for the inte rnational trade regime to respond positively to the climate change 
goals.  In the absence of a multilateral consensus on climate change and the pricing and measurement 
of carbon, there was a risk that the principles of non-discrimination, transparency, scientific and rules 
based standards, and special and differential treatme nt of the international trading system would be 
undermined. 
70. Ministers had stressed the importance of prope r understanding and analysis of the way 
international trade impacted on the environment a nd climate change.  The notions of carbon footprint 
and carbon miles could lead to distortions of trade and increase inefficiencies. A plethora of standards and labelling requirements linked to climate change target could be developed, some of which were 
valid, but others would be difficult to verify wit hout multilateral consensus.  Such a situation would 
impose excessive compliance cost beyond the capacity of small producers or developing countries.  Furthermore, the absence of a consensus on standa rds could lead to discriminatory practices and 
protectionisms.  
71. She said that there were a variety of views on how best trade policies and instruments could 
help countries to meet the climate change challe nge, and a variety of measures had been discussed.  
They included measurement and management of car bon footprint, reduction or elimination of tariff 
and non-tariff barriers to environmen tal goods and services, the critical role of technology transfer to 
countries in mitigating and adapting to climate cha nge objectives, the role of intellectual property 
rights in ensuring accessibility and affordability of t echnology transfer to developing countries, the 
reduction or elimination of subsidi es that had adverse impact on climate change, and the need for an 
efficient market based trading regime.  It had been  stressed that whatever policies implemented to 
combat climate change, they must be taken in such a way as to minimise the adverse socio and economic impacts and in a manner that was compa tible with international trade rules to avoid 
arbitrary or unjustifiable discriminations or dis guised restrictions on international trade.  In 
recognitions of the difference in views, Ministers ha d agreed on the need for more study and analysis 
to better understand these linkages. 
72. Ministers had recognised that the environmen t mandate was already part of the Doha 
Development Agenda (DDA).  Thus achieving the cl imate change objectives in the near future, would 
be best met through a successful and balanced outcome of the negotiations as soon as possible, 
including the environmental mandate.  The balanced  conclusion of the DDA co mbined with a package 
to facilitate the transfer of low carbon or envi ronmentally friendly tec hnologies to developing 
countries, capacity building and aid for trade would lead to sustainable economic growth and poverty 
reductions, and therefore could deliver a win for trade, a win for the environment and a win for 
development. 
73. Ministers had felt that the dialogue should be continued post Bali, and had made several 
concrete recommendations.  These included:  (i) the successful and balanced outcome of the DDA 
negotiations, including the environmental mandate ;  (ii) more comprehensive study and better 
empirical evidence on the linkage and the interface between international tr ade, development and 
climate change would enhance understanding and aw areness, and enable trade Ministers to take 
informed and appropriate actions;  (iii) intensify high level engageme nt and interactions on the issue 
of international trade and climate change.  This c ould include holding high le vel meetings on the issue 
of trade and environment under the WTO or in para llel with other international meetings;  (iv) 
encourage future hosts of UNFCCC COP meetings to hold similar informal trade minister dialogue on  WT/CTE/M/46 
 Page 15 
 
 
  the issue of international trade and climate change,  and to look at the possibility of holding a joint 
session with finance and development Ministers;  and (v) strengthen and enhance engagement between the WTO and UNFCCC through information ex change mechanisms with a view to better 
improve the mutual supportiveness of international trade and climate change objectives.  
74. The representative of UNFCCC
 said that COP-13 represented a political breakthrough for 
climate change, of which the momentum had grow n during the course of 2007 through a number of 
high profile events.  For instance, the release of the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change had de monstrated that climate change was unequivocal, 
could be confidently attr ibuted to human activity and that bus iness as usual would set the world on a 
dangerous course.  In Bali, Par ties had agreed on the Bali Road Map as a decisive response from the 
world's governments to the new scientific evidence.  
75. He said that the Bali Road Map reflected a co mmon understanding of the fact that climate 
change impacts would spare no country and that si gnificantly stepped-up action was required to limit 
the severity of climate change impacts for both deve loped and developing countries.  It consisted of 
forward-looking decisions that represented various tr acks essential to reach a climate-secure future.  
These included:  (i) ongoing work related to the ad aptation to the impacts of climate change, the 
transfer of technologies and financing of climate cha nge action;  and (ii) a mandate and time-table for 
negotiations on future action to be completed by th e end of 2009 for adoption at the Climate Change 
Conference in Copenhagen.  Under the guiding principle of common but differentiated responsibilities, the plan also clearly reflected th at action would be needed by both developed and 
developing countries to meet the challenge.   
76. The Bali Action Plan had established a new nego tiating body under the Convention - the Ad 
Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action - to take work forward in the following five areas:  (i) shared vision for long-term cooperative act ion;  (ii) enhanced national/international action 
on mitigation;  (iii) enhanced action on adaptation;   (iv) enhanced action on technology development 
and transfer to support action on mitigation and adap tation;  and (v) enhanced action on the provision 
of financial resources and investment to support action on mitigation and adaptation and technology 
cooperation.  He said that this new body comp lemented negotiations under the Kyoto Protocol on 
further emission reduction commitments for industr ialized countries for the period after the first 
commitment period to be ended in 2012.  
77. He recalled that in 2008, under the Bali Action Plan, Parties had made progress by gathering 
ideas and proposals, as well as clarifying positions on various issues.  Proposals included ways to 
boost adaptation, to generate add itional financial resources, to adva nce technology transfer, and the 
types of institutions needed to deliver on adaptation and mitigation.  At the meeting held in Accra, 
Ghana, in August 2008, Parties had requested the Chair of the negotiating body to compile proposals 
and ideas into a single document to be presente d in Poznan, Poland in December 2008.  That 
document could serve as a first version of a negotiati on text.  He said that it was critical that Parties 
moved into the next stage of negotiations at or s oon after Poznan.   There was an enormous amount of 
work that needed to be covered if Copenhagen 2009 w as to achieve a result and be truly ambitious.     
78. He said that Poznan was the half-way mark between Bali and Copenhagen.  At Poznan, the 
political focus would be on developing a shared visi on for long-term cooperative action.  To advance 
negotiations toward Copenhagen, it was essential that  Ministers gave a strong political signal on a 
vision of how actions could generate solutions that worked in the long-term.  This needed to address 
the extent to which there was a willingness to change the institutional infrastructure to support climate 
change action.  This included the financial arch itecture and the types of mechanisms needed to 
generate additional financial resources.  Such a signal from Ministers would translate into significant 
progress and positive political guidance for process, and could advance negotiations in 2009.  In 
addition to the shared vision for long-term coopera tive action, Poznan would also seek progress on WT/CTE/M/46 
Page 16  
 
  on-going work.  This included work on adaptation, technology, capacity-building and improving the 
functioning of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM).       
79. He said that climate change was a sustainabl e development issue.  It touched upon aspects of 
the economy, finance, energy and agriculture, a nd it was essential that it was addressed in that 
context.  Although trade, or trade measures, had not been a subject of the negotiations as such, the 
links to economic issues were a pparent.  A response to climate ch ange would require a fundamental 
shift in the global economy.  Such a change would ha ve winners and losers.  In preparing for such a 
shift, its was important to work closely with  all stakeholders, including trade and employer 
organisations, to address the legitimate concerns and to manage change.   
80. He warned against the discussions taken pl ace outside of the UNFCCC negotiation process on 
trade measures to address concerns over compe titiveness or carbon leakage.  He said that such 
considerations were not helpful for the UNFCCC ne gotiations, since they assumed that negotiations to 
achieve a fair and efficient agreement would fail.   On the contrary, a successful agreement would 
have to be in line with the principles establishe d by the Convention, including the principle of 
common but differentiated responsibilities and respec tive capabilities, and the principle that measures 
taken to combat climate change, including unilatera l ones, should not constitute a means of arbitrary 
or unjustifiable discrimination or disgui sed restriction on international trade. 
81. The Bali Action Plan included a reference to cooperative sectoral approaches or sector-
specific action, which might help to build bri dges that could address some of the underlying 
competitiveness concerns.  He said that so far, the negotiations had not advanced much on this 
subject.  Negotiations on technology transfer had al so touched upon the issue of intellectual property 
rights (IPRs).  There had not been suggestions to  alter the legal framework safeguarding IPRs, but 
rather proposals to finance the transfer to de veloping countries of patent rights for certain 
technologies at preferential conditions.            
82. He called for WTO Member governments not to delay action on climate change due to the 
current financial crisis.  He said that clean industr y and investment had proven that they could offer 
secure and long-term profits and returns.  He belie ved that shifting to clean economic growth had the 
potential to address some of the fundamentals that had led to the current economic crisis.  He gave the 
example of the global carbon market as proof of this potential, and said that in 2007, the carbon market had grown to a volume of approximately US D 65 billion, of which the project-based markets, 
such as the Kyoto Protocol's CDM, had contributed around USD 13 billion.   
83. He believed that in moving negotiations forwar d, it would be important to build on the huge 
opportunities involved in making the economic chang es required.  A Copenhagen outcome should be 
about creating value, about rewarding low-emission business activities, and creating new markets and new jobs.  He said that the CTE, within its specific mandate, could play a useful role and contribute to 
the efforts to address climate change and to put the global economy onto a more sustainable 
development pathway.  
84. The representative of Egypt
 thanked the delegation of Indonesia for its presentation, and 
hoped that, as suggested in the intervention, the out come of the climate negotiations would be a win-
win-win situation for the environment, development and trade.  He highlighted the fifth pillar of the Bali Action Plan on the financial architecture needed to address climate change, and related it to the 
recent financial crisis.  He said that action on mitig ation, adaptation and technology transfer would 
depend on the establishment of mechanisms to gene rate additional funding resources.  At the same 
time, the effects of the financial crisis on trade ha d yet to be evaluated.  He noted that a special 
session on the financial crisis would be held in the WTO on 12 November 2008 where Members 
could address their concerns.  He sought furthe r information on how the UNFCCC, in these difficult  WT/CTE/M/46 
 Page 17 
 
 
  times, intended to undertake the dialogue with d onors and institutions to establish an effective 
financial architecture.   
85. The representative of the European Communities  thanked Indonesia for reporting the 
Informal Trade Ministers Dialogue at Bali, and on how important the issue of climate change and 
trade intersection was.  He believed that th e fundamental message from Bali was the mutual 
supportiveness of trade and climate change actions.  He  said that the EU considered it vital to prevent 
global warming from more than two degree centigrade  above the pre-industrial level.  There was 
considerable scientific evidence that beyond th is threshold, irreversible and potentially 
catastrophically changes could occur.  He believed th at this target was both technically feasible and 
economically affordable, if addressed urgently.  The benefits of doing so would out-weight the 
economic costs.  Climate change was a global cha llenge that could be addressed effectively only 
through global effort.  For that, the multilateral tr ading system had a mutual supportive role to play.  
Trade liberalisation could and should support the co mbat against climate change, notably through 
contributing to the necessary deployment of c limate and energy-friendly goods, technologies and 
services, thereby complementing and su pporting the objectives of UNFCCC.   
86. He gave examples on how the multilateral trading system could contribute to climate change 
mitigation.  On the dissemination of green technology , he said that the EC had been an advocate of a 
multilateral agreement on green goods and services  under the Doha Round, and supportive on any 
global deal on climate change.  Furthermore, trad e policy could play a role by stimulating good 
environmental policies, and the EC had been offe ring trade preferences such as providing lower tariff 
rates to developing countries which had ratified and implemented environm ental agreements, for 
instance the Kyoto Protocol.  With respect to illega l logging, the EC had been working on legislation 
that would create obligations to monitor the sources of timber to ensure that it came from certified 
legal sources with responsible mana gement.  Finally, he referred to the relevant activities in the 
context of regional agreements as mentioned in the statements made previously.      
87. He noted that the road to Copenhagen had a mid way post in Poznan, where he hoped that it 
would provide an opportunity for Parties to build on the experience with the Kyoto Protocol and 
strengthen it as the element of an architecture for a Post-2012 agreement.  He believed that Bali had 
provided a solid basis for the forthcoming negotia tions, although an ambiti ous and effective new 
global deal by the end of 2009 would require hard wo rk.  He said that the EU was committed to it, and 
believed that the other Members would do the same.   He called for further dialogue on trade and 
climate change in the WTO or in other fora as suitable.  He said that the success of the UNFCCC 
process was linked to how Members responded to the challenges of the Doha negotiations.  He hoped 
to build soon on a success of the Doha Round to gi ve a better perspective to the UNFCCC process.  
88. The representative of Australia  recalled that Australia's Minister for Trade had attended the 
informal Dialogue in Bali, and thanked Indonesia for organizing such first ever dialogue.  She 
believed that information sharing of that kind w as an important cornerstone to ensuring mutual 
supportiveness of trade and environment policies, and looked forward to further such dialogue at other 
COPs.  Australia was committed to securing an in clusive multilateral agreement to mitigate climate 
change.  She believed that alternatives to a multila teral agreement, less efficient and less effective 
actions of which some caused risk to interna tional trade and sustainable development, included 
unilateral trade actions.  These related to competiti veness and leakage issues and the principle of 
common and differentiated responsibility.  She reitera ted the point raised by her trade Minister which 
stated that environmentally sustainable framework  for global prosperity would involve continuing 
efforts to promote open trade policies in support of sustainable development.  
89. The representative of Norway  said that Norway recognized the crucial challenges of the 
interface between climate change and trade.  She welcomed Indonesia for organizing the Trade Ministers dialogue, and highlighted the recommend ations that had stressed the need for more WT/CTE/M/46 
Page 18  
 
  comprehensive studies and better empirical eviden ce on the linkages between international trade, 
development and climate change.  She said that clim ate change and trade dialogue was relevant to the 
work carried out in the WTO rega rding, for example, to strengthening and enhancing engagement 
between WTO and UNFCCC, as well as the libera lisation of environmental and climate-friendly 
goods and services.   
90. The representative of China
 noted that Trade Ministers had encouraged future hosts of 
UNFCCC COP meetings to hold similar informal  Trade Ministers Dialogue on the issues of 
international trade and climate change, and asked whether such an arrangement had been made at 
Poznan. 
91. The representative of UNFCCC , referring to Egypt's question on financing climate change 
action, said that UNFCCC had conducted an analysis on the financial need for addressing climate 
change.  This analysis published in 2007, had iden tified the needs for investments and financial flows 
in the order of USD 200 billion annually until 2030 fo r mitigation, and USD several tens of billion for 
adaptation annually.  He said that those figures were substantial, and the challenge posed was 
enormous.  The UNFCCC assessment had been that approximately 86 per cent of the financing would 
come from private sources, but an important amount would necessarily come from public funding 
sources.  He stressed that private funding would not be forthcoming without the initial public funding 
and policies.   
92. He said that an update of that analysis was in its final stage and would be issued soon.  The 
update would be focussing on ins titutional matters, and would deve lop a number of options on how 
institutions and financial architecture could be built to  respond to the challenge of climate change.  He 
said that proposals regarding financing had been pu t forward on the negotiating table.  At present, 
financing under the Convention had mainly focu ssed on the activities of the Global Environment 
Facilities that operated the financial mechanism for UN FCCC.  In its 15 years of existence, that fund 
had channelled approximately USD 1.2 billion, and th at sum had not been adequate to make a real 
contribution to address the most urgent needs in the most vulnerable countries.  
93. Regarding the financial crisis implications on climate change, he said that the Executive 
Secretariat of the UNFCCC had participated in the pr evious week a meeting held in New York on that 
subject.  The UN Secretary-General had emphasized th at the financial/economic crisis should not and 
must not be taken as a reason to reduce efforts that  had been pledged by donor countries, including 
efforts for climate change.  He noted that other entities, such as the World Bank and UNDP, had also 
stressed that the current situation could provide op portunities to address a multitude of issues, such as 
on sustainable development, energy and climate change.  
94. Addressing the question posed by China, he said that the government of Poland was 
organizing two ministerial meetings in Warsaw parallel to the Climate Change Conference to be held 
in Poznan.  The first one to be held at the end of November 2008, would host Economic/Industry 
Ministers to focus on sectoral approaches;  and th e second one to be held in the first week of 
December, would involve Finance Ministers to continue their discussions in Bali in 2007.  
95. The representative of ISO  provided information on recent ISO's work related to climate 
change.  In the area of good environmental and en ergy management practices, there were ISO 14001 
(environmental management system requirements) , ISO 14004 (environmental management system 
guidelines and principles), ISO 14040 (principles and fra mework for life cycle analysis), and ISO/TR 
14062 (environmental aspects into product design and de velopment).  He recalled that at the end of 
2007, third party certification to ISO 14001 had gone to approximately 155,000 certificates in 148 
countries.    WT/CTE/M/46 
 Page 19 
 
 
  96. He said that ISO 50001 (requirements and guidelin es related to energy management system) 
was currently under development under the leadership  of the United States and Brazil.  It provided 
requirements and guidelines related to energy ma nagement systems, and aimed to establish a 
systematic approach to address energy performance in organisations.  Another area of ISO's work 
related to environmental standards, for instance, ISO 14020 on environmental labels and declaration, 
ISO 14063 on environmental communication and ISO 21930 on environmental declaration of 
building products. 
97. Regarding action to monitor, communicate a nd quantify environmental and greenhouse gas 
(GHG) impacts, he said that ISO had numerous Technical Committees (TC) involved in this area (e.g. TC 211 on geographic information a nd geometics and TC 146/SC 5 on ai r quality and meteorology).  
ISO also collaborated with FAO and WMO on the in itiative "Essential Climate Variables" with regard 
to satellite mapping and data acquisition and processing.   An agreement had been signed recently with 
WMO on cooperation on climatological data and related standards.   
98. With respect to GHG standards relevant to clim ate change, it had been dealt with in ISO/TC 
207/Sub-Committee 7 on "GHG management  and related activities."  It intended to develop tools for 
use in voluntary or regulatory schemes, to promote and harmonize best practises, to support the 
environmental integrity of GHG assertions, to assist organisations to manage GHG-related 
opportunities and risks, and to support the deve lopment of GHG programmes and markets.  These 
standards included:  (i) ISO 14064-1 relates to guida nce at the organization level for quantification 
and reporting of GHG emissions and verification of  an organisation's GHG inventory;  (ii) ISO 
14064-2 relates to the quantification, monitori ng and reporting of GHG emissions reduction or 
removals at the project level;  (iii) ISO 14064-3 dealt with the validation and verification of GHG 
assertions;  and (iv) ISO 14065 related to require ments for GHG validation and verification bodies for 
use in accreditation and recognition.  He said that th ese standards had been used as the basis of several 
voluntary GHG schemes, and had a linkage to in ter-governmental and regulatory schemes.  For 
example, the Voluntary Carbon Standard had used ISO 14064 as the framework and had made 
reference to ISO 14065.  ISO had establishe d a Memorandum of Understanding with the GHG 
Protocol - developed by the World Resource s Institute and the World Business Council on 
Sustainable Development - in order to address t echnical cooperation, promoting and training.  
Relevant standards currently under developmen t included:  ISO 14066, which sets competency 
requirements for GHG validators and verifiers;  and ISO 14067 on carbon footprint of product and services to provide a global approach for the quantification and communication of GHG emissions 
associated with products.   
99. In the area of energy and sustainability, he  said that relevant ISO technical committees 
included those which addressed energy, for instance on nuclear energy (TC 85), solar energy (TC 
180), hydrogen technologies (TC 197), intelligent tr ansport systems (TC 204), building environment 
design (TC 205), sustainability in building c onstruction (TC59/SC17) and building energy 
performance (ISO/TC163) and technical energy systems (TC 203).  These committees developed 
technical standards which supported public policies.   A new Strategic Advisory Group on "Energy 
Efficiency and Renewable Sources" would look at opportunities to complement public policy directions through voluntary standards.  In th is respect, ISO had been cooperating with the 
International Energy Agency, the World Energy  Council and the International Electrotechnical 
Commission.  Furthermore, on biofuels, ISO TC 28/SC7, which dealt with liquid biofuel quality 
standards, was looking at opportunities to further the preliminary work that had been done by the 
United States, EC and Brazil on quality of bio-diesel  and bio-ethanol.  A new proposal had been put 
forward to the ISO membership for su stainability criteria for biofuels.   
100. The Committee took note
 of the statements made.  WT/CTE/M/46 
Page 20  
 
  V. DATE OF NEXT MEETING 
101. The next meeting of the Committee will be he ld in mid-2009 with the exact date to be 
announced nearer to the time.  
_______________  WT/CTE/M/46 
 Page 21 
 
 
   
ANNEX 1 
WTO TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE ACTIVITIES IN THE AREA OF  
TRADE AND ENVIRONMENT  
2008 
 
Information from the Secretariat  
 
Regional and National Workshops on Trade and Environment  
 1. In 2008, two regional workshops were organi zed:  for the Caribbean (in Barbados on 4-6 
February) and for Central and Eastern Europe, Cent ral Asia and Caucasus (in Vienna on 15-17 July).  
The main objective of these workshop is to provide  an opportunity for information exchange on key 
issues that form part of the Trade and Environment ag enda in the WTO, with a view to facilitating the 
more effective participation of developing country Members in WTO's work on trade and 
environment, in particular under the Doha Development Agenda.  
 2. At the workshop, participants were informed  of the relevant background and WTO rules with 
respect to trade and environment, work of th e CTE and status of the trade and environment 
negotiations.  The programme was tailored to the interests of the region and was interactive and 
designed to ensure full engagement from participan ts.  The workshop provided a forum for experience 
sharing on trade and environment matters, as well as opportunities to promote greater dialogue 
between trade and environment officials.  UNCTA D, UNEP and CBD secretariats were invited to 
contribute to the programme.
1 
 3. A third regional workshop will be held later this year (2-4 December)  in Argentina for Latin 
American countries. 
 
Participation in Meetings of Other Organizations 
 
4. The Secretariat continued to use the opport unity of attendance at meetings of other 
organizations to network and conve y information on relevant discussions in the CTE and CTESS.  In 
2008, the Secretariat participated inter alia  in a side event organized by the International Chamber of 
Commerce (ICC) on Trade and Climate Change durin g the Bonn Climate Change Talks (9-12 June)
2, 
and the COP-4 of Rotterdam Conven tion (29 October).  The Secretaria t will participate in the COP-14 
of UNFCCC in December, and a side event will be organized.      Trade Policy Courses and Introductory Courses 
 
5. As in the case of other areas of WTO's work, th e subject of trade and environment is routinely 
included in the programmes of Geneva-based trade policy and introductory courses, as well as WTO 
regional trade policy courses.  In 2008, the Secretar iat participated in regional trade policy courses 
held in Benin, Jamaica and Singapore. 
                                                     
 
1 Further information on the workshops can be obtained at the Trade and Environment Website on 
technical assistance (http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/envir_e/envir_ta_e.htm) 
2 The following bodies participated the Bonn event: the twenty-eighth sessions of the Subsidiary Body 
for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) and the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI) of the 
UNFCCC;  the second session of the Ad hoc Work ing Group on Long-term C ooperative Action under the 
Convention (AWG-LCA 2) and the second part of the fifth session of the Ad hoc Working Group on Further 
Commitments for Annex I Parties under the Kyoto Protocol (AWG-KP 5). WT/CTE/M/46 
Page 22  
 
   
Technical Assistance Activities in 2009   
 
6. For 2009, and in accordance w ith the Technical Assistance and Training Plan for 2008-2009 
formally adopted by the Committee on Trade and Development (COMTD) on 14 November 2007
3, 
regional workshops on trade and envi ronment will be organized for th e regions of Africa (English and 
French speaking);  Arab and Middle East and Asia -Pacific (see attached the relevant section of the 
COMTD document).     
 
____________ 
 
                                                     
 
3 WT/COMTD/W/160.