RESTRICTED  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/CTE/M/47 
31 August 2009 
 (09-4060) 
Committee on Trade and Environment  
  
 
REPORT OF THE MEETING HELD ON 10 JULY 2009 
 
Note by the Secretariat
 
  
1. The Committee on Trade and Environment (CTE Regular) met on 10 July 2009 under the 
Chairmanship of Ambassador Bozkurt ARAN (Turkey).
1  The first agenda item was on Paragraph 32 
of the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) whic h included Paragraph 32( i) on environmental 
requirements and market access (pages 1-10);  Paragraph 32(iii) on labelling for environmental 
purposes (page 10);  and other items of the CTE work programme, namely item 4 on transparency of 
trade measures used for environmental purposes (pag e 10).  It was followed by Paragraph 33 of the 
DDA on technical assistance and capacity building, and environmental reviews (pages 11-12);  and 
Paragraph 51 on environmental aspects of the negotia tions (page 12).  Under other business, the CTE 
took up the following subjects:  trade and climate change (pages 12-18);  environment and regional 
trade agreements (pages 18-19);  Workshop on Envir onment-related Private Standards, Certification 
and Labelling Requirements, held in Geneva on 9 July 2009 (pages 19-20);  national policy coherence 
(pages 20-22);  request for observer status by the Rotterdam Convention (pages 22-23);  International 
Conference on Chemical Management (pages 23-24) ;  and World Water Forum (pages 24-25).  
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.  
2. The representative of Turkey  recalled that at the May 2007 CTE meeting, a focussed 
discussion had been held on organic agriculture, and the delegations of China, Egypt, India, Kenya 
and Uganda had shared national and regional experiences in this field.  He said that organic 
agriculture, in addition to income generation, could have positive e ffects in the social sphere and 
ensure the conservation of natural resources, thus creating a win-win-win situation.  There were 
possible contributions of organic production to creat e a win-win-win situation for trade, environment 
and development. 
3. He noted that the global market in organic products was growing rapidly, in particular when 
compared with the conventional agriculture sector .  It increased from USD 23 billion in 2002 to USD 
39 billion in 2006.  However, the share of devel oping countries revenue was limited (one or two 
percent). Concerns had been raised by devel oping countries on the difficulties faced by producers due 
to the proliferation of different government regula tions and private voluntary standards, as well as the 
high cost of multiple inspection, certif ication and accreditation requirements. 
                                                      
1 The airgram convening this meeting was circulated in document WTO/AIR/3381, dated 9 June 2009. WT/CTE/M/47 
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  4. In a Presentation at the Workshop on Environm ent-related Private Standards, Certification 
and Labelling Requirements, he tha nked the Secretariat for having or ganized the Workshop, which he 
had found useful.  He recalled that, in a presentation at the Workshop given by a representative of the 
Codex Alimentarus Commission, it had been said th at organic agriculture was growing between 15% 
to 20% each year.  More than 100 countries we re exporting certified organic products.  The 
presentation had highlighted the trade problems due to  the proliferation of standards and certification 
requirements.  There were more than 400 public a nd private certification bodies in the organic market 
worldwide.  However, mutual recognition and equi valence were limited, and certifying bodies needed 
multiple accreditation.  Multiple certification require ments across different markets and the high cost 
of certification were among the main challenges for small producers and drove up the cost of organic 
products for consumers.   
5. He believed that it would be interesting for the CTE to be informed of current developments 
in the organic market, and to have experi ence sharing among Members in this field.  
6. The representative of China
 said that the effect of environmental measures on market access 
had been an important item of the CTE's work.  In particular under th e current global financial crisis, 
WTO Members might be tempted or pressurized domestically to adopt measures to protect domestic industry in the disguise of environmental protection.   He believed that WTO Members needed to be 
vigilant of the danger of these measures.  Firstly, these measures could be in violation with the core 
principles of WTO rules, creating arbitrary and un justifiable discrimination, or serve as disguised 
trade barriers, and could put the credibility of the multilateral trading system at risk.  Secondly, these 
measures could have a chain effect leading to reta liatory measures by other Members – thus creating a 
further slippage towards trade protectionism worldw ide.  Thirdly, these measures could be souring the 
environment for the Doha negotiations, including th e negotiations in the CTE Special Session, and 
other environment-related in ternational negotiations.   
7. He supported further work on issues that had been raised by developing country Members, 
such as on transparency, impact assessment, capacity building and technology transfer, so as to strike 
a reasonable balance between e nvironmental protection, trade and development and to avoid 
unnecessary negative impacts on international trade.   
8. The representative of Argentina
 said that Argentina had voiced its concern in various fora on 
the proliferation of private standards that were usua lly more restrictive than governmental standards, 
and that could constitute a barrier to international trade.  These standards might lead to the emergence 
of disguised restrictions on trade.  Caution sh ould be taken in the design and implementation of 
private environmental certification and labelling schem es, since they could cons titute the first step to 
the establishment of mandatory requirements that c ould impact far more than a voluntary and private 
scheme.   
9. She said that developing countries, lacking t echnology capacity and financial resources, had 
difficulties in meeting these standards.  It would be  useful to ascertain whether there were tools or 
methods to evaluate the market access impact of such standards and certification schemes, as well as 
their potential trade-restrictive eff ects, especially for developing count ries.  There was a need to bear 
in mind the level of participation of developing countries in the preparation of private standards, in 
particular, those related to organi c products, biofuels and food miles.   She noted the concern regarding 
such standards being designed based on methods devi sed by developed economies, in particular with 
respect to organic products, biofuels and foodstuffs, areas where some developing countries attached 
great importance.  
10. She said that concern about food miles was gene rated, without any scientific grounds, by the 
growing belief among consumers in some develope d countries that "locally" produced food products 
cause less environmental damage than those origina ting from distant countries.  In this connection,  WT/CTE/M/47 
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  unilateral initiatives to calculate greenhouse gases ( GHG) emissions in international transport of 
goods gave cause for concern, since they could w eaken the competitiveness of exports from countries 
that were far away and depended on inte rnational transport for exports.   
11. She said that care should also be taken in th e application of environmental measures that 
might lead to differentiation between products on the basis of non-product related processes and 
production methods.  This could undermine the prin ciple of non-discrimination according to which 
like products were to receive equal treatment.  Differentiation of this kind had been called into 
question by developing countries, including Ar gentina.  She reiterated the importance of 
environmental measures conforming with multilateral tr ade rules, so that these did not unfairly impact 
on exports from developing countries. 
12. The representative of Australia  noted that voluntary schemes on the carbon footprint of 
products were of increasing interests in the cont ext of growing interna tional concern over global 
warming.  Australia was of the view that these schemes lacked consistency and many were based on questionable methodologies that did not take into ac count the full life cycle analysis of a product.  
This included the "food miles" debate.  Australia  was currently developing a national carbon offset 
standard to ensure consumers' confidence in the voluntary carbon offset market and the integrity of 
carbon offset products they purchased. 
13. She noted that labelling schemes, including carbon  footprint schemes, were likely to have a 
continuing impact on consumers' behaviour.  En couraging better management of GHG emissions, 
rather than influencing consumers through these sche mes, might have greater results in mitigating 
climate change.  There was a need to consider the relationship between carbon labelling and other 
policy instruments to limit GHG emissions, particular ly in the context of emissions trading schemes 
that were broader than organic agriculture, but en compassed the whole food miles debate.       
14. The representative of Colombia
 said that his government attached great importance to 
ecological agricultural production, as well as the need to  develop coherent policies in this sector.  The 
Agriculture and Rural Development Ministry promot ed and controlled environmental production.  It 
had set standards – Resolution 187 of 2006 – to ha rmonise national legislati on with international 
standards and standards in the European Union (EU) , United States (US) and Japan.  A component of 
the law had been developed for group certificati ons to promote cooperative work and facilitate 
certification.  A label was provided to producers who met the standards as verified by accredited 
certifiers, and the label could be trusted by consumers.   
15. In Colombia, ecological agriculture currently  covered 46,000 hectares (approximately 0.1 
percent) of the total crop land.  There were  approximately 6,120 producers linked to 240 
organisations.  The main organic products included coff ee, fisheries, palm oil, fruits and sugar cane.  
Activities were carried out by the Ministry of Ag riculture to promote production, consumption and 
trade of these products.  These included inte r-institutional actions a nd cooperation through an 
ecological agriculture committee co mposed of authorities, private producers, small producer 
associations and other stakeholders.  The work of the committee included studying legislation and 
certification requirements; promoting the use of or ganic labels through adve rtisements, videos and 
other promotional activities;  developing a software  to manage organic agriculture activities;  and 
carrying out research and projects in this field.  Re levant legislation in Colombia was brought into line 
with that of the EU and Japan.  In the case of the EU, the process started in 1997 and was continuing.  
In the case of Japan, Colombia had recognised Japanese legislation and since December 2008 had 
been seeking mutual recognition.   
16. With respect to private standards, he recalled that at the workshop held the previous day, a 
point had been made that there was a growing use of  private standards in commercial activities.  He 
believed that these standards increased costs, marg inalised small producers and had negative market WT/CTE/M/47 
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  access impacts for developing country producers.  In many cases, these private standards were not 
based on science, although some had defended that these standards were for ethical reasons or as 
resulting from consumers' demands.  From a more  positive point of view, these private standards 
could promote better production practices, if the stan dard development procedures were inclusive and 
if there was product differentiation to signal an attribute. 
17. He highlighted the importance of transparency .  There was no effective participation by 
producers, in particular small producers, in privat e standard development, and the procedures did not 
guarantee that their concerns would be taken into  account.  Another issue was the duplication of 
effort.  As mentioned at the workshop, there were at least 400 different envi ronmental labels.  That 
made it difficult to comprehend which standards had to  be met in order to enter the various markets.  
He believed that there should be a limitation to th e proliferation and should be harmonisation through 
international efforts.  In this respect, he s upported the joint initiative by the FAO, IFOAM and 
UNCTAD on Harmonization and Equivalence in Organi c Agriculture to facilitate harmonisation and 
equivalence of organic standards. 
18. The representative of Uruguay
 endorsed the comments made by Argentina and Australia and 
proposed that, for its future work, the CTE shoul d take up topics such as food miles and carbon 
footprint labelling.  Bearing in mind that envir onmental requirements and market access was one of 
the main items of the CTE's work, the CTE c ould look into carbon footprint schemes and their 
certification requirements, measuring methodologies,  and impacts on trade for developing countries.  
19. She recalled that at a recent OECD meeting, analysis and studies had been presented by a 
group of academics on carbon footprint accounting, its scientific basis, and its impact on developing 
countries.  She believed that it would be useful if such presentations could be delivered to the CTE to 
possibly launch a debate under this agenda item or  some other agenda item, such as on trade and 
climate change. 
20. The representative of Kenya  said that his delegation's positi on on this issue was well known, 
in particular as related to organic agriculture and private standards.  Kenya had invested heavily in 
certification and standard setting on organic product s.  However, frustration was experienced from 
time to time in market entry of these products, due to  private standards.  He believed that it was an 
important issue where the CTE needed further discu ssion to ensure that issues such as food miles and 
carbon footprint were based on disciplines and sci entific evidence to support the carbon emission 
claims.  His delegation looked forward to future debate on this subject and possible disciplines to 
ensure that private standards could be more predictable and contribute to fair trade. 
21. The representative of Brazil  concluded that based on the statements made by the previous 
speakers, it was useful for the CTE to further di scuss issues under this agenda item.  The workshop on 
Environment-related Private Standards held the previous day had offered ample information and 
indication of potential challenges to market acces s as a result of the various private labelling and 
certification schemes, such as those related to food miles.  The delegation of China had raised a pertinent point regarding disguised protectionism.  It was his delegation's view that the CTE should 
discuss these issues further and deepen understanding by having presentations, as suggested by 
Uruguay, or further workshops, so that Members c ould have a more factual basis to carry out the 
discussion. 
22. The representative of New Zealand
 said that, like Argentina, Australia and Uruguay, 
New Zealand was paying close attention to the ri se of private schemes for carbon measurement and 
labelling and the development of associated standards.   New Zealand was particularly concerned that 
the rapid proliferation of private schemes, which contained considerable variation in methodologies 
and approaches, might become a condition of shelf access in offshore markets.  This would put a  WT/CTE/M/47 
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  significant compliance burden on exporters, particular ly small and medium enterprises and companies 
from developing countries.   
23. She believed it critical that international standa rds be developed in a fair and transparent 
manner, based on robust science and measurement methodologies, and be applied fairly across 
products, producers and countries.  Not only was it important that countries, sectors and firms 
coalesce around an harmonised international sta ndard, New Zealand also encouraged and supported 
the broadest possible involvement of developing count ries in the design of such standards.  The low 
level of involvement of developing countries in IS O committees, for example, was disproportionate to 
the huge impact of those final standards on these countries.   
24. She said that although discussion often focused on the drive from consumers and retailers, 
one should not neglect the interests of producers and transporters, the role of GHG footprint as a tool 
for identifying hot spots in the production chain,  and opportunities for GHG emission reduction.  For 
example, in 2007, the New Zealand Government, in collaboration with industry and research 
providers, established the New Zealand Greenhouse Gas Footprint Strategy for the Land-based 
Primary Sector to ensure that its primary sector  could be proactive with regard to increasing 
international interest in GHG footprinting.  The st rategy promotes New  Zealand's engagement in the 
development of fair and practical international standards for GHG footprint.  Another key focus of the 
strategy was the development of sector-specific GHG footprint methodologies at the farm and supply 
chain level in New Zealand.  These sector projects were unique in their bottom-up approach, working 
with producers across primary industries to devel op practical and scientifically robust methods to 
measure emissions effectively and to reduce them  where possible.  This partnership approach 
involved government, industry and research providers .  Currently, twelve carbon footprint projects 
were underway in New Zealand covering the dairy, wine, kiwi fruit, pip fruit, summer fruit, berry 
fruit, lamb, venison, beef, mutton and forestry sectors.  These projects represented the majority of New Zealand land-based primary sector exports. 
25. The representative of Mexico
 found the workshop on private standards useful and believed 
that the issue was relevant, bearing in mind th e increase of private schemes and measures in the 
market, particularly with respect to climate change .  The presentations at the workshop had shown the 
problem of proliferation of private standards and the impacts of these standards on market access, 
particularly for developing countries.   
26. She recalled that this was not a new phenomenon.  The CTE had been debating this for over a 
decade.  There were actions which had been identif ied as being desirable or necessary in order to 
reduce the impact of these schemes, fo r instance to increase transparency , to ensure notification, early 
warning and consultation, and to take into account comments made by the various actors in preparing 
these schemes.  However, since there were no real  binding disciplines governing the development and 
implementation of private standards, a solution ha d not been found.  The problem was getting worse 
because these schemes were now multiplying fast and ta king control of the market.  For that, the CTE 
should continue to work on the issue and consid er what could be done beyond notification and 
transparency.   
27. She recalled that some delegations had expressed an  interest in working in greater detail on 
items such as carbon footprint.  Mexico supported th is proposal and would like to study this subject 
under Paragraph 32(i) of the CTE mandate.  She found that the CTE agenda had become heavy under 
"Other Business."  She suggested  that as the Committee took up items  under "Other Business" (e.g. 
trade and climate change), Members could try to  identify which of these subjects corresponded to 
other items of the CTE regular agenda and not to  look at these issues in isolation.  She supported 
Uruguay's suggestion that the CTE should draw from existing analyses and studies, including relevant 
parts of the WTO-UNEP joint Report on Trade and Climate Change, in its discussions.   WT/CTE/M/47 
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  28. The representative of the United States
 noted that there were interests among Members in 
issues ranging from carbon footprint, related labels and organic products. She echoed the statement by 
the delegation of Mexico that these issues interacted  on various items of the CTE agenda, such as 
climate change and eco-labelling.  Many of th ese issues were cross-cutting, and some of the 
discussions would fall into the original CTE Agenda .  In order to have a value-added and useful 
discussion, which could contribute to the CTE mandates, she believed that the CTE might consider 
how best to structure its discussions on some of th ese issues and proposed that consultations should be 
held on this. 
29. The representative of Thailand  found the workshop on private standards useful and 
informative.  He said that Thailand considered pr ivate standards as oftentimes an opportunity for 
private sectors involving in exports of food and agricultural products.  On the other hand, the 
proliferation of private standards posed obstacles to the majority of producers and exporters.  His 
delegation supported the previous speakers who had sought further harmonizati on and development of 
international standards, given the proliferation of private standards in the past years.   
30. Thailand's experience had been that while big retailers comprising both multinational 
companies and big Thai conglomerates were able to  comply with the standards, and some of them 
developed their own private standa rds and exported their products to major developed markets, for a 
lot of smaller and medium sized producers, this had not been the case.  The main challenges for small 
and medium sized producers and exporters were the lack of know-how and needed financial 
investment to comply with these standards.  Other problems stemmed from supply chain constraints 
and from the fact that producers had to continuously chase the trend of private standards that was fast-
moving and highly competitive in nature.   
31. Since private standards were voluntary and pr ivate in nature, and oftentimes government 
agencies, apart from, for instance,  sharing information, felt unable to assist or support small producers 
directly.  The Thai Chamber of Commerce had tried to step in to fill this gap and assist in areas such 
as developing the ThaiGAP standard that aspired to become equivalent with the Globa1GAP standard;  
to provide general information;  to develop a voluntary guideline for producers;  and to assist 
producers to connect to export markets.  Given that , with the proliferation of private standards and 
increasing global competition, these were only partial so lutions.  He believed that the most sustainable 
solution was to, as much as possible, harmonise the diffe rent private standards in the various fields in 
order to assist small and medium size produ cers and exporters in developing countries. 
32. The representative of th e European Communities  agreed with the US that there was a need to 
identify the right focus and manner to deal with the i ssues that had been raised in the context of the 
regular CTE agenda.  He said that the nature of the various measures and whether these are barriers or 
opportunities for market access differed depending on whether they were private or government-
based.  This would also have a bearing on how the CTE approached these issues.  He believed that it 
was an area for further consultation.   
33. Referring to the statement made by the delega tion of Turkey on organic agriculture and 
information sharing, he said that in the EU, the first legislative framework on organic agriculture 
dated from 1991 (Council Regulation No. 2-2092/91).  Under that regulation, the EU had provided 
access of equivalent organic products to its market.  On that basis, the EU set up a list of countries 
whose production and control systems were recognised  as equivalent.  Currently, eight countries were 
on that list, and nineteen applications were being processed.  Products originating in third countries, 
not on the list, could enter the EU market, if the importer received an authorisation based on 
equivalence.   
34. From 1 January 2009, the EU had a new le gislative framework (Council Regulation No. 
834/2007), with implementing rules that contained mo re detailed provisions regarding imports.  This  WT/CTE/M/47 
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  new framework built on existing rules and experience.   Equivalence remained the guiding concept, 
and the Codex Alimentarius guideli nes were taken as a basis for assessment of equivalence.  The EU 
would continue to operate on the basis of a list of  third countries recognised as equivalent, and the 
Commission would undertake to speed up the assessment process.  As in the pa st, EU Member States 
were able to grant import authorisation on an i ndividual basis for products originating in third 
countries, and as a result, currently, organic produc ts from more than 70 countries entered the EU 
market on the basis of recognition as equivalence.  Conformity assessment procedures were in place to ensure that these products had been produced accord ing to rules that were considered as equivalent 
to prevailing rules in the EU.   
35. On private standards, he said that the workshop had provided a lot of useful information, in 
particular, on ongoing efforts to find convergence and to harmonise the different approaches followed 
by private standards.  As discussed under the age nda item on eco-labelling, and as mentioned by the 
delegation of Thailand, there was a need to discuss th is issue also as an opportunity to enhance market 
access to the extent that market trends provided a niche for products from all countries, including 
developing countries.  Regarding the development and harmonization of private standards, he said 
that, in keeping with the private nature of th e initiatives, it would be appropriate for developing-
country producers, exporters and im porters to participate in discussions in appropriate private fora in 
order to ensure that their circumstances were duly taken into account. 
36. The representative of South Africa
 believed that the CTE was entering a time when there 
would be the possibility to regenerate interest in th is agenda item, as one fo llowed the development of 
the climate change negotiations.  She recalled that several delegations had made references to food miles and carbon footprint labelling schemes and agreed that ther e was scope for further work in the 
CTE on those private standards and labelling schemes.  She added that there we re other trade-related 
climate change response measures, which some Memb ers were instituting and were discussed in the 
WTO-UNEP Report on Trade and Climate Change, that would warrant further discussion.  She 
highlighted border tax adjustment.  With respect  to consultation, as proposed by some other 
delegations, the CTE should seek ways on how to di scuss these issues so that  Members could fully 
appreciate the impact of these environmental measures on market access. 
37. The representative of Cuba
 welcomed the workshop on private standards that had provided 
Members the opportunity to acquire information on  the proliferating environment-related private 
standards, and standards developed by various standards-setting bodies in different countries, 
including developing countries.  He said that standa rds were evolving so fast that many developing 
countries could not keep up with the pace.  He r ecalled that at the workshop, a representative of the 
FAO had spoken of the advantages of private sta ndards but had also listed the problems faced by 
developing countries as a result of these standards.  It had been shown that private standards were 
trade obstacles for many countries.  Concerns had been raised that developing countries could not 
participate in the development of these standards, even if the standards were related to products in 
which they had an export interest.  This include d those developed in international standardizing 
bodies where developing countries were members.   
38. He gave the example of bananas and said that mo st profits did not go to the producers, but to 
the traders;  and yet the cost of meeting standard s and requirements was borne by the producers.  He 
noted that the discussion so far had focussed on agricu ltural products, an area of great concern, in 
particular, at a time of crisis – not only the fina ncial crisis of 2009, but also the ongoing global crisis 
in food security, particularly in least developed countries.   
39. He recalled that at the workshop held the previ ous day, an issue had been raised concerning 
carbon footprint.  He believed that it was an area that needed further debate in the CTE, in particular 
with respect to the reasoning behind, the methodol ogy for calculation, as we ll as how these private 
standards might impact on development.  He recalled that at a recent OECD meeting, there had been a WT/CTE/M/47 
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  presentation on Carbon Trust (an entity that served to  measure carbon footprint) and a model for the 
calculation of CO2 emissions for countries and products.   
40. He said that it would be interesting to calcul ate the carbon footprint of citizens based on their 
goods and services consumption.  A consumer could then  bear in mind his/her CO2 emission level.  In 
calculating the carbon footprint of each citizen, one could take into account factors such as life expectancy, water, gas and electricity consumption.  For example, a citizen in Europe had an average 
life expectancy of 80, and in Africa, around 46.  On  water consumption, a European citizen consumed 
approximately 1,200-1,300 litres a year, while in A frica (e.g. a Kenyan or Malawian) around 70 litres.  
Based on that, an average European would have a greater carbon footprint than an African.  He 
concluded that to calculate carbon footprint based on how products were imported and transported 
was a partial and segmented analysis and was doubtfu l that environmental concerns were behind some 
of the private standards that had been developed.   
41. He agreed that there were many relevant i ssues to be discussed and echoed the proposal that 
consultations should be held to find out which issues delegations wished to discuss in the CTE. 
42. The representative of Ecuador
 shared the concerns expressed by other delegations with 
respect to private standards and certification schemes , in particular their proliferation and negative 
market access impacts they could have on products from  developing countries.  He recalled that at the 
workshop, many presentations had highlighted the l ack of harmonization, and the fact that, in many 
cases, voluntary standards were becoming obligatory.  The main concern was the impact of private 
standards and certification schemes on SMEs due to their lack of resources and difficulties in meeting the requirements.  He believed that this was an  issue crucial to the development of developing 
countries and international trade, and further di scussion on this subject should be given priority. 
43. The representative of Turkey
 thanked the Secretariat for having organized the Workshop on 
Environment-related Private Standards Certificati on and Labelling Requirements.  He said that as 
awareness of the environment grew among consumer s, producers, regulators and other stakeholders, 
there was an increase in environment-related mandatory technical regulations and voluntary 
standards, including private voluntary standards.   Increasingly, voluntary environment-related 
standards played a key role in many sectors and might  include specifications more stringent than those 
contained in mandatory regulations.  These standard s were growing in number and evolving quickly.  
If they were integrated into supply chains (as in th e case of sustainable forest management standards), 
they could become commercial imperatives.  As  a result, the difference between voluntary and 
mandatory standards was not felt by exporters or produ cers, since even if a standard was voluntary, it 
was considered to be a precondition to access certain markets.  Turkey was of the view that private 
standards might be addressed in future CTE meeti ngs, and Members could share their experiences and 
challenges in this area.   
44. The representative of Pakistan  recalled that in his village, manure had been used as fertiliser 
in the days when bullocks and cows were used for ploughing.  With the coming of tractors, there were 
no bullocks and cows, and thus no manure for fertilizer .  In his village, water used to be channelled 
from one field to another, and it had been mainta ined through social res ponsibility among villagers.  
With the arrival of a donor project on the lining of water channels, local people relinquished their 
responsibilities and abdicated them to government agenci es.  When the project came to an end, with 
no provision for maintenance or repairs, a great majority of the green fields had disappeared.  He 
concluded that one country's standards might not c onform to another's ecological profile.  For that, 
accommodation, adaptation and equivalence were more  important than scientific techniques.  With 
respect to developing countries, which lacked t echnological and scientific resources, there was a need 
to have more involvement in standard development processes.    WT/CTE/M/47 
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  45. He was interested in the debates and studies carried out in the various fora, including the 
OECD, on carbon footprint and private standards.  He noted the issues related to carbon footprint, 
including the accounting methods, life cycle mode ls, primary and secondary data, good regulatory 
methods, conformity assessment, equivalence and mu tual recognition.  He believed that more 
informed debate in this area would be necessary.   
46. The representative of the OECD  recalled that a number of de legations had made  reference to 
a recent OECD event – the Global Forum on Trade and Climate Change – in connection with the 
recent OECD study on market access effects and environmental effects of carbon footprint labelling.  The event had focussed on carbon footprint accounting related to specific products, and its discussions 
had been animated mainly by academics who worked in research institutes in this field.   
47. He said that as pointed out by the delegations  of Australia and New Zealand, carbon footprint 
accounting was not limited to labelling, but also used as a tool for companies to examine "hotspots" in 
supply chains.  A lot of effort had been made, involving academics, NGOs and government 
representatives, to try to develop international standards on product-specific carbon footprinting.  
However, as had been pointed out by some academ ics, there were problems with respect to both the 
methods used and the data needed to estimate emissi ons.  There were standards for life cycle models.  
For example, the ISO had established a standard th at was used by those who applied these models.  
However, these models required judgment, and often,  due to imperfect data, de cisions had to be made 
to allocate particular inputs.  For instance, secondary data had to be used, if primary data could not be 
obtained.  There was also the question of whether to use average or margin al values.  All of these 
could result in different values and results.   
48. It was particularly problematic when looking  into agricultural products from developing 
countries, since the data needed to examine emissions  from particular farms under particular soils or 
climate regimes were sparse.  In some cases, the data  available was for the whole country or region.  
However, some analysis (e.g. sponsored by the World Bank and by the International Trade Centre) 
had shown that the variations from one farm to another could be as much as from one country to 
another.  It was worrisome, if such questionable results were presented to consumers with a patina of 
scientific rigour attached.   
49. He said that this was not just a question of pr ivate standards, but also of public policies.  
Some governments were sponsoring voluntary schem es for labelling products with carbon footprints.  
For example, France would make carbon labelling of  mass-marketed products (e.g. food, furniture, 
clothing and appliances) mandatory as of the beginni ng of 2011.  On biofuels, at the moment, there 
were carbon accounting standards, but at the beginning of 2010, in several countries, there would be 
mandatory regulations coming into force.  These m easures, which would effect market access, were 
based on the models and databases mentioned above.  Furthermore, there seemed to be a lack of 
communication between the two communities – those interested in carbon footprinting of food and 
clothing;  and those involved with biofuels.  It could be problematic if different carbon footprint 
accounting results were coming out from these two groups on products such as sugar, palm oil or 
other tropical products.   
50. The representative of UNCTAD
, referring to organic agriculture, said that in collaboration 
with FAO and IFOAM and with support from the Norwegian government, UNCTAD had carried out 
a project that would assist developing countries in making use of the tools developed by the 
International Task Force on Harmonisation and Equi valence in Organic Agriculture – namely, the 
international requirements for organic certificati on bodies, and the Equitool for the comparison and 
determination of the technical equivalence of stan dards.  A number of regulatory authorities had 
indicated that these tools would be used  in future equivalence negotiations.  WT/CTE/M/47 
Page 10  
 
  51. He informed the CTE of a new initiative relate d to voluntary sustainability standards.  A 
group of approximately 30 international organi sations, research institutions and NGOs had come 
together under the Trade Standards Practitioners Ne twork (TSBN) for an initiative launched by the 
World Bank and administered by the German Gt Z.  UNCTAD and the FAO were among the members 
of the steering group.  The main objective of this  initiative was to better coordinate analytical and 
capacity building activities in voluntary sustainability  standards.  One important cluster identified by 
the TSBN was "improved, informed deci sion-making in developing countries."   
52. The Committee took note
 of the statements made.  
B. PARAGRAPH 32(III) (LABELLING FOR ENVIRONMENTAL PURPOSES ) 
53. The representative of the European Communities  recalled that in 2004, his delegation had 
made a proposal aimed at drawing up a more positive agenda under this item.  The intention had been 
to focus on developing countries and, in particular, on how to enhance their ability to qualify for eco-
labels in exporting markets, as well as to partic ipate effectively in the international standardization 
process.  A positive dialogue had been proposed aro und the following main elements:  (i) to discuss 
instruments to facilitate applicati ons for eco-labels from companies located in developing countries;  
(ii) to further support access of developing countr y governments, producer organisations and other 
relevant stakeholders to information on such schem es;  (iii) to discuss how best to ensure that eco-
labelling schemes are developed and administered  in a non-protectionist, non-discriminatory, 
transparent and participatory ways, for example, as  laid down in ISO standard 14024;  and (iv) to 
support cooperation between different  eco-labelling schemes and to c onsider mutual recognition and 
equivalency.  His delegation remained open to discuss these ideas, if Members so wished.  He 
believed it would be a positive step to revive  CTE's discussion under this agenda item.   
54. On the EU's efforts to assist developing count ries to adapt to and adopt eco-labelling schemes 
and to seize opportunities, the EC together with th e German Government were financing a project 
with an objective to build capacity in developing countries in this respect.  The project was led by 
UNEP.  He proposed to invite UNEP to brief the C TE on this project at the next Committee meeting. 
55. The representative of Argentina  said that labelling for environmental purposes should be 
applied in accordance with the provisions of th e TBT Agreement – it should not create unnecessary 
obstacles to international trade nor establish arbitrar y or unjustifiable discrimin ation.  Her delegation 
believed that non-product related processes a nd production methods could not constitute a 
requirement for market access.  One should examine the possibility of using measures alternative to 
labelling that could meet the objectives pursued, whilst having less impact on trade.  
56. The Committee took note  of the statements made.  
C. OTHER ITEMS OF THE CTE  WORK PROGRAMME  
Item 4 on transparency of trade meas ures used for environmental purposes 
57. The Chairman  drew the CTE's attention to document WT/CTE/EDB/6  that contained the 
environmental database for 2006.  He noted that each year, the preparation of the database was a 
resource intensive exercise for the Secretariat and invited Members to provide feedback on the use of 
that document.    
58. The Committee took note  of the statement made.   WT/CTE/M/47 
 Page 11 
 
 
  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 
59. The representative of th e European Communities  said that the EU attached great importance 
to technical assistance and had a broad range of programmes to assist developing countries, in 
particular in the area of trade and environment.  He drew the CTE's attention to two programmes that 
the EU was financing with regard  to cooperation with Asia, entitled "Switch Asia" and "Flag Asia." 
These programmes were contained in the EU regional strategy for assistance to Asia, giving a priority 
to environment, energy and climate change.   
60. "Switch Asia" promoted the adoption of sustai nable consumption and production in Asia.  
The budget foreseen was €90 million over four year s up to 2010.  €50 million had been committed, 
mostly to fund projects implemented by partners hips of non-profit organizations from the EU and 
Asia to inform Asian SMEs on ways to cut costs and gain new markets by adopting more sustainable 
production techniques.  Europe Aid is the EU impl ementing body for external aid.  Currently, a new 
"Switch Asia" commitment was being prepared, and it would support Asian governments that wished 
to formulate and implement national action plan s on sustainable consumption and production. 
61. "Flag Asia" with a budget of €6 million was implemented on behalf of the EC by the 
European Forest Institute.  This programme, wh ich started at the beginning of 2009, focussed on 
forest governance and mechanisms to certify traded timber that had been legally harvested.  The 
project office would be based in Malaysia, and the programme would provide supports in several 
Southeast Asian countries and China.  He invited in terested Members to consult these programmes at 
the EC website http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/where/asia/regional-
cooperation/environment/flegt_en.ht m and http://www.switch-asia.eu/.  
62. The representative of Australia  informed the CTE of a workshop that had been co-hosted by 
Australia and Indonesia in Jakarta in May 2009.  The workshop, held under the auspices of APEC had 
a focus on trade and environment.  The aim had been  to facilitate sharing of ideas, information and 
experiences between participants;  to provide APEC  policy-makers with tools to develop effective 
environmental regulations based on their own circum stances;  and to develop policies and regulations 
that do not distort trade, including advancing trade liberalization on environmental technologies, 
goods and services.  The Workshop had cove red topics such as environmental goods and 
technologies, carbon standards and labelling, best  practice experiences, and efforts in key 
international fora, including the WTO, in relati on to trade and environment.  A statement on the 
outcomes of this workshop was being finalised and w ould be circulated within APEC in July 2009.  
63. The representative of UNCTAD  said that lately UNCTAD had co-organised two organic 
conferences in Africa.  The East African Organic Regional Conference held in Uganda had led to policy discussions and exchange on best policy practices to promote organic agriculture in the region.  
A Centre of Excellence, supported by a number of  donors, had been inaugurated to support producer 
groups or government agencies in the region.  UNCTAD had also co-organized the first national 
Organic Conference in Ethiopia to strengthen the na tional organic movement, a nd to develop a plan to 
assist the government to improve policy coherence re garding sustainable agriculture with an emphasis 
in supporting small holder production.   
64. On equivalency, a draft paper was under prep aration that aimed at outlining options for 
greater equivalence between organic standards a nd the GlobalGAP standard.  The objective was to WT/CTE/M/47 
Page 12  
 
  facilitate access to supermarket shelves by small or ganic producers.  The draft had been submitted to 
the GlobalGAP Secretariat for further discussion.  An  Expert Group with the pa rticipation of experts 
from organic production and GlobalGAP would meet in  the fall to discuss the conceptual options and 
the practical implications.   
65. The UNCTAD 2009 Trade and Environment Review was devoted to the subject of using the 
crisis to launch sustainable growth.  The following  examples were elaborated on:  energy, material 
and resource efficiency;  promotion of sustainable agriculture – mainstreaming sustainable agriculture 
in developing countries as part of pro-poor development strategies ;  and harnessing renewable energy 
for sustainable rural development.   The Revi ew, which would be launched in September 2009, 
contained specific articles devoted to these subject s as well as a number of successful country level 
examples.   
66. The Committee took note
 of the statements made. 
2. Environmental Reviews 
67. There were no statements from delegations under this item.  
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. 
68. There were no statements from delegations under this item.  
IV. OTHER BUSINESS 
A. TRADE AND CLIMATE CHANGE  
69. The Chairman  recalled that a joint Report on Trade and Climate Change prepared by the 
Secretariats of the WTO and UNEP was launched on 26 June 2009.  He found the Report, which 
provided information on the linkages between trade and climate change, timely, in particular with the 
COP-15 of the United Nations Framework Convent ion on Climate Change (UNFCCC) approaching 
in December 2009 in Copenhagen.          
70. The representative of China  said that although the scientific part of the Report was deemed 
good, the legal part had been interpreted by the media as a WTO signal backing border tax measures.  
In fact, drafters of this Report only explained the relevant provisions in WTO Agreements – such as 
the conditions of applying general exceptions –  without any mention of backing border taxes.  
However, it was beyond the public’s and the media' s ability to fully understand the legal relationship 
between the general provisions and the exceptions.  It was only to be expected that the public and the 
media had suspicions when the focus had been put on exceptions.  There were two ways of 
interpreting exceptions.  The first way was to say that one could not do something except in very 
special circumstances;  and the other way was to say that one could do something so long as certain 
conditions were met.  The two ways  could make a huge difference.   
71. In his view, instead of combating climate change, attempts to levy border tax came out of the 
purpose to restrict competitiveness of other countries.   On this premise, it could not satisfy the 
conditions of applying exceptions, such as the non-di scrimination where the same conditions prevail.  
He recalled that President Obama had said that at a time when the economy worldwide was still deep 
in recession and was experiencing a significant drop in global trade, one had to be careful in sending  WT/CTE/M/47 
 Page 13 
 
 
  any protectionist signals.  He was mindful of the ne ed to ensure a level playing field internationally 
and believed that there might be other ways than  applying tariffs.  The international community 
should condemn and not encourage any such actions , so as to deter others from following suit.   
72. He said that trade and climate change was a very controversial issue, and the WTO Secretariat 
needed to be cautious in expressing any opinions on  that.  He believed that WTO rules were like a 
small cage that was unable to hold a big issue such as climate change.  The only way out was first to 
reach a multilateral agreement on climate change, and that was what the WTO Director General had 
said – Copenhagen first.  Then, the relationship be tween climate change and trade measures could be 
further clarified within the WTO framework.  This clarification should be based on multilateral 
discussions and negotiations  and not make way for unilateral measures.   
73. The representative of Uruguay  said that the CTE should discuss trade and climate change in a 
more structured manner.  The WTO-UNEP joint Report on Trade and Climate Change was a good 
initiative and could be used as a basis to start the climate change discussion in the CTE.  She proposed 
to invite the Secretariat to give a presentation on th e contents of the Report at the next CTE meeting, 
following which Members could have an exchange of views. 
74. The representative of Brazil  said that the issue of trade and climate change had enormous 
repercussions.  His capital was studying the join t Report that contained a number of important 
considerations and dealt with matte rs that had a huge impact in public and political spheres.  It was 
natural that some would seize the Report and read mo re into it than it might have wished to convey.  
In light of this, his delegation believed that it wa s important that in a Member-driven organisation, 
Members be allowed to discuss in depth the relationship between trade and climate change.  He 
supported the proposal made by Uruguay to have a presentation on the Report, so that Members could 
move forward to a more informed discussion and have their voice heard on this important subject. 
75. The representative of India  shared the concerns expressed by China and supported the view 
that the first thing was to have a multilateral ag reement on climate change. Only then could the 
relationship between climate change and trade measures be further clarified within the WTO 
framework through multilateral discussions and nego tiations.  He said that climate change was a 
global problem; it was not an individual problem, nor a problem of any single country.  What was 
needed was a global solution, a cooperative respon se, not an individual response.  Difficult 
negotiations were taking place to conclude a clim ate treaty in Copenhagen in accordance with the 
principles of “common but differentiated responsib ilities and respective capabilities” that had been 
agreed by consensus by the entire international community in 1992.  When the climate treaty was 
concluded, each country would know its individual shar e of responsibilities.  In other words, countries 
would be contributing equitably in accordance w ith their common but differentiated responsibilities 
and respective capabilities.   
76. In view of this, the question was why discuss border measures, since border measures were 
individual measures.  It was his delegation’s view  that unilateral trade measures would not help 
matters and would not further international trade.   The discussion on border measures distracted 
attention, when the need at the moment was to fight  climate change jointly.  It was not an opportune 
time to talk about the legality of border measures and under what circumstances could one take such 
action and to say that border measures could be  taken provided a number of carefully crafted 
conditions were satisfied.  Unilateral trade measures  would invite retaliatory measures and tit-for-tat 
policies.  They would trigger retaliatory measures, disputes and trade wars.  He did not believe that 
the present WTO dispute settlement mechanism could handle this.   
77. The representative of Argentina  believed that trade and climate change was an important topic 
and should be debated in the CTE in a more struct ured way.  She thanked the WTO Secretariat and 
UNEP for preparing the Report on Trade and Climate Change.  Her delegation reserved its right to WT/CTE/M/47 
Page 14  
 
  come back with comments in future meetings.  She ag reed that it would be useful for the Secretariat to 
give a presentation on the Report at the next CTE meeting. 
78. The representative of Australia
 supported a discussion on trade and climate change in the 
CTE.  She congratulated the Secretariat on the jo int Report and found it timely and a rich source of 
information for discussions in the CTE.  She suppo rted the proposal to have a presentation on the 
Report as a starting point for a structured discussion in the Committee.  She said that it might help 
dispel some of the misinterpretations that had been in the press regarding a certain part of the Report 
as referred to, particularly, by China.  A struct ured dialogue on climate ch ange could better position 
the CTE, and through it, the WTO, to contribute to  broader efforts in support of the comprehensive 
international agreement on climate change at Copenha gen.  She believed that the CTE could usefully 
highlight the proven track record of the WTO syst em in upholding the mutual supportiveness of trade 
and environment measures.  In this regard, a stru ctured dialogue would provide a forum for enhanced 
engagement between trade prac titioners and MEA experts.   
79. Australia proposed that any formalised CTE discussion on trade and climate change could 
contribute to building momentum for negotiations  on the liberalisation on environmental goods and 
services in the CTE Special Session.  There was scope to engage with th e emerging international 
dialogue on concerns on both climate change and the economic downturn, highlighting the immediate 
and longer term benefits of trade liberalis ation in environmental goods and services.   
80. The representative of Ecuador  said that Ecuador recognised the threat of climate change and 
the importance of sustainable development for future  generations.  His country  had signed and ratified 
the Kyoto Protocol and supported initiatives to combat climate change.  Finding effective solutions to 
fight climate change was a great challenge, and th ere must be multilateral cooperation in appropriate 
fora.  He noted that the subject of WTO rules and carbon taxes cove red in the Report could be taken 
by some governments under the excuse of environmen tal protection and agreed with China that the 
Secretariat should not be making statements with respect to their legality.   
81. He said that if Members were really interested  in combating climate change, they were invited 
to commit themselves to support the Yasuni ITT initia tive.  This was a plan where Ecuador made a 
commitment not to exploit 850 million barrels of crude oil found in the Yasuni National Park to try to 
avoid atmospheric emissions of 410 million metric tonnes of CO2 over ten years.  That park was a 
conservation site considered to have the greatest bi odiversity in the Amazon.  He would further brief 
the CTE on this initiative. 
82. The representative of Switzerland  congratulated the Secretariat on the Report on Trade and 
Climate Change and found it useful and timely.  The Report provided an overview of the state of play 
and was a neutral document.  He understood the concerns  raised by China, India and the others:  this 
complex issue could easily be misunderstood or misint erpreted.  He said that a discussion in the CTE 
on trade and climate change would be useful and tim ely.  Out of all the environmental challenges, 
climate change was the most topical, and the CTE, dealing with the concept of mutual supportiveness, 
should tackle this issue.  He s upported a structured debate in the Committee and the proposal made by 
Uruguay for a presentation of the Report.     
83. The representative of the European Communities  welcomed the Report and found it a useful 
work that provided some good analysis on issues  under discussion.  He said that there were 
controversial issues, and his delega tion had taken note of the statements made in this regard.  He 
believed that it would be useful to have a more structured discussion on trade and climate change in 
the CTE, and the Committee could discuss how to best  approach this.  He recalled that a number of 
delegations had suggested to start the discussion with a presentation on the Report.  His delegation 
was open on the way forward, be it a workshop or some  other format.  At such events, Members could 
report their efforts and policies in trade and climate change and discuss how trade policy tools could  WT/CTE/M/47 
 Page 15 
 
 
  be usefully employed to help achieving climate chan ge goals.  In this respect, he shared the specific 
view made by Australia and others. 
84. The representative of South Africa  supported the proposal by Uruguay on a presentation of 
the Report at the next meeting.  She said that in  the CTESS, as alluded to by Australia, the guiding 
principle provided by Ministers was to enhance th e mutual supportiveness of trade and environment.  
Although climate change was not a negotiating issue in the WTO, it provided an opportunity for the 
Committee to be proactive in this respect.  There was no doubt that some of the issues being discussed 
under the climate change negotiations  had trade implications.  It wa s timely to familiarise Members 
with those linkages, and the preparation of the Report provided a good opportunity.  Judging by the 
statements made, there was the need to consult on how to take this discussion forward.  Having been 
at COP-14 of UNFCCC in Poznan, she believed that climate change negotiators would benefit from 
receiving input from trade colleagues at the nati onal level and from the WTO, since they were 
surrounded by issues that linked to trade. 
85. The representative of Mexico  thanked the Secretariat for the Report and said that it would be 
a useful document.  Based on what had been seen in the press, and what had been commented by 
China and other delegations, she believed that it w ould be preferable if the Report had been an 
internal working document for discussions amongst Me mbers, rather than a publication for external 
use, since it could give rise to different interpreta tions.  These interpretations  could be misleading and 
lead to manipulation of information.   
86. On how to move forward internally, she belie ved that it would be good to have a general 
presentation by the Secretariat on the Report, without prejudging whatever later use might be made of 
the Report, or the selection of relevant topics to be discussed within the Committee.  She noted the 
concerns raised by the delegation of India with respect to the prin ciples of "common but differentiated 
responsibilities and respective capabilities" on which th e climate negotiations were based.  Mexico 
agreed with the WTO Director General that climate change negotiations had to  move first, and it was 
only after the outcome of the negotiations was know n that the WTO would see what was relevant to 
the WTO.  Members could then look into the various provisions that might be linked to the results of 
the climate change negotiations.  She supported the id ea to hold consultations on what items should be 
discussed in the CTE. 
87. The representative of Pakistan  said that the subject of border tax was under consideration in 
his capital.  She believed that there was scope for mutual supportiveness of trade and environmental 
measures.  Climate change was an issue of globa l magnitude and was related to global governance to 
be addressed in Copenhagen.  Border measures we re unilateral trade measures and had to be seen 
within the context of common but differentiated r esponsibilities and the context of global governance. 
88. The representative of Canada  said that her delegation supported the idea of having a focused 
discussion on trade and climate change.  Based on th e interventions made, it was clear how important 
this issue was to many delegations.  As men tioned by Brazil, the WTO was a Member driven 
organisation.  While Canada welcomed the Repor t, it believed that Members needed to have a 
discussion in the CTE on trade and climate change matters.   
89. On how to structure the discussion in the Comm ittee, she believed that a presentation on the 
Report would be a good start.  , She believed that it w ould also be useful to hear briefings on some of 
the work being done elsewhere on trade and clim ate change.  She gave the examples of work 
undertaken by the OECD Joint Working Party on Trade and Environment, the Global Forum on Trade 
and Climate Change held in June 2009, the In ternational Centre for Trade and Sustainable 
Development (ICTSD), and the APEC workshop hosted by Indonesia, as mentioned by Australia.   WT/CTE/M/47 
Page 16  
 
  90. The representative of the Philippines
 joined the other delegations in requesting the Secretariat 
to give a presentation on the Report.  She said that the world was tackling the ongoing financial crisis, 
and efforts should be made to handle the outstandi ng problems that hinder development, including 
those related to climate change.  A more structured discussion on trade and climate change could provide Members with information that could likewi se enrich discussions in relevant negotiating areas 
in the WTO. 
91. The representative of Turkey
 said that climate change was the latest and probably the most 
significant global environmental concern, and it w as against this background that one debated the 
interface of trade and climate change.  Turkey co mmitted itself both to trade liberalisation and to 
environment protection and sustainable developmen t.  An open multilateral trading system supported 
by sound environmental policies would have a positi ve impact on the environment and contribute to 
sustainable development.  Turkey believed that protection of the environment – such as the ozone 
layer, bio-diversity, endangered species, oceans and temperature of the upper atmosphere – must be a 
top priority for all governments.  Climate cha nge and these other global environmental problems 
required global solutions, and this in turn requi red international cooperation and agreement.   
92. Turkey welcomed the Report on Trade and Clim ate Change and believed that it was useful 
and comprehensive.  He thanked the WTO Secr etariat and UNEP for their work.  He supported 
Uruguay's proposal on a presentation of the Report a nd believed that it could be useful for the 
Secretariat to organize a seminar or workshop to br ief Members on the important issues of trade and 
climate change.   
93. The representative of New Zealand  congratulated the WTO and UNEP on the joint Report on 
Trade and Climate Change and believed that it was a va luable contribution to the debate on the issue.  
The report, which was well researched and based on an  extensive literature review, demonstrated that 
there were a range of complex connections between  trade and climate change.  New Zealand recalled 
what the WTO Director General had said that the WTO's institutional engagement in the climate 
change debate should follow a logical sequence, only after Copenhagen - or the achievement of a 
multilateral agreement on climate change, if that cam e later – would the WTO develop its response to 
the new agreement.   
94. Her delegation supported a timely and carefully structured discussion in the CTE on trade and 
climate change issues, as well as the proposal made by Uruguay to start the discussion with a 
presentation on the Report. 
95. The representative of Cuba  agreed with the other delegations to hold a broad discussion in the 
CTE on trade and climate change.  He shared the concerns raised by China and supported the proposal 
by Uruguay.  He said that climate change had al ready affected lives in hi s country and the lives of 
people around the world.  Cuba had experienced an in crease in temperature, a rise in sea level, water 
problems, and worsening yields in agriculture.  The problems were imminent. 
96. He said that in addition to trade and climate cha nge, there were other issues directly related to 
climate change that could be dealt with in the WTO.   He gave the example of transfer of technology 
and climate change, relating it to the Working Gr oup on Trade and Transfer of Technology and the 
Council for Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Pr operty Rights.  He said that at the moment, his 
country could not buy wind genera tors but could produce them if relevant technology was received 
under favourable conditions.  If patent s did not have a 20 year protection period, developing countries 
could produce many of the products that provide d services to mitigate climate change.  The other 
issue was financing and climate change, and he re ferred to the Working Group on Trade, Debt and 
Finance.  He said that when dealing with climate change in the WTO, it was not just a question of 
border tax, but there were also other aspects that c ould be dealt with.  There were many commitments 
that had to be discussed before Copenhagen, a nd he hoped that there would be major results.  WT/CTE/M/47 
 Page 17 
 
 
  97. The representative of Korea  appreciated the efforts made by WTO and UNEP Secretariats to 
prepare the Report that provided the background fo r further discussion on trade and climate change – 
an important area that deserved Members' attention and consideration.  He said that Korea was interested in the development of other Members'  climate change measures and looked forward to 
discussing the economic and scientific aspects of these issues in the WTO in a more informed and 
structured way.  A presentation on the Report would be a good start.   
98. The representative of Kenya
 thanked the WTO and UNEP for the Report and supported the 
proposal to request the Secretariat to make a detail ed presentation on it at the next meeting.  He said 
that trade and climate change issues were complicat ed and needed to be approached with an open 
mind in order to be able to ascertain their impli cations, in particular as related to the ongoing 
Copenhagen negotiations.   
99. The representative of the United States  said that the discussion so far had made it clear that 
trade and climate change was an area of great intere st to delegations and was worthy of consideration 
in the CTE.  She was mindful of the international negotiations that were taking place with the run-up 
to the Copenhagen meeting at the end of 2009.  Her delegation would follow closely the development 
and interact with colleagues in capital.  She highlig hted the important role to play at the domestic 
level in terms of interagency discussions  and to provide a trade perspective. 
100. She agreed that there was a need for Copenhagen to take the lead and to be mindful of its 
outcome.  In the meantime, it would be good to have  a presentation of the Report prepared by the 
Secretariat and UNEP.  Her delegation was studyin g the Report and welcomed a detailed presentation 
on it that might assist consideration on how to better st ructure the CTE's work in this area.  She agreed 
that it would be useful to hold consultations on how the Committee might structure its work given the 
various upcoming events. 
101. The representative of Indonesia  said that trade and climate cha nge policies should be mutually 
supportive.  Noting the complexities of trade and clim ate change issues, he ag reed that work should 
be done to improve clarity.  He supported the proposal for a presentation on the WTO-UNEP joint 
Report at the next CTE meeting. 
102. The representative of UNEP  said that the UNEP Secretariat had been motivated to collaborate 
in the preparation of the WTO-UNEP Report for the following main reasons:  it contributed to the 
international dialogue on issues of trade and clim ate change;  and it increased collaboration between 
the two Secretariats as a concrete means of increasing the mutual supportiveness of trade and 
environment policies.  From UNEP's perspective,  this collaboration was fruitful and useful, and 
UNEP looked forward to working with the WTO on such endeavours in the future. 
103. The Chairman  said that based on the interventions of Members, the CTE could take up the 
topic of trade and climate change at its next m eeting.  It would be useful to hold informal 
consultations on how to structure the discussions.   He invited delegations to come forward with any 
suggestions that they might have through the Secret ariat on how this subject could be best discussed 
in future CTE meetings.    
104. The Committee took note  of the statements made. 
B. ENVIRONMENT AND REGIONAL TRADE AGREEMENT  
105. The representative of Canada  said that in 2008, Canada had concluded bilateral negotiations 
with three WTO Members – Peru, Colombia and Jord an.  Canada's current model for incorporating 
environmental considerations into  bilateral and regional free trad e negotiations consisted of the 
following:  (i) negotiating a "princ iple-based" Environmental Chapter w ithin the trade agreement that 
pointed to obligations contained within the E nvironmental Agreement;  (ii) including key trade-WT/CTE/M/47 
Page 18  
 
  related environment provisions within the text of the trade agreement (i.e. in the preamble, 
investment, institutional and dispute settlement chapters);  and (iii) negotiating a parallel 
Environmental Agreement that committed the Partie s to high levels of environmental protection and 
effective enforcement of environmental laws.   
106. Another area that had evolved was the increased involvement of provinces and territories of 
Canada in the negotiations of these agreements, in cluding through particip ation in negotiations on 
areas that fell in whole or in part under their jurisdiction.   
107. She said that at the Canada-EU Summit in May 2009, leaders had launched negotiations 
toward a comprehensive economic and trade agreem ent.  The broad negotiating agenda had been 
defined in the Joint Report on EU-Canada-Scoping Ex ercise released in March 2009.  She would keep 
the CTE informed of the developments of the nego tiation.  Information on the above bilateral trade 
agreements were available at Canada 's website:  www.international.gc.ca. 
108. The representative of Australia
 said that her Government's approach was to include 
environmental provisions in free trade agreements (FTAs) on a case-by-case basis.  Robust whole-of-
government engagement and excha nge of national experiences w as fundamental to Australia's 
negotiation of environmental provisions in FTAs.  It was important to ensure that any such provisions 
complement Australia's overall approach to trade and environment issues: that trade and environment 
policies were mutually supportive;  that any such provisions further Australia's efforts to liberalise 
environmental goods and services;  and that any such provisions were not seen as an avenue for trade 
protectionism that could be used against Australian exports.   
109. She gave the example of the Australia-US FTA that included a detailed chapter on 
environment and a separate side statement on envi ronmental cooperation.  Environment was also 
addressed in Australia's recent FTA with Chile, in wh ich there were references to the environment in 
the cooperation chapter.  In that FTA, which came into force in March 2009, Australia and Chile had 
agreed to a general commitment to strengthen en vironmental protection and promote sustainable 
development in the context of strengthening trad e and investment between Australia and Chile.  
110. The Committee took note  of the statements made. 
C. WORKSHOP ON ENVIRONMENT -RELATED PRIVATE STANDARDS , CERTIFICATION AND 
LABELLING REQUIREMENTS  
111. The Chairman  recalled that a workshop on Environment-related Private Standards, 
Certification and Labelling Requireme nts had been held on the previous day.  At the workshop, 
presentations had been given on a variety of schemes in  the fisheries, coffee, horticulture and forestry 
sectors2.  Information had been provided on their environmental and sustainable development 
objectives, standard development processes, conf ormity assessment procedures, stakeholders 
involved, and market access opportunities and cha llenges faced, in particular, by producers and 
exporters in developing countries.  He trusted th at delegations had deepened their knowledge and 
understanding of recent developments in voluntary environment-related standards, certification and 
labelling schemes developed in the private sector .  In particular, the workshop had brought to 
delegations' attention the work and studies carried out by various agencies in this area.      
112. The representative of South Africa  thanked the Secretariat for having organized the 
workshop.  She said that a lot of information had been provided.  The workshop had been an 
introduction for some Members, like herself, noting th e breadth of issues and challenges that existed.  
She said that, like trade and climate change issues,  it was the beginning of a process, since private 
                                                      
2 http://www.wto.org/english/news_e /news09_e/envir_08jul09_e.htm   WT/CTE/M/47 
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  standards was an important area that adversely aff ected many of the export opportunities provided to 
developing countries. 
113. The representative of the United States  thanked the Secretariat for the workshop, which she 
found interesting and comprehensive.  She would sh are the presentations with her colleagues back in 
capital.  It would have been useful if there we re more opportunities for interaction at the workshop 
with the presence of some speakers – owners of private standards –  since it could have been beneficial for them to hear the concerns and comme ntary of delegations at this CTE meeting.     
114. She noted that although the workshop dealt with environment-related private standards, few 
of these labelling and certification schemes were purel y environmental.  Most of them had mentioned 
objectives much broader than environmental consider ations and involved social and other aspects of 
the production processes.    
115. Based on the discussion held earlier at this meeting and the presentations made at the 
workshop the previous day, she found it encouraging th at work had been carried out in organizations 
(such as ISEAL and ITC) to look in to the cost-benefit analysis and ove rlapping of some of the private 
voluntary schemes, where rationalization or harmonizati on might be possible.  She found this kind of 
work interesting and sought ways for the CTE to be  updated on the development of such projects and 
studies.   
116. She understood that there were a lot of interest s and frustrations with respect to some of these 
private schemes that were non-governmental in nature .  She believed that the challenge in the WTO, 
given that the obligations and rules fell upon Memb ers and not on private market participants, was 
what could be usefully done other than making comp laints.  Her delegation noted the concerns raised 
and was open to ideas in this regard.   
117. The Chairman
 concluded that based on the discussions held on private standards, the 
Committee might need to revert to this item at future meetings.   
118. The Committee took note  of the statements made. 
D. NATIONAL POLICY COHERENCE   
119. The representative of Australia  said that national policy coherence might be a topic of interest 
to Members in confronting challenges on how to integrate trade and environment objectives in the 
domestic context.   
120. Australian Commonwealth and State Governments, in consultation with industry, 
environmental and other groups, were closely enga ged in the formulation of suitable policies to 
address key environmental issues, particularly climate change.  One of the recommendations of the Mortimer Review of Australia's Export Policies and Programmes released in September 2008, had 
been for Australia to "take a leading role globall y in advocating mutually complementary action to 
liberalise trade and reduce GHG emissions."  For Australia, there were compelling reasons for 
urgently pursuing trade liberalisation and fo r achieving strong national and international 
environmental policy objectives.  The sustainable growth of Australia's agricultural trade, for 
instance, depended not only upon a comprehensiv e Doha outcome, but also upon effective global 
agreement on the way forward for mitigating and adap ting to climate change.  As highlighted by the 
joint WTO-UNEP Trade and Climate Change Report,  agriculture was one of the sectors most 
vulnerable to climate change.   
121. As Australia's Trade Minister had indicated , Australia pursued its international trade 
objectives through a twin pillars approach to trade polic y:  trade reform at the border via multilateral, 
regional and bilateral mechanisms;  and structural re form and "behind the border" issues.  Both "at the WT/CTE/M/47 
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  border" and "behind the border" policies must work  together to promote the kind of competitiveness 
necessary for strong economic performance and dr ive strong global growth.  Behind the border 
policies could play an important role in creating trade and investment opportunities and enhancing the 
gains from trade and investment, incl uding reducing costs, lowering risk and improving market entry.   
122. The value of this twin pillar approach was re adily apparent for the development of mutually 
supportive trade and environment policy approaches .  In developing domestic policy settings in 
support of a low-carbon, energy efficient economy, Australia was positioning itself to take advantage 
of the trade and investment opportunities emerging globally.  Successive Australian Governments had 
implemented structural reforms to encourage priv ate investment in, and consumer uptake of, low 
emission energy technologies in Australia.  Perhaps th e most effective reform in this regard had been 
the introduction of mandatory renewable energy targ ets for electricity generation, first in 2001, and 
with an expanded target expected to be passed by Parliament in August 2009.   
123. Australia was also supporting the development of carbon capture and storage (CCS) 
technology, including the establishment of the Gl obal Carbon Capture and Storage Institute to 
accelerate the deployment of this technology globall y.  The Australian Government had also passed 
regulations governing the prospective use of CCS under its jurisdiction.  Policies such as these not 
only encouraged the development of domestic i ndustry capacity in new environmental technologies 
but also opened up opportunities for increased intern ational trade and foreign investment.  For this 
reason, Australia was supportive of more active part icipation in negotiations on Paragraph 31(iii) to 
liberalise environmental goods and services under th e mandate of the CTE Special Session.   
124. She said that Australia recognised the importa nce of international trade for meeting its 
growing demand for renewable energies and for further developing its national skills base and 
business opportunities.  Situated in the Asia Paci fic, Australia appreciated and encouraged the 
potential for emerging economies in the region to develop greater market capacity that would help meet Australia's growing demand for effective and affordable sources of renewable energy.  Australia could also see the potential for niche Australian investment and supply of environmentally-friendly products and services in the region.   
125. Domestically, it was important that Australia fostered an inclusive and properly informed 
dialogue to ensure the most appropriate balance of domestic policy settings and international trade 
arrangements.  The fundamental challenge for Au stralia was to achieve national consensus on the 
most appropriate balance of policies in support of stimulating domestic produ ction, on the one hand, 
and domestic policy settings and inte rnational arrangements to facilita te international trade, on the 
other.   
126. Australia had applied these principles when  formulating the Carbon Pollution Reduction 
Scheme (CPRS) – Australia's emissions trading schem e that was currently before its Parliament.  The 
CPRS and an array of associated policies aimed to  achieve comprehensive change to the Australian 
economy to achieve significant reductions in GHG emi ssions in the most effective and efficient way 
possible.  This aimed at changing consumption a nd production patterns broadly, including through the 
accelerated development and uptake of new te chnology, while minimising negative economic 
dislocation.  An important development of this suite of policies would be transitional assistance to 
particularly effected industries, consumers and workers to facilitate restructuring and minimise 
associated negative social costs.   
127. She noted that in crafting such policies, it was important that they were not a guise for 
protectionism and the maintenance of a sheltered and unresponsive industry, but rather that they 
would promote the requisite for change and innovati on.  Australia had made  clear that the CPRS 
would be implemented in a manner c onsistent with its international tr ade obligations.  That was being 
made clear both domestically and internationally.  From Australia's perspective, it was important that  WT/CTE/M/47 
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  any assistance measures employed to address climate change were consistent with the principles of 
maintaining an open and transparent, rules- based international trading system.    
128. Australia had also addressed its approach to e nvironmental objectives in the context of FTAs.  
Relevant experience had been shared with other delegations under the age nda item on environment 
and regional trade agreements. 
129. The representative of New Zealand  said that New Zealand believed that if domestic trade and 
environment policy could be made coherent and ideally mutually s upportive, it would be a key first 
step in making international trade and environment policy coherent and mutually supportive as well.   
130. This overall commitment to coherence required Ne w Zealand to take an integrated approach 
in the negotiation of FTAs.  Giving appropriate rec ognition to the environment in the context of an 
FTA could show a commitment of the parties to th e principles of sustainable development in the 
context of trade;  ensure that each party was able to benefit from its legitimate, comparative 
advantages;  rule out the use of environmenta l standards as a disguised form of economic 
protectionism;  and provide a means by which the parties could work coope ratively and communicate, 
as required, to achieve mutual obligations and pr omote aspirations on the environment in areas of 
specific interest and benefit.   
131. On climate change, she emphasised that New Ze aland took seriously its responsibilities as an 
Annex I Party to the Kyoto Protocol that it must balance with its emissions profile heavily based on 
primary production.  New Zealand was unique am ongst Annex I countries. Almost half of its GHG 
emissions came from agriculture, although the size of its carbon footprint per unit of output stood up 
well to international scrutiny.  The size of Ne w Zealand's agricultural emissions was a function 
naturally of the size of its agricultural output – some 90% of the food that it produced was exported.  New Zealand believed that there were many points of coherence between tr ade and climate change 
and that a pragmatic approach to the interface be tween the two was needed to ensure that the 
outcomes in each supported the objectives of the other.   
132. In reality, the two major multilateral economic  negotiations – the WT O Doha Round and the 
UNFCCC process – had a lot of common ground.  New Zealand believed that there was an 
opportunity to be clever about how the multilateral system could provide effective courses of action 
where climate change and trade intersect, without jumping to unilateral responses.   
133. At the domestic policy level, New Zealand s ought to develop cohere nt trade and climate 
change policy through close coopera tion between relevant policy agen cies, industry and communities.  
A commitment to sustainable production was a neces sary fact in New Zealand, given the dependence 
of its primary production sector and tourism sector , amongst others, on the environment.  Concerns 
about environmental sustainability and climate ch ange amongst consumers had also required the New 
Zealand Government, industry and the research sector  to cooperate closely to meet these challenges 
and make the most out of resources and opportunities. 
134. The Committee took note
 of the statements made. 
E. REQUEST FOR OBSERVER STATUS BY THE ROTTERDAM CONVENTION  
135. The Chairman  drew the CTE's attention to docum ent WT/CTE/COM/14, which provided 
information on a request by the Rotterdam Conven tion for observer status in the CTE, and document 
WT/CTE/INF/6/Rev.5, which contained a list of  pending requests for consideration by the 
Committee.  
136. He recalled that at the meeting of 4 October 2001, the CTE had agreed to postpone discussion 
on requests for intergovernmental observer status  in the Committee, pending discussions in the WT/CTE/M/47 
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  General Council (paragraph 3, WT/CTE/M/28).  This  would include this latest request from the 
Rotterdam Convention.  He noted that at the mome nt, there were four pending requests - the Montreal 
Protocol, the International Tropical Timber Orga nization, the Basel Convention and the Rotterdam 
Convention.  His view was that in cases when specific matters aris e in the CTE which concern these 
MEAs, he would explore with Members on the po ssibility to invite MEA Secretariats to CTE 
meetings as observers on an ad hoc basis.     
137. The Committee took note
 of the statement made.  
F. INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON CHEMICALS MANAGEMENT   
138. The representative of the Secretariat of the St rategic Approach to International Chemicals 
Management (SAICM) said that SAICM was a non-binding policy framework adopted by the 
international community in 2006 based on the rec ognition that chemicals offered benefits to the 
society, but required careful management to avoid ne gative impacts on health and the environment.  It 
was the consequence of a series of efforts to addr ess chemicals management, starting in 1992 with the 
Earth Summit, Agenda 19, and then further proceed ing to 2002, the World Summit, where chemicals 
was addressed.  A series of UNEP Governing Council actions had led to the decision to come up with 
a policy framework – SAICM – that was adopted by more than 140 governments in Dubai in 2006.  
139. SAICM since its establishment had become fully operational and its framework offered space 
for holistic policy dialogue on chemicals manage ment issues.  It sought to adopt a broad 
comprehensive life cycle management approach w ith a "2020 goal" as contained in the Johannesburg 
programme of the World Summit in 2002.  It l ooked at chemicals management from a realistic 
perspective – not from a technical point of view, nor an environmental point of view, but a sustainable 
development point of view – and sought to addr ess these issues comprehensively.  It also addressed 
the issues of financing and resource mobilisation.  It had been adopted by governments per se , and 
endorsed by intergovernmental organisations such as the FAO, the ILO, th e OECD and UNIDO.  Its 
stakeholders included governments, NGOs and inte r-governmental organisations, and the category of 
NGOs included not only public interest organizations , but also private interest groups, in particular, 
industry representatives.   
140. He said that the overall goal of SAICM was to achieve sound management of chemicals 
throughout their lifecycle, so that by 2020 chemicals would be produced and used in a way that led to 
a minimisation of adverse effects on human health a nd the environment.  There were also overarching 
policy strategy that contained a set of objectives and needs assessment;  a concrete plan of action;  and sub-goals focusing on risk reduction knowledge, information, governance, capacity building, 
technical cooperation, and prevention and cont rol of illegal traffic of chemicals.   
141. One operational aspect of SAICM was the Quick Start programme that offered a vehicle to 
support sound chemicals management enabling activiti es, including implementation of MEAs, such as 
the Rotterdam Convention.  At the moment, it c onsisted of a trust fund of US$90 million from 21 
donors for enabling activities in developing countries , LDCs and small island developing states and 
economies in transition.  So far there had been more than 80 projects.    
142. The functions of the international conferen ce on chemicals management (ICCM) were to 
undertake a review of the implementation of SAICM.  ICCM met every three years with the participation of the governing body of SAICM a nd stakeholders.  Subsidiary bodies had been 
established, in particular an open-ended worki ng group to prepare the conference on chemicals 
management and its sessions.  There were also a ser ies of regional meetings to assist in regional 
assessment of the implementation of SAICM and th e formulation of policies.  160 SAICM focal 
points had been formed, nominated by govern ments, and representing  NGOs and IGOs.    WT/CTE/M/47 
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  143. ICCM-1 took place in 2006, and its main focus wa s to negotiate the strategic approach and 
the institutional features.  ICCM-2 took place in May 2009 and had been attended by 147 
governments and 800 participants.  The conferen ce had looked into the progress made in the 
achievement of SAICM, as well as specific sub-issu es.  Steps had been established to consider 
substantive emerging policy issues on specific cate gories of chemicals, namely nanotechnology, 
chemicals and products, lead in paint, electronic waste, and perflourinated chemicals.  ICCM-2 had 
also considered financial issues on how to derive  resources for activities and the implementation of 
SAICM;  and institutional questions such as reporting.   
144. On the linkages between SAICM and trade, he sa id that in 2007, the world chemicals industry 
had an estimated turnover value of US$ 3,180 billion.  More than 45% of the value of global chemical 
industries was traded, and over 35% of this tr ade was intra-company in nature.  There were 
implications arising from the management of chemical s for trade – the first one being direct restriction 
on specific chemicals, and the second, indirect restri ctions.  SAICM recognized the growth in global 
production and trade of chemicals, and the grow th patterns had placed an increasing chemicals 
management burden on developing coun tries and economies in transition.   
145. Specific activities envisaged in SAICM's Gl obal Plan of Action to ensure mutual 
supportiveness between trade and environment polic ies included the following:  mechanisms of 
cooperation between trade and environmental offici als;  involvement of trade and environmental 
stakeholders in development of chemical polic ies;  and cooperation a nd information exchange, 
including MEAs and the WTO.  The plan of action also included provision of training, such as on the 
linkage between trade and environment, and nego tiation skills.  It encouraged cooperation between 
multilateral trade and environment secretariats to  develop programmes and materials to enhance 
mutual understanding of rules and disciplines in th e two areas among governments, intergovernmental 
institutions and other stakeholders.       
146. The Committee took note  of the statement made.  
G. WORLD WATER FORUM  
147. The representative of Turkey  said that water scarcity affected human health, and 
contaminated drinking water killed approximately 1.7 million people a year – mostly children under 
the age of five in non-OECD countries.  1.1 billio n people lacked access to clean drinking water and 
2.6 billion lacked access to improved sanitation. Ov er 40% of the world's population lived in areas 
affected by intense water stress, and this situation would worsen in coming years.  Water supply was getting more challenging every year due to ineff ective and inefficient use of resources, uneven 
distribution, irregular rain caused by climate cha nge, and increasing water needs.  The world's soaring 
demand for fresh water added pressure on water quality and was causing increasing environmental 
stress.  Approximately 44% of mammals and 12% of bird species associated with inland waters were 
threatened;  and around a third of freshwater fish species were thought to be threatened.   
148. World Water Forum, the largest international even t in the field of water, was organised every 
three years by the World Water Council in collabor ation with the authorities of the hosting country.  
Its primary objective was to rai se the awareness of water issues am ong political agencies;  to deepen 
discussions towards solutions to international wate r issues in the 21st century;  and to formulate 
concrete proposals and bring their importance to the world's attention.   
149. The 5th World Water Forum was held in Ista nbul in March 2009, with the theme "Bridging 
Divides for Water."  The outcome documents of this  event were the Declaration of Heads of States, 
Ministerial Statement, and the Istanbul Water Cons ensus for Local and Regional Authorities.  These 
had been circulated in document WT/CTE/W246, dated 6 May 2009.  Turkey was of the view that water was a cross-cutting issue and was fundamental for achieving development goals.  International WT/CTE/M/47 
Page 24  
 
  organizations, institutions and c ountries were invited to support international efforts and share 
experiences to develop innovative governance, integrated water policy management, legal 
frameworks, cross-sectoral policies, financing m echanisms, technologies and capacity development.   
150. The representative of Venezuela
 congratulated Turkey for having organized the 5th World 
Water Forum, as well as the preparatory work take n place in Geneva leading up to the Istanbul 
meeting.  One of the results of the Geneva prepar atory work was a Declaration signed by 25 countries 
from various regions (Latin America, Europe, A frica and Asia) on recognition of water as a basic 
human right.  He regretted that as with other topi cs, such as the reference to indigenous peoples 
collective rights to water, and local or community water management systems, this Declaration had 
not been included in the Istanbul Declaration.   
151. The Committee took note  of the statements made. 
V. DATE OF NEXT MEETING 
152. The next meeting of the Committee will be held in the last quarter of 2009, with the exact 
date to be announced nearer to the time. 
 
  
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