RESTRICTED  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/CTE/M/43 
12 February 2007 
 (07-0609) 
Committee on Trade and Environment  
  
 
REPORT OF THE MEETING HELD ON 18 DECEMBER 2006 
 
Note by the Secretariat
 
  
1. The Committee on Trade and Environment (CTE Regular) met on 18 December 2006 under 
the Chairmanship of Ambassador Shree Baboo Chekitan Servansing.  The following agenda, pr oposed 
in WTO/AIR/2924 and Corr.1 dated 26 Oc tober and 23 November 2006, was adopted: 
I.
 PARAGRAPH 32................................................................................................................... ...1 
A. PARAGRAPH  32 (I) (MARKET  ACCESS) ..............................................................................1  
1. Market Access ............................................................................................................................1  
2. Sector Analysis ("win-win-win") ..............................................................................................3  
B. PARAGRAPH  32(II)  (TRIPS)....................................................................................................3  
C. PARAGRAPH  32(III)  (LABELLING).......................................................................................3  
D. OTHER  ITEMS  ON THE  CTE  AGENDA .................................................................................3  
II. PARAGRAPH 33................................................................................................................... ...3 
III. PARAGRAPH 51................................................................................................................... ...4 
IV. ADOPTION OF THE CTE 2006 ANNUAL REPORT .........................................................5  
V. OTHER BUSINESS................................................................................................................. .5 
 
I. PARAGRAPH 32 
A. PARAGRAPH 32(I) (MARKET ACCESS ) 
The effect of environmental measures on market access, especially in relation to developing 
countries, in particular the least-developed am ong them, and those situations in which the 
elimination or reduction of trade restric tions and distortions w ould benefit trade, the 
environment and development.  
1. Market Access 
2. The Chairman  drew the CTE's attention to two notes prepared by the Secretariat following a 
request made by the Committee at the July 2006 me eting.  The first note (JOB(06)/263) presented an 
overview of environmental requirements and market  access work carried out in the Committee on 
Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) and the Committe e on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS).  
It provided background on the disciplines and cove rage of the TBT and SPS Agreements as well as 
information on the work in the two Committees with  respect to environmental related notifications 
and specific trade concerns.  It described th e products affected, the measures taken and the 
environmental protection objectives claimed.   WT/CTE/M/43 
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  3. The second  note (WT/CTE/W/244) took stock of the findings of recent studies on 
environmental requirements and market access undert aken by the OECD and UNCTAD, namely the 
OECD Trade Policy Studies 2005 and the UNCTAD Trade and Environment Review 2006.  It 
highlighted some key points from the two in itiatives, including those on recent trends in 
environmental requirements, market access diffi culties faced by developing country exporters, 
developing country responses to the requireme nts and approaches to addressing market access 
difficulties faced by developing countries at  the national and multilateral levels.   
4. The representative of the European Communities
 (EC) said that the Secretariat notes had 
provided the background on relevant work undertaken  in other WTO bodies and international fora.  
The note on OECD and UNCTAD studies highlighted a number of points previously raised by his 
delegation.  He supported the view that environm ental requirements could be treated in a market 
enhancing manner for developing co untries, and that there were trade opportunities to be taken in 
developed countries, for instance through eco-labels or  organic products.  He be lieved that this could 
be an area for further work in the CTE in the context of Paragraph 32(i)  in 2007.  In this respect, the 
UNCTAD Trade and Environment Review 2006 could be useful.   
5. The representative of UNCTAD  said that a key conclusion of the UNCTAD Review was that 
in order to better understand the problems and po ssible solutions in the area of environmental 
requirements, there was the need for more empirical analysis both at the country and sectoral levels.  
These studies should cover mandatory requirements pr epared by governments as well as requirements 
developed by private sector in the context of suppl y chain enterprises.  Findings from these analysis 
could enrich discussions in relevant WTO bodies, such as the CTE and the TBT and SPS Committees.  
He recalled that in October 2006, an informati on session on EurepGAP (a global purchasing standard 
launched by the Euro Retailer Produce Working Group)  had been organized in the margins of a SPS 
Committee meeting.  At that event, UNCTAD had in formed participants of its empirical studies on 
EurepGAP and its relevant capacity building activities.   
6. He said that one of the tasks of UNCTAD' s Consultative Task Force on Environmental 
Requirements and Market Access for Developing Co untries (CTF) was to study voluntary standards 
prepared by private sector and NGOs.  He believe d that these voluntary requirements were not fully 
discussed in inter-governmental bodies, including the WTO.  However, they were de facto  in the 
market with respect to commercial transaction.  Th ey were multidimensional and could relate to the 
environment, health or food safety, animal welfare and the social dimensions.  They often set new trends in a complex way and included process a nd production methods. The CTF could serve as a 
forum for discussions in this area among government representatives and stakeholders.  It could create 
opportunities for sharing of views and findings, as well as to discuss follow-up activities.   
7. He said that another task of the CTF was to assist developing countries in responding to 
environmental requirements to move from a fire fight ing approach to a proactive and holistic one.  In 
this respect, he made reference to the experi ences of Thailand addressing requirements in the 
electronic sector, and Kenya addressing EurepGAP.  It required these countries to anticipate and look 
beyond costs to opportunities.  There was the ne ed for institutional improvement and capacity 
building in quality assurance infrastru cture.  There was also the need for more active participation in 
standard setting in export markets and in WTO discu ssions, for instance in stakeholder consultations 
on draft requirements under the TBT and SPS notificati on systems.  Finally, there was the need to 
request for ex-ante  impact assessments on draft requirements  on exports of developing countries.  
  
8. He said that in this context, UNCTAD was making an  effort to turn aid for trade into reality.  
There were on-going sector specific capacity buildin g activities at the country level, and there was the 
need for further donor support.  Finally, he informed the CTE that a number of UNCTAD  WT/CTE/M/43 
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  monographs (e.g. case studies on Asia and South Amer ica and on electronics, leather and footwear 
sectors) would be published.  Relevant informa tion was available on the UNCTAD CTF web site.   
9. The representative of Cuba  appreciated the work of the UNCTAD CTF on environmental 
requirements and market access, in particular, to  identify difficulties faced by developing countries 
and to seek possible solutions.  She agreed that deve loping countries needed to be more proactive for 
instance, to comment on TBT and SPS notifications.  In this respect, she welcomed the support from 
various bodies which had provided the mechanisms to  enable participation of developing countries.  
She believed that there was further work to be done in the TBT and SPS Committees, and that her 
delegation would continue to ta ke part in this work.   
10. She shared the view that it was essential for developed countries to carry out ex-ante 
assessment to assess the impacts of draft regulations.  On new trends of environment requirements, 
she believed that requirements prepared by NGOs and private bodies was an area which work should 
be taken up so that concrete results might be obtai ned, that could assist developing countries to adapt 
and could ensure that these requirements woul d not minimize market access of products from 
developing countries.   
11. The Committee took note  of the statements made.   
2. Sector Analysis ("win-win-win") 
12. No statements were made under this sub-item. 
B. PARAGRAPH 32(II) (TRIPS ) 
 The relevant provisions of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property 
 Rights (TRIPS)   
13. No statements were made under this sub-item. 
C. PARAGRAPH 32(III) (LABELLING ) 
 Labelling for Environmental Purposes 
14. No statements were made under this sub-item. 
D. OTHER ITEMS OF THE CTE  WORK PROGRAMME  
15. No statements were made under this sub-item. 
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 
 
16. The representative of Cuba  thanked UNCTAD for having organized a seminar for developing 
countries on various aspects of the Doha Round negotiations.  She said that the seminar had provided WT/CTE/M/43 
Page 4  
 
  opportunities for representatives from developing count ries to exchange views on issues related to 
these negotiations.  She requested that similar seminars be organized in the future.   
17. The Chairman
 drew the CTE's attention to a room document containing information on the 
Secretariat's 2006-2007  technical assistance activities in the area of trade and environment.1  
2. Environmental Reviews 
 18. The Chairman
 recalled that subsequent to the Doha mandate regarding experience sharing on 
environmental reviews, a number of  delegations had informed the C TE of relevant activities carried 
out at the national level.  For example, the EC had informed the CTE of its sustainability impact 
assessment (SIA) on trade negotiations, Canada of its environmental assessment of the WTO 
negotiation, the US of its environmental review of the DDA negotiations, and New Zealand of its 
activities in assessment on trade agreements.  With respect to seminar and conferences, information 
had been provided on a seminar held by the EC in  2003 on Sustainability Impact Assessment of Trade 
Agreements: Making Trade Sustainable, a conference of the International Association of Impact Assessment held in Canada in 2004 and a stockt aking conference on Impact Assessments held by the 
EC in 2006.  Moreover, the CTE had been receivi ng updates from observer organizations, for instance 
UNEP, on their environmental review related work.  He noted that other national activities had been 
or were being carried out.  He i nvited delegations to further experience sharing in this respect.   
19. The representative of th e European Communities
 recalled that the EC had been carrying out 
SIAs on major trade agreements since 1999.  He said that since his delegation's last update at the July 
2006 CTE meeting, a number of the EC trade SIAs  had been taken forward.  Two SIA reports had 
been received - an inception report on EC's trade agreements with EUROMED and a mid-term report 
on MERCOSUR negotiations.  Moreover, an EC position paper on the consultant's report on forestry 
sector had been prepared.  The above documents were publicly available on the Commission's web 
site. 
20. The Committee took note  of the statements made. 
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. 
21. The Chairman
 recalled that at the previous meeting, with a view to facilitate discussions, the 
Secretariat had been requested to prepare a note to  compile and update the Secretariat statements on 
environment related issues in vari ous negotiating groups.  In this r espect, he drew the CTE's attention 
to document WT/CTE/W/243 which compiled the st atements made in 2002-2003 and subsequently 
updated in 2005 regarding the negotiating groups on  agriculture, market access for non-agricultural 
products, rules and services.  The area of trade and en vironment had been added to this note to ensure 
that it was comprehensive in its coverage of the negotiations.  In each area, following a brief summary 
of the status of the negotiations, subsections set out the environment related aspects, specific 
proposals and discussions related to the environment,  and possible benefits to the environment and 
contribution to sustainable development.   
22. The representative of th e European Communities  found the note informative.  At the same 
time, it reminded delegations how little progress had b een made on Paragraph 51.  He referred to the 
                                                      
1 See Annex 1.  WT/CTE/M/43 
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  WTO Symposium on Trade and Sustainable Developmen t held in October 2005, and believed that the 
event had also provided useful information.  The ch allenge in front of the CTE was how to make use 
of the information obtained to take Paragraph 51 di scussion forward.  He invited other delegations to 
come back to this in 2007.   
23. The representative of Cuba  thanked he Secretariat for document WT/CTE/W/243 which 
aimed at advancing the CTE's work on Paragraph 51.  Her delegation had studied the note and had 
identified a number of issues which it wished to di scuss further.  On paragraph 59 of that note, 
regarding the negotiating proposals on environmental ser vices, she believed that it had not fully taken 
into account Cuba's view2 that the process of liberalization did not automatically enhance the 
competitiveness of developing countries, and that sp ecial and differential treatment was important.  
On paragraph 86, regarding Paragra ph 31 (iii) of the Doha Declaration, she believed that it had not 
fully reflected Cuba's proposal on special and differential treatment in the negotiations on 
environmental goods.3  She reiterated the need to guarantee the effective implementation on special 
and differential treatment in order to move forwar d Paragraph 31(iii) negotia tions on environmental 
goods and services.   
24. The Committee took note  of the statements made.  The Chairman  invited delegations to come 
back to document WT/CTE/W/243 in 2007, and believe d that it could be used as a basis to move 
forward Paragraph 51 discussions.   
IV. ADOPTION OF THE CTE 2006 ANNUAL REPORT  
25. The Committee adopted  its 2006 Report based on a dr aft contained in JOB(06)/260.4   
V. OTHER BUSINESS 
26. The Chairman  informed the CTE that he would propose a date for the next meeting after 
consultations with interested delegations.   
27. The Committee took note  of the statement made.   
 
 
_______________ 
 
                                                      
2 As contained in document S/CSS/W/142. 
3 As contained in document TN/TE/W/69. 
4 The final Report was circulated in document WT/CTE/13, dated 11 December 2006.    WT/CTE/M/43 
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  Annex 1 
       
 
WTO TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE ACTIVITIES IN THE AREA OF  
TRADE AND ENVIRONMENT  
2006 and 2007 
 
Information from the Secretariat 
 
 
 
Technical Assistance Activities undertaken in 2006  
 1. Regional Workshops on Trade and Environment    The overall objective of the 2006 regional work shops was to facilitate and enhance the 
effective participation of Members in the WTO' s work on trade and environment (T&E) and in 
particular with respect to the T&E-related t opics being negotiated under the Doha Development 
Agenda.  Regional workshops were organized fo r Arab and Middle East countries (Muscat, Oman; 
28-29 March); French-speaking African countries (Rabat, Morocco; 22-24 November); and English-
speaking African countries (Gaborone, Botswana; 12-14 December).  
 In all regional workshops, participants were in formed of the regular work of the Committee 
on Trade and Environment (CTE) and also updated on the different aspects of the T&E-related 
negotiations.  As well, programmes were tailored to the interests of the respective regions and were 
interactive and designed to ensure full engagement  from the participants.  In the latter regard, 
participants were routinely tasked to prepare in terventions prior to their arrival at the regional 
workshops and were asked to research national pos itions on the substantive topics.  The regional 
workshops also provided opportunities to promote gr eater dialogue between trade and environment 
officials at national levels and to facilitate sh aring of national experiences among Members in the 
regions.   Different international organizations including UNCTAD, UNEP, UNECA and the CBD 
Secretariat were invited variously to contribut e to the programmes of the regional workshops. 
 2. National Workshops on Trade and Environment   With respect to national workshops on trad e and environment, these were undertaken in 
response to requests from Members; also, the prog rammes of these events we re discussed with the 
beneficiary Member and tailored to respond to speci fic needs.  In 2006, national workshops were 
conducted in Turkey (20-21 April) and Lesotho (24-25 July).  3. Participation in Meetings of Other Organizations  
 The Secretariat continued to use the opport unity of attendance at meetings of other 
organizations to network and c onvey information on relevant discussions in the CTE and CTE in 
Special Session (CTESS).  In 2006, the Secretariat participated inter alia  in the following meetings:  
8
th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (26-29 March);  
5th session of the Open-ended Working Group of  the Basel Convention on the Control of 
Transboundary Movements of  Hazardous Wast es and Their Disposal (3-7 April);  2nd meeting of the 
Conference of the Parties of the Stockholm Conventi on on Persistent Organic Pollutants (1-5 May);  
3rd meeting of the Conference of the Parties of the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed 
Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chem icals and Pesticides in International Trade 
(9-13 October);  12th session of the Conference of the Par ties of the United Nations Framework  WT/CTE/M/43 
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  Convention on Climate Change and 2nd meeting of the Conference of the Parties serving as the 
Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (15-17 November).  4. Trade Policy Courses and Introductory Courses  
 As in the case of other areas of WTO's work, th e subject of trade and environment is routinely 
included in the programmes of Geneva-based trad e policy courses and introductory courses.  The 
subject is also included in the programmes of WTO regional trade policy courses.   In 2006,  regional 
trade policy courses were held in Jamaica; H ong Kong, China; Morocco; Namibia; and Chile. 
 
Technical Assistance Activities in 2007  
 
  Concerning technical assistance activities fo r the year 2007, and in accordance with the 
Technical Assistance and Training Plan for 2007 formally adopted by the Committee on Trade and 
Development on 28 November 2006
5, three regional workshops on trade and environment will be 
organized for the regions of Asia and Pacific, the Caribbean and Latin America. 
 
__________ 
 
 
                                                      
5 WT/COMTD/W/151.