RESTRICTED  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/CTE/M/44 
13 June 2007 
 (07-2505) 
Committee on Trade and Environment  
  
 
REPORT OF THE MEETING HELD ON 2 MAY 2007 
 
Note by the Secretariat
 
  
1. The Committee on Trade and Environment (CTE Regular) met on 2 May 2007 under the 
Chairmanship of Ambassador Manuel A. J. Teeh ankee.  The following agenda, proposed in 
WTO/AIR/2988 dated 3 April 2007, was adopted: 
I.
 PARAGRAPH 32................................................................................................................... ...2 
A. PARAGRAPH 32(I) (MARKET ACCESS )..........................................................................................2  
1. Market Access ............................................................................................................................2  
2. Sector Analysis ("win-win-win").............................................................................................9  
B. PARAGRAPH 32(II) (TRIPS ).........................................................................................................10  
C. PARAGRAPH 32(III) (LABELLING ) ..............................................................................................10  
D. OTHER ITEMS OF THE CTE  WORK PROGRAMME .......................................................................13  
II. PARAGRAPH 33................................................................................................................... .13 
III. PARAGRAPH 51................................................................................................................... .17 
IV. OTHER BUSINESS................................................................................................................1 7 
 
2. The Chairman  recalled that at the informal consu ltation held on 30 March 2007, views had 
been exchanged on how to move forward the Co mmittee's work in 2007.  He had encouraged 
Members to further discuss all items of the Committe e's work programme with a focus on Paragraphs 
32(i), (ii) and (iii), Paragraphs 33 and 51 as instruct ed by Ministers in Doha, and had given examples 
under the various items where delegations might wish to further discuss.   
3. The representative of the Philippines, speaking on behalf of ASEAN Members , thanked the 
Chairman for convening the informal consultation in March, which he believed would help move 
forward the CTE's work in 2007.   
4. He said that since its inception in 1995, the C TE had contributed considerably in identifying 
and understanding the relationship between trade and the environment to promote sustainable 
development as well as enhanci ng Members' understanding of th e importance of national and 
international coordination between trade and enviro nment policy makers.  The CTE had also helped 
identifying areas of complementarities between trad e liberalization, economic development and the 
environment.   
5. ASEAN Members were of the view that in the coming year, the CTE should re-invigorate 
some of the following discussions which were inte gral parts of its work programme.  First, on 
Paragraph 32(i), the CTE should continue its wo rk on the trade liberalization component of the WT/CTE/M/44 
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  agenda on how removing certain trade restrictions and distortions could be nefit both trade and the 
environment.  The CTE must strive to ensure that  environmental measures did not impede trade while 
improving market access opportunities to promote su stainable growth, in particular, when those 
measures had broad impacts on developing c ountries' major export interests.   
6. On Paragraph 33, concerning environmental revi ews, he said that while this exercise was 
useful for enhancing the ability of trade and enviro nmental policies to be mutually supportive, there 
was no one size fit all approach.  It would be cons tructive for the CTE to continue discussions on how 
to make environmental reviews more adaptable to bene fit all, and, in particul ar, to enable developing 
countries to use this tool to identify and find ways to overcome their environmental difficulties. 
7. On Paragraph 51, he thanked the Secretariat for preparing the note (WT/CTE/W/243) which 
compiled environment-related elements in five ar eas of the DDA negotiations, namely Agriculture, 
NAMA, Rules, Services and Trade and Environment.   He recalled that the paper had not been 
substantively discussed, and hoped that there could be more exchange.   
8. He assured ASEAN's continued support and ac tive engagement to move forward the CTE's 
work and its DDA mandates to identify and, more importantly, understand the complex relationship 
between trade, environment and sustainable development.   
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 
9. The Chairman  recalled that in December 2006, with a view to facilitating the discussion on 
environmental requirements and ma rket access, the Secretariat ha d prepared two background notes.  
The first note "Recent work in OECD and UNCTAD"  (WT/CTE/W/244) had been prepared to take 
stock of the case studies undertaken in the OE CD Trade Policy Studies 2005 and the UNCTAD Trade 
and Environment Review 2006.  This note highlighted the following four issues:  recent trends in environmental requirements;  market access diffi culties faced by developing-country exporters;  
developing-country responses to environmental requ irements;  and approaches to addressing market-
access difficulties faced by developing countries at the national and multilateral levels.   
10. At the March 2007 informal meeting, delegati ons had been encouraged to further discuss 
these issues based on case studies and national expe riences, for instance on how developing countries 
could deal with environment requirements in a proa ctive and holistic way so as to overcome market 
access difficulties and to protect the environment.  
 
11. Another possible area was on the new trends in environmental requirements, for instance their 
proliferation and their growing complexity, and the rise in private sector voluntary initiatives and 
global supply-chain driven requirements.  The CT E could look into these private standards, and 
discuss possible approaches at the national and multila teral levels to address market access difficulties 
faced by developing country producers, in particular  for SMEs on problems such as those related to 
information and conformity assessment.   WT/CTE/M/44 
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  12. A third area concerned the second part of Pa ragraph 32(i) the "win-win-win" situation in 
which the elimination or reduction of trade restri ctions and distortions would benefit trade, the 
environment and development.  He recalled that th e CTE had held sectoral discussions on agriculture, 
energy, fisheries and forestry.  At the informal me eting, delegations had been encouraged to further 
discuss this focussing on trade liberalization on organic agricultural products and the use of 
environmental requirements as new market opportuniti es, which could benefit trade, the environment 
and development.  He noted that both the OECD and UNCTAD studies contained cases in this sector.   
13. The representative of Uganda  said that market access remained high on the agenda of 
developing countries.  African countries, in partic ular, were still facing major difficulties in exporting 
products to the global market.  This was not onl y due to the stringent environmental and trade 
requirements in some of the markets, but also supply side constraints.   
14. She said that agriculture was an important source of livelihood for Africa, and yet, it was one 
of the sectors facing the most restrictions.  Agriculture  and, in particular, organic agriculture offered a 
wide range of economic, environmental and social be nefits for the African small holder farmers.  It 
was not only a powerful tool for poverty alleviation, but also the fastest growing global market at a 
rate of 15% in 2005.   
15. In Uganda, the number of certified organic fa rmers had grown to over 80,000.  Income from 
organic exports had more than doubled over 200 3–2005, making Uganda the top organic exporting 
country in Africa.  In collaboration with gov ernments and environment and trade-related 
organizations, Uganda had strengthened the huma n resource in this sector, and was becoming the 
skills hub for Africa.  However, she believed that  in a country where 80% of its population was 
involved in agriculture, the above figures should be higher.  If the environmental measures and other 
trade restrictions were reduced or totally eliminat ed, the majority of small holder farmers in Uganda 
who were practicing de-facto  organic agriculture would have better market access.   
16. She said that in response to these restrictions, her country had develope d the Uganda Organic 
Standard to assist farmers achieve the required sk ills and improve the quality of their produce.  
Moreover, Uganda was working closely with othe r Members of the East African community to 
develop the East African standard which was the se cond regional organic standard in the world after 
the European Union (EU).  The sta ndard was expected to be launched later in May 2007.  This work 
had been supported by the UNEP-UNCTAD Cap acity Building Task Force on Trade and 
Environment and Development (CBTF) and the In ternational Federation of Organic Agriculture 
Movement (IFOAM). 
17. She regretted that despite these efforts, mark et access difficulties were worsening as some 
importing countries enacted more and tougher restrictions.  For example, most certified organic farmers in Uganda were small hol ders certified under group certificati on schemes.  A recent survey of 
six farming groups in Uganda and Tanzania had indicated that with group certification, certification 
cost equalled to 0.8% of the final value of the pr oduct, and if it was with direct inspection on every 
farm individually, the cost would increase ten fold to 8.5%.  She raised concerns that in some markets, 
the option of group certification might be closed.  She urged trading partners to leave this option open, 
since it was important to keep certified organic fa rming economically viable for small holder farmers 
who made up the bulk of the poor in Uganda and mo st African countries.   Uganda supported efforts 
towards the elimination or reduction of environmen tal trade restrictions and distortions so as to 
facilitate meaningful development. 
18. Furthermore, she believed it w as important that international trade in organic products be 
based on the principle of equivalence.  Since e nvironmental and social ec onomic conditions differed 
across the globe, optimal organic production practi ces which were in tune with natural processes 
would be different in different regions.  Ug anda was an active member of the UNCTAD-FAO-WT/CTE/M/44 
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  IFOAM International Task Force on Harmonization and Equivalence in Organic Agriculture (ITF).  It 
was important to follow the Task Force's reco mmendation to use equivalence to international 
standards as a basis for accepting organic imports, and that organic production practices were suitable 
to local conditions.  
19. The representative of Kenya
 said that organic agriculture was a unique win-win-win 
opportunity for trade, development and the environm ent.  Kenya was one of the main producers of 
certified organic products in Africa.  Both produc tion and exports were growing fast.  Interest in 
organic farming had been developed as a low cost approach to assist farmers to address declining 
agricultural productivity due to land degradation, high poverty levels and food insecurity.  Over the 
past two decades, organic products, mainly fruits and vegetables, had been  exported from Kenya.  
Lately, other organic exports had b een developed, for example essential oils, dried herbs, spices, nuts 
and products for cosmetic and pharmaceutical industri es.  The Kenyan domestic market in this sector 
was small, but growing rapidly, and Nairobi housed  the first organic restaurant in Africa.  The 
government of Kenya had realised the potential of organic agriculture and was exploring ways to 
support its development.   
20. He recalled that since 2005, Kenya had b een participating in the UNEP-UNCTAD CBTF 
project to promote the production and trade of orga nic agricultural products from East Africa.  The 
project had commissioned a number of background st udies, for instance "best practices for organic 
policy"  and "what can developing country governments do to promote the organic sector?"  In Kenya, 
a national team was carrying out an integrated impa ct assessment of "going organic" on the country's 
environment, economy and society.   
21. Regional activities had fostered regional coope ration, including regional trade in organic 
products.  In East Africa, at the beginning of 2005 , there had been at least five public or private 
standards for organic agricultural production.  Stakeh olders had been concerned that this multitude of 
standards could eventually become a technical barrier to trade within the region and place 
unnecessary restrictions on regional collaboration.  Th ere had been general consensus that the time 
was ripe for the development of a common regional standard.  Under the auspices of the UNEP-
UNCTAD CBTF and IFOAM, with th e financial support of the EU and the government of Sweden, 
an East African public private sector initiative had le d to a concrete result – the East African Organic 
Products Standard (EAOPS).     
22. The EAOPS had been developed through an inte nsive, inclusive and transparent regional 
consultation process.  Feedback from national consu ltations, field testing and technical comparisons 
with international organic standards had been fed into the work of the Regional Standard Technical 
Working Group (RSTWG), the body tasked with writing the standard's text.  The RSTWG was a regional public-private sector part nership, whose members comprised of representatives from national 
standards bodies, national organic movements and organic certifying bodies of Kenya, Tanzania, 
Uganda, Burundi and Rwanda, as well as the East African Business Council.   
23. The RSTWG had completed its work in four meetings between October 2005 and December 
2006.  In April 2007, the EAOPS had been officially adopted by the Council of Ministers of the East African Community.  It was the second regional organic standard in the world, and the first to have 
been developed with the cooperation of the orga nic movements and national standards bodies.  The 
EAOPS was expected to boost organic trade and ma rket development in the region, raise awareness 
on organic agriculture among farmers and consumer s, create a unified negotiating position that should 
help East African organic farmers gain market ac cess and influence international organic standard-
setting processes.  The EAOPS would be launched at th e East African Organic Conference to be held 
in Dar es Salaam on 28–31 May 2007.    WT/CTE/M/44 
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  24. In a parallel process, the organic networks in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda had joined forces 
to develop a common organic mark which could be used on products produced according to the 
EAOPS.  The East African organic mark would also  be launched at the May Conference.  This would 
further facilitate regional trade in organic products and remove potential trade barriers.  He said that 
Kenya was proud to be a part of this process which was one of the few cases of true harmonization in 
the organic sector.   
25. There was still work to be done , for instance to have the EAOPS recognized internationally, 
in particular by importing countries, and to bette r organize the supply chain for organic products to 
reach the international markets.  Finally, certifica tion remained a difficult issue to tackle, and it was 
critical to keep the door open for smallholder group certification.   
26. The representative of India  echoed  with the previous speakers on the importance of organic 
agriculture products and the problem of multiple certification.  He said that the importance of organic 
agriculture could not be denied in view of the opportunities it brought to  developing country 
producers.  However, the increase of environmen tal and health standards imposed by importing 
markets and the lack of harmonized or international standards made it difficult for producers to meet 
requirements set in the different export markets.  The lack of harmonization had in turn resulted in the 
development of many private voluntary organic standards which further complicated the situation.  Although work had been carried out under the FAO- UNCTAD-IFOAM ITF, further work in this area 
was needed.   
27. With respect to private voluntary standards, he said that they became non-tariff trade barriers 
for two reasons.  First, on transparency, since gove rnments had no role in setting private standards, 
these standards were not notified to the TBT Committ ee.  Second, on market access, private standards 
inclined to fragment the market, since each priv ate buyer had its own standard, it became burdensome 
for producers to cater to different standards under th e same production facility.  He noted that the SPS 
Committee had started discussions on private voluntary  standards at the initiative of a number of 
developing countries.  He believed that it would be appropriate to focus the discussions on the 
following elements:  (i) private voluntary standard s and WTO disciplines;  (ii) developmental impact 
of private standards in exporting developing countries;  and (iii) market access issues.   
28. The representative of China
 said that in recent years, environmental requirements had posed 
serious challenges to developing countries' exports, including those from China.  Three trends could 
be observed on new environmental requirements.  First, they tended to relate to processes and 
production methods (PPMs) rather than  end products.  They usually targeted sectors and products that 
developed countries had stopped producing, but of trad e interests to developing countries.  Finally, 
these new requirements prepared by one country could create a domino effect encouraging other countries to follow, which in turn would incr ease the difficulties faced by developing countries.  
29. In China's view, these challenges must be a ddressed through multilateral effort, since most 
developing countries were unable to deal with new environmental requirements, such as those related 
to PPMs, in a short time.  Lack of technology an d financial resources were the two key challenges in 
making the adaptation.  Developed countries should contribute by providing tangible assistance to developing countries, including transfer of technol ogy, financial help, capacity building and special 
and differential treatment.  In this regard, Chin a looked forward to receiving support and assistance 
from developed countries and the international communi ty.  On the other hand, China was aware that 
it was critical to deal with environmental re quirements domestically in the long run.   
30. He believed that the following issues needed further study:  (i) mutual recognition of 
certification and conformity assessment results;  (ii) PPMs in which developing countries face 
difficulties at present and in the foreseeable future;  and (iii) while recognizing the importance of the 
protection of human health or safety, animal and plan t life or health, there was the need to take into WT/CTE/M/44 
Page 6  
 
  account that any randomly taken preventive measures could create unnecessary obstacles to trade.  
Ensuring mutual coordination and support between  trade and the environment policies was an 
important way to eliminate and reduce the negativ e impact of environmental measures on market 
access of developing countries.   
31. Concerning organic agriculture, he said that Chin a's farmland located in various climate zones 
suitable for agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry or fishery was approximately 122 million hectares.  
At the end of 2006, there were 2,600 certified orga nic enterprises, 2.3 million hectares certified lands, 
and approximately 50 categories of certified organic products.  In recent years, both international and 
domestic organic markets had expanded rapidly.   
32. Regarding the legal framework, in general, a relatively comprehensive framework had been 
established in China.  The Certification and Accreditation Administration of China (CNCA) was 
established in 2001, and was responsible for the administration of all the certification industry, 
including organic certification and accreditation.  Since then, the Chinese organic sector had been 
regulated in a stricter manner. The CNCA harmonized Chinese organic requirements and had contributed to the establishment of the Regulati on on Certification and Accreditation, the Organic 
Certification Management Rule a nd the National Organic Standard.  This national standard was based 
on IFOAM Basic Standard and compatible with Co dex Alimentarius, the EU Regulation 2092/91, the 
US National Organic Programme (NOP) and Japan Agri cultural Standard (JAS).  It also contained 
requirements for improving management of operato rs based on ISO 9001-2000 Quality Management 
System.  Because it complied with the various fore ign standards, it was among the most stringent 
organic standards in the world.  This framework  had laid a solid foundation for the centralized 
management of accreditation of organic product certification in China.  
33. Concerning the exports market, at present, orga nic products in China were mainly sold to 
developed countries, such as North America, EU a nd Japan.  The most important exportation contact 
points were entities such as the Biofach in Germany.  It was estimated that the export value of organic 
products had risen to approximately USD 100 million,  and was expected to have an annual growth 
rate of over 30%.  The main products were processed  vegetables, soybeans, honey, grains, green tea, 
herbal medicine and beans.  There was a growing in terest in products such as textile material (e.g. 
cotton and hemp) where the current production was una ble to satisfy the market demand.  A main 
limiting factor for organic product exportation was the trade barrier caused by the proliferation of different organic regulations and st andards in importing countries.  Furthermore, there was the lack of 
mutual recognition of organic certification. 
34. He said that in recent years, China participat ed actively in activities on trade liberalization of 
organic products organized by UNCTAD, FAO and IF OAM.  He believed that in order to facilitate 
trade on organic products, Members should increase tran sparency in new regulations and standards, as 
well as establish broad channels of dialogue, info rmation exchange and consultation mechanisms 
among experts.  Developed countries should, in pa rticular, take the lead in creating favourable 
conditions for harmonization or mutual r ecognition of organic certification.    
35. The representative of Egypt
 supported what had been underlin ed by Uganda and Kenya on 
the importance of organic agriculture in the Africa n continent.  He said that Egypt was part of 
COMESA, a group of trading countries in East Africa.  Although not yet part of the effort of harmonization of East African standards, Egypt was following it closely.  As its organic agriculture 
grew, particularly in exporting to developed country markets, Egypt would be in a position to 
participate actively in this process. 
36. He recalled, as raised in the SPS and TBT Co mmittees, Egypt's view had been that the 
proliferation of private environmental standards in  addition to government technical requirements was 
a constrain on developing countries' exports, in par ticular to developed country markets.  There was a  WT/CTE/M/44 
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  lack of control on this fast growing private standard ization process, and there was a need to bring this 
process under the multilateral system, whereby possi bly a bigger role should be exercised by 
governments.   
37. In general, it was important that envir onment requirements would not constitute a new 
conditionality in the global trading system.  Howeve r, private standards and certification had become 
a new frontier that would constitute trade barriers,  in particular, to organic products which was a 
growing sector for many developing economies.  It wa s possible to arrive at a win-win-win situation 
for the environment, development and trade, if there was the right balance between the need for 
certain environmental requirements and the objective of facilitating trade flow. 
38. It was important for the CTE together with other WTO committees to consider the possibility 
of mutual recognition and harmonization of these standa rds.  He recalled that this was an issue which 
Egypt had been engaging with its major trading partners, for instance under its association agreement 
with the EU.  He believed that it would be important to bring the various regional or individual efforts 
to the multilateral systems to seek the right balan ce between environmental and health protection and 
the need to avoid unnecessary barriers to trade.   
39. The representative of UNCTAD  said that organic agriculture was one of the subjects covered 
in the UNCTAD Trade and Environment Review 2006.  She joined the previous speakers in 
highlighting the rapid growing organic markets in  developed countries which presented opportunities 
for producers and exporters of organic produc ts, including those from developing countries. 
40. She noted the current trends that more stringent  and frequent environm ent and health related 
requirements were set by both govern ment and private sector bodies.  Most of these requirements 
specified maximum agro-chemical residual leve ls, such as for pesticides, and traceability 
requirements.  As organic agriculture prohibite d agro-chemical use, it was easier for products 
produced organically to meet these requirements.  This provided an important opportunity for small holder farmers in developing countries, and was furt her facilitated by the currently existing option of 
small holder group certification. 
41. She believed that organic agriculture, in add ition to income generation, could offer other 
positive effects in natural resource conservation (e .g. improved soil fertility, reduced water erosion 
and enhanced biodiversity) and the social sphere (e .g. rural employment, lower urban rural migration, 
improved household nutrition, local food security a nd higher self-reliance).  It was for these reasons 
that UNEP and UNCTAD had selected organic agricultu re as a priority issue to be addressed by the 
UNEP-UNCTAD CBTF.  She highlighted the CBTF project on promoting production and trading 
opportunities for organic agricultural products from East  Africa and the East African organic products 
standard which would be launc hed in May 2007.  These initiativ es had benefited from financial 
support of the EU and the Swedish Internati onal Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA). 
42. She said that in order to seize the opportunities, organic producers and exporters, particularly 
those in developing countries, had to overcome a number of hurdles.  First, the organic market was 
confronted with hundreds of private sector standard s and governmental regula tions, two international 
standards for organic agriculture (Codex Alim entarius Commission and IFOAM) and a host of 
conformity assessment and accreditation systems.  Discussions in the various fora, including 
UNCTAD, FAO and IFOAM, had indicated that the excess of standards, regulations and certification 
requirements was a major obstacle for the continuous development of the organic sector, especially 
for producers in developing countries.   
43. The lack of co-operation and harmonization was a central problem.  Mutual recognition and 
equivalency among these systems were extremely lim ited.  In most markets, it was not enough to 
meet government regulations, but also requirements of the private organic standards which associated WT/CTE/M/44 
Page 8  
 
  label was used by a particular retailer or rec ognized by consumers in that market.  Producers 
interested in selling to more than one market, or to  more than one supermarket in a market, must bear 
the high costs of multiple certifications.   
44. To service their clientele, certifying bodies often had to obtain a number of costly 
accreditations.  For developing country producers and exporters, this exercise could be more costly 
since they were often required to bring in foreign in spectors to carry out the certification.  Facing such 
complicated and costly certification procedures, many farmers gave up their interests in producing certified organic products.  
45. She believed this situation would get worse in the coming years, since more governments 
would develop their own organic regulations.  She no ted that since February 2002, 60 countries had 
regulated the organic sector, of which 37 had est ablished fully implemented regulations.  These 
hundreds of standards and regulations had much in common.  However, they differed in details, for 
instance in packaging, storage and transport require ments, or in the list of permitted substances for 
fertilization, disease control and food processing.  She believed that some of the differences were 
necessary as they reflected underlying ecological a nd socio-economic differences, but many appeared 
to be arbitrary and unnecessary. 
46. Most consumers did not benefit from the situa tion, since the costs of multiple certification 
were ultimately borne by them.  Furthermore, the variety of organic products available in the market 
for their choices would decrease.  There was also c onsiderable consumer confusion over the numerous 
labels.  Most consumers were not aware of, nor particularly sensitive to, the differences in the details 
of the various standards and regulations.     
47. There were few winners, if any, under the curre nt situation.  Producers and consumers were 
losing.  Certain certification and accreditation institu tions might be experiencing some gains, although 
many certifiers had raised concerns on the high co st of multiple accreditations.  She concluded that 
there was a need for concerted action.   
48. She referred to the IFOAM, FAO and UNCTAD ITF launched in February 2003, where the 
three organizations had complementary areas of comp etence:  IFOAM in organic agriculture, FAO in 
agriculture in general and food security and UNCTAD in trade and development.  She said that ITF 
was an open-ended platform for di alogue between public and private st akeholders involved in organic 
regulations.  It aimed at seeking solutions to f acilitate international trad e on organic products and 
assist those from developing countries to enter into the global markets.  ITF members included 
individuals working in government and inter-governme ntal agencies, civil society and other private 
sector organizations.  The work of the ITF had been  made possible due to the financial support from 
the governments of Sweden and Switzerland.   
49. ITF met at least once a year and commissioned technical studies.
1  There were three phases of 
its work: the Review and Analysis Phase (2003-200 5) to analyze the current situation;  the 
Formulation of Proposal and Tools for Solutio ns Phase (2005-2007) to propose ways to move 
forward;  and the Commitment on Solutions Phase to seek ways to implement solutions by key actors. 
50. She drew the CTE's attention to the following three ITF recommendations:  (i) governments 
commit to use international standards as the referenc e point for import approvals.  In this context, she 
congratulated the EU for moving in this directi on with its revised organic regulation which made 
reference to relevant Codex Alimen tarius Guidelines;  (ii) equivale nce of organic standards/technical 
regulations is based on the ITF Guidelines for Equivalency, a tool which is currently under 
development;  (iii) International Requirements for Organic Certification Bodies (IROCB) being 
                                        
1The results of its work were made available on www.unctad.org/trade_env/itf-organic.  WT/CTE/M/44 
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  developed by ITF serves as a benchmark for equivalen ce, a catalyst for convergence of requirements 
and directing accreditation as possible. 
51. The Chairman  thanked delegations for their interventi ons on environmental requirements and 
market access.  He recalled that under this agenda  item, a second Secretariat note entitled Work in the 
TBT and SPS Committees (JOB(06)/263) had been issu ed in December 2006.  This note considered 
the environment-related notifications and specific trade concerns (STCs) in the two Committees.  In 
this note, he could observe steady increase in environment-related regul ations notified and STCs 
raised in the TBT and SPS Committees which c overed a range of products and measures.   
52. He said that further work had been done by the Secretariat in this area, focussing on the 
environment-related TBT STCs raised.   Findings showed that since 1998, 32 environment-related 
STCs had been brought to the attention of the TB T Committee, representing 20% of all STCs raised 
in the same period.  The most frequently affected products were chemicals, vehicles, electronic and 
electric appliances.  For instance, out of the 32 ST Cs, 10 related to chemicals and heavy metals, eight 
related to vehicles and air pollution control, eight  related to recycle, reuse, recovery and waste 
management and five concerned energy efficiency.     
53. Regarding these environmental measures which cr eated STCs, he said that they varied from 
bans and restrictions in use, to labeling a nd marking requirements, as well as requirements for 
information, registration and testing, product design and performance.  Some of them referred to the 
implementation of multilateral e nvironmental agreements (MEAs) , such as the Convention on 
International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES ), Stockholm and Rotterdam Conventions and 
Kyoto Protocol.    
54. He noted that concerns had been raised in the TBT Committee with respect to the lack of 
transparency, notification and po ssibilities for comments;  alleged discrimination or unnecessary 
obstacles to trade;  over-stringency and high cost  associated with implementation and conformity 
assessment procedures, in particular for devel oping country producers and SMEs.  Frequently, 
requests had been made for the measures to be notif ied and comments to be taken into consideration, 
as well as to provide information, clarificatio n, scientific justifications, opportunities for 
consultations, reasonable period for adaptation, sp ecial and differential treatment or technical 
assistance.   
55. In most cases, subsequently, concerns raised had been transmitted to capitals, notifications 
had been made, further information and clarificat ion had been provided, or consultations with 
stakeholders taken place.  In a number of cases, pos itive results had been shar ed in the Committee, for 
instance, on how concerns raised had been taken into  consideration in the final draft, the prolongation 
of comments and adaptation periods, or the withdrawal of a proposal.    
56. He believed that there was a wealth of inform ation regarding these STCs, and this kind of 
data could be interesting to the CTE for its further work on Paragraph 32(i).     
57. The Committee took note  of the statements made. 
2. Sector Analysis ("win-win-win") 
58. Relevant statements regarding organic agricultu re were made under the previous sub-item. WT/CTE/M/44 
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  B. 
PARAGRAPH 32(II) (TRIPS ) 
 The relevant provisions of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property 
 Rights (TRIPS)   
59. No statements were made under this sub-item. 
C. PARAGRAPH 32(III) (LABELLING ) 
 Labelling for Environmental Purposes 
60. The representative of the United States (US ) said that consequent to the Chair's ideas shared 
at the March 2007 informal meeting, the US was inspired to give a presentation on an energy 
efficiency programme in the US, entitled Energy Star.  Energy Star was a voluntary performance 
based labelling programme established in 1992 for com puter monitors.  It had since then, branched 
out to cover other products, which included lightin g and home envelope (home sealing, roof products, 
windows and doors) and other product categories such  as heating and cooling, office equipment, 
commercial food service, appliances and home electronics. 
61. Energy Star distinguished products which were energy efficient and better for the 
environment.  Its objectives were to reduce greenho use emissions caused by the inefficient use of 
energy, and to facilitate businesses and consumers to identify and purchase products with enhanced 
energy efficiency.  It was a performance based st andard and could offer c onsumers savings on their 
utility bills.   
62. This programme complemented various fede ral products' minimum efficiency standards 
which were implemented by the US Environmenta l Protection Agency (EPA) and Department of 
Energy (DOE), depending on the product categories covered.  Products that earned Energy Star bale 
met the energy performance criteria set by the EPA or DOE.     
63. She indicated that the programme currently, approximately, covered 50 product categories, 
participated by 1,700 manufacturers, labelled 35,000 product models and involv ed 900 retail partners.  
More than 500 utility and state partners were prom oting Energy Star.  To date, American consumers 
had purchased more than 2 billion Energy Star qu alified products, and ov er 65 percent of the 
American public could identify the Energy Star label.   
64. She drew the CTE's attention to the specification development cycle for the preparation of 
new specifications by the EPA and DOE.  It consis ted of steps involving stakeholder consultations, 
notifications and international coordination.  Public  notifications were usually made in the federal 
register notice as well as on the EPA or DOE's websites.  The cycle also consisted of energy and environmental analysis, market industry and design research, and test methodology development, as 
necessary.  Following the release of  a draft specification, further consultation with stakeholders would 
take place.  A possible revised draft would be released to obtain further comments before the specification was finalized.  Usually after nine mont hs, the final specification would took effect and 
was implemented in the market.  Manufacturers and other partners could then participate in the 
program to have their products labelled.  Afte r that, monitoring and other revision activities would 
follow.   
65. She said that a full development cycle took approximately one to two years.  It varied 
depending on factors such as the amount of feedb ack received from stakeholders through the various 
consultations, the number of drafts needed to be  revised before its finalization and whether an 
accepted test procedure existed.  The same pro cess would apply whether it be for a new product 
category or for a revision of a specification.  For example, the specification for computer monitors  WT/CTE/M/44 
 Page 11 
 
 
  had been revised to keep up with the advancemen t and take into account the best available energy 
efficient technology on the market as well as changes of relevant mandatory regulations. 
66. She highlighted the following guiding principl es for specification development:  (i) cost-
effective efficiency;  (ii) performance of a product had to be maintained or enhanced through energy 
efficient technology development;  (iii) there had to  be significant energy savings potential;  (iv) the 
efficiency level was achievable with several technology options, so as not to favour one single 
technology, but rather to allow achieving th e performance requirements through different 
technologies;  (iv) product differentiation and tes ting were feasible and practical;  and (vi) the 
labelling could be effective in the market place.   
67. She highlighted that Energy Star was a volunt ary scheme based on self-certification, whereby 
each manufacturer declared its conformity with the relevant EPA or DOE specification.   
68. On how the integrity of Energy Star label coul d be protected, she explained that since in the 
US, there were a highly competitive market place and active consumer groups , the labelled products 
were constantly tested.  Manufacturers frequently tested each others' products to ensure compliance 
and that the label was not used inappropriately.  In addition, EPA and DOE, the regulators, routinely 
checked and addressed integrity issues,  for instance, to monitor logo use, check routinely information 
submitted by manufacturers, test selective products a nd twice a year, pull products from retail shelves 
for checking.  They also received calls from cust omers and manufacturers informing on competitors.  
They constantly tried to design supplemental testing programmes for problem areas, such as in lighting products. 
69. She pointed out that over the years, Energy St ar had become international.  EPA and DOE 
had been cooperating and negotiating bilateral agre ements with agencies and regulators in various 
economies (e.g. Australia, Canada, EU, Japan, Ne w Zealand and Chinese Taipei) covering products 
from office equipment to consumer electronics.  Sh e recalled that at a recent US-EU summit, the US 
had agreed to expand the product coverage of its Energy Star agreement with the EU.   
70. With China, over a long period, EPA had b een cooperating with China's Standards and 
Certification Centre (CSC) on various energy effi ciency labelling issues.  She understood that China 
was not using the Energy Star label but rather its  own.  However, EPA had worked with CSC to 
ensure that the Chinese standards a nd performance criteria were consistent with those of Energy Star, 
so that manufacturers needed not to meet different  standards to obtain the different labels.   
71. She recalled that in the Fall of 2003, EPA and CSC had begun work with other economies 
interested in external power supplies standards.  The energy efficiency of external power supplies 
used to charge cell phones and computers varied greatly depending on their design.  Coordination 
efforts had been made to employ similar testing procedures, develop a global dataset of power 
supplies and harmonize specifications and timeline.  Subsequently, in January 2005, the first Energy 
Star specification for external power supplies was join tly launched.  A plan had been made to further 
collaborate on a more stringent specification in 2007.   
72. Moreover, on EPA-CSC cooperation, in Marc h 2007, a MoU was signed on harmonization of 
energy efficiency labels for consumer electr onics and office equipment.  This new phase of 
cooperation included the following principle goals:  th e harmonization of key elements of Energy Star 
and CSC product endorsement-labelling programs;  more  unified set of energy efficiency standards 
for manufacturers;  and China's capacity building fo r an internationally-recognised product labelling 
programme.   WT/CTE/M/44 
Page 12  
 
  73. The Chairman
 thanked the US representative for her presentation on the Energy Star 
programme which, among other things, had provide d information on energy labelling and commerce 
issues.   
74. The representative of Brazil  thanked the US for the useful presentation on Energy Star 
voluntary energy labelling programme.  She also tha nked other delegations for their statements on 
Paragraph 32(i) regarding environmental requirements and market access, as well as the win-win-win 
situation resulting from the elimination and reduction of  trade barriers.  She believed that there was a 
lot of work to be done under Paragraph 32 mandates.   
75. Regarding the US Energy Star presentation, she highlighted the specification development 
cycle, whereby new requirements were developed in volving stakeholders, such as government and the 
private sector.  She found it useful, and believed that  it could facilitate producers' compliance, since 
they had participated in the development process.   
76. Referring to the more stringent specification on external power supplies to be developed in 
2007, she sought further clarification on whether it m eant that more labels would be required.  She 
also requested the US to provide further informati on on how the Energy Star label helped to promote 
trade and environment protection;  and how a win- win-win situation for the environment, trade and 
development could be achieved thr ough this kind of requirement wh ich involved a mix of government 
and private standards set by the US.   
77. The representative of India  thanked the US for its presentati on.  He asked if there was any 
feedback from manufacturers on the Energy Star label, whether they were satisfied with it, or if they 
found it too costly to obtain the label. 
78. The representative of China  thanked the US for presenting an interesting case on energy 
efficiency labelling, and, in particular, menti oning the cooperation between the US and China under 
the Energy Star programme.  He said that it was an important aspect of the two countries' cooperation regarding environmental protection.   
79. The representative the United States
, responding to the question raised by Brazil on how 
Energy Star promotes trade, said that consumers we lcomed and recognized the Energy Star label in 
their purchases.  Since 65% of the American public could identify a product with Energy Star label, 
the label provided market opportunities, and could be  regarded as a marketing tool for producers, be 
they domestic or foreign.   
80. In this aspect, she found the situation of energy efficient products similar to that of organic 
products.  As discussed under the previous agenda item, there was a demand from consumers in many 
countries for organic agricultural products, there was also a demand for more energy efficient 
appliances and home envelope, since energy effici ent equipment, window and doors could cut down 
consumers' energy bills.  For this reason, the label was consumer driven.  It provided equal 
competitive opportunities for all manufacturers.   
81. Concerning the specification development cycle, she said that it involved a broad spectrum of 
stakeholder consultations.  Any companies, ma nufacturers, NGOs or consumer groups, be they 
national or international, could pa rticipate in the development of the specifications.  She noted that 
some of the most competitive appliance manufactur ers that obtained the Energy Star label were 
foreign companies, and believed that they had done well with the Energy Star programme in the US.  
82. She clarified that the Energy Star specifications were not really a mix of private and 
government standards.  It was the US governme nt agencies EPA and DOE that developed the  WT/CTE/M/44 
 Page 13 
 
 
  specifications.  However, there was a lot of input from manufacturers in the pr ivate sector, since they 
had the best information on the most advanced technology.   
83. In response to the question raised by Indi a concerning the feedback from manufacturers on 
the costs for obtaining the Energy Star label, she said that there w as no certification cost involved, so 
long as a manufacturer met the standard and provided  the relevant reporting da ta and information to 
the EPA or DOE.  The cost to the company was mere ly the investment cost on the technology needed 
to meet the standards.  There was no external cost to obtain the label itself.  She did not believe that 
EPA and DOE were generating income out of the Energy Star programme, and that the programme 
was strictly market based. 
84. The Committee took note  of the statements made. 
D. OTHER ITEMS OF THE CTE  WORK PROGRAMME  
85. Referring to Item 4 of the CTE Work Programme  on transparency of trade measures used for 
environmental purposes, the Chairman drew the CTE's attention to document WT/CTE/EDB/4  which 
contained the environmental database for the year 2004.  He thanked the Secretariat for preparing the 
note, and said that it compiled useful information.  
86. The representative of Brazil  thanked the Secretariat, and acknowledged the extensive work 
done on the environmental database. 
87. The representative of Norway  thanked the Secretariat for the preparation of EDB4, and found 
the database useful.   
88. The representative of Switzerland  thanked the Secretariat for the EDB4 document. 
89. The Committee took note  of the statements made. 
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 
 
90. The representative of Norway  presented the Norwegian Action Plan for Environment in 
Development Cooperation for the years 2006–2015 (JOB(07)/67).  She said that the Action Plan represented a tool to meet the interlinked challenges regarding environment, poverty and 
development.  Norway aimed at ma king environmental concerns an in tegral part of all development 
cooperation.  Its environmental development cooperation contributed towards achieving the 
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), in particular  to support partner countries’ efforts to achieve 
MDG7 on ensuring environmental sustainability and the target of integrating the principles of 
sustainable development into country policies and programmes.    
91. The Action Plan presented the following thematic priority areas:  (i) sustainable management 
of biological diversity and natural resources;  (ii)  water resources management, water and sanitation;  
(iii) climate change and access to clean energy;  and (iv) hazardous substances.  She said that most of the Norwegian development funds would be targeted at  the first three thematic priority areas.  The use WT/CTE/M/44 
Page 14  
 
  of funds would be made through multilateral and bilateral channels  in dialogue with cooperation 
partners.   
92. It highlighted the importance of dialogues at the political level when addressing climate 
change challenges.  It stressed the essential role  of a dynamic private sector in achieving poverty 
reduction and development, as well as the awareness of environmental impacts of economic activity. 
93. She said that Norway intended to encourage a stronger focus on the environmental dimension 
in private sector development, including the agri cultural sector, and to enhance developing countries 
position to establish and enforce environmental sta ndards in connection with investments, private 
sector development and trade.  It also intended to ensure that Norway’s support schemes for private 
sector development in the South took internationa l environmental commitments, national priorities 
and the principles of sustainable development into  account.  Furthermore, it intended to promote 
environment-based private sector development as a means of creating growth, providing employment and achieving environmental goals e.g., through the development of e nvironmental technology, 
renewable energy resources, and water and sanitation technology. 
94. The Norwegian government would seek to ensure that the global trading system promoted 
sustainable development, and that environmental co ncerns were taken into account in all relevant 
areas in the WTO.  It strived to ensure that tr ade rules and MEAs were mutually reinforcing and 
promoted sustainable development.  For Norway, drawing up an action plan was only the first step 
towards an increased effort in the environmental area.  She said that implementing the plan would 
require resources, both financial and human.  She noted that funding for environmental development 
cooperation had been increased substantially this year, and would be followed up in the following 
years.  She informed the CTE that the Action Plan was available on its website.
2  
95. The representative of Switzerland  thanked Norway for presenting its Action Plan for 
Environment in Development Coopera tion.  He welcomed the fact that the plan had highlighted the 
important role of a dynamic private sector that to ok into account environmental considerations.  His 
delegation looked forward to further studying the Action Plan. 
96. The representative of Cuba  drew the CTE's attention to an UNCTAD project carried out in the 
Caribbean region for capacity building in trade negotiations and the environment, which she found 
useful.  She said that the project had been carried  out based on developing countries' interests.  A 
relevant study had been conducted to support developing countries' e nvironmental negotiations in the 
various organizations.  It highlighted the need  to consolidate national mechanisms for the 
coordination between environment and trade policies.  In this respect, in the case of Cuba, it did not 
require any additional resources.  She also tha nked UNCTAD for its activities that supported market 
access, and found them fruitful.  
97. The Committee took note  of the statements made.  
2. Environmental Reviews 
 
98. With respect to the second part of Paragra ph 33 on experience sharing on environmental 
reviews, the Chairman  recalled that, in order to facilitate the experience sharing exercise and to 
provide the CTE with factual background information in  this field, at the informal meeting held on 30 
March, the Secretariat had been requested to prep are a list on environmental reviews which had been 
or were being carried out.  He drew the CTE's atte ntion to a room document which contained that list . 
                                        
2 http://www.regjeringen.no/en/dep/ud/Documents/Reports -programmes-of- action-and-plans/Action-plans-and-
programmes/2006/actionplan.html?id=448662 
  WT/CTE/M/44 
 Page 15 
 
 
  He said that the document, following a brief description of the Committee's discussions on 
environmental reviews in the context of Item 2 of its work programme and subsequently of Paragraph 
33 of the Doha Ministerial Declaration, provided a list of the various trade related impact assessments.  These projects had been grouped under the headi ng of multilateral trade liberalization initiatives, 
regional and bilateral trade liberalizati on initiatives, and national projects.   
99. He noted that the list was an illustrative one, and had been put together as a result of a search 
on the internet by the Secretariat and material supplied by other organizations.  It was neither 
exhaustive nor indicative.  Members were welcome to inform the Secretariat of any correction or 
additional information, so that it could be more co mprehensive.  He suggested that, if delegations 
found it useful, this list would be issued as a working document for frequent updating.      
100. The representative of the European Communities (EC
) thanked the Secretariat for preparing 
the list on environmental reviews.  He found it instru ctive, and believed that it had demonstrated how 
environmental reviews had become an effective tool in trade negotiations.  Regarding the EU 
sustainable trade impact assessments (SIAs) listed in the document, he said that in some cases, further 
development had taken place.  He encouraged in terested Members to follow the SIAs' development 
on the relevant websites.  He pointed out that the EC were currently preparing the groundwork for a 
range of SIAs for forthcoming free trade agreements  (FTA).  He would provide the Secretariat with 
the information when it became available. 
101. The representative of Korea  thanked the Secretariat for the list, and found that it provided 
valuable information.   
102. He shared with other Members Korea's experi ence on an environmental review of the Korea-
US FTA (KORUS).  He recalled that approximately a month had passed since the conclusion of the 
KORUS negotiations.  Both Korea and the US ha d conducted an environmental review of the 
KORUS, and had made the outcomes publicly available in April 2007 and December 2006 
respectively.  Korea's environmental review of  the KORUS had been carried out by the Korea 
Environmental Institute from September 2006 to Ap ril 2007.  It had been conducted following the 
1994 OECD guideline and based on the assumption of maximum trade liberalization.   
103. He said that the review preliminarily concl uded that the pollution level caused by the KORUS 
would be minimum.  The release of pollutants in th e areas of air and waste was projected to decrease 
by 0.35% and 0.08% respectively due to the subs titution of domestic production.  However, the 
pollution in water was to increase by 1.02% due to the increase of food industry production.  The 
review drew Korea's special attention to the risk  of alien species and hazardous chemicals which 
might be caused by the increase of imports on e.g., agricultural and fisheries products and products 
containing chemicals.   
104. He said that the Korea's review was not compre hensive, but was preliminary and partial.  
However, this exercise had provided a picture of th e magnitude of the environmental impacts, and had 
identified certain areas where Korea needed to pay sp ecial attention.  He informed the CTE that the 
full environmental review of the KORUS would fo llow in the coming years.  Korea would share it 
with other Members when the outcome was available. 
105. The representative of Colombia  thanked the Secretariat for preparing the list on 
environmental review.  He found the informatio n useful, and would make it available to his 
authorities.  Based on the Korean presentation and th e Secretariat document, he believed that the CTE 
should encourage continuation of environment im pact assessments on trade negotiations.  He 
suggested that bodies such as UNEP, UNCTAD and the Secretariat could support developing 
countries in carrying out such projects.   WT/CTE/M/44 
Page 16  
 
  106. The representative of UNEP
 updated the CTE on UNEP's activ ities regarding environmental 
reviews.  He said that, in response to various intern ational declarations on integration of sustainability 
considerations in policy making calling for the development of mutually supportive trade and 
environment policies, since late 1990s, UNEP had been working closely with national governments 
and research institutes to support national efforts to assess impacts of trade related policies.   
107. He noted that 36 trade related assessments s upported by UNEP and, in some cases, jointly 
with UNCTAD under the CBTF, had been listed as "na tional projects" in the list of environmental 
reviews prepared by the WTO secretariat.  Th ese included the projects mentioned by Kenya and 
Uganda earlier under Paragraph 32( i) on organic agriculture.  
108. He said that despite the geographical and themat ic diversity, a number of general findings and 
lessons learnt had been identified from these project s.  First, by and large, these national level 
assessments had proven to be a critical tool fo r understanding the challenges and opportunities of 
trade related policies.  In addition to producing quantitative data, the assessments also encouraged 
extensive stakeholder consultations.  These consulta tions had often helped identifying and explaining 
some counter intuitive and unexpected findings.  Fo r instance, some of th e assessment focused on 
trade liberalization in the agricultural sector had found that in many cases, rural communities would 
continue to farm a certain crop regardless of whet her cheaper imports were available in the market 
due to trade liberalization.  For these communities (e.g. certain rice growing communities in Indonesia 
and Senegal), the cultivation of the crop was so criti cally inter-twined with the local culture that 
foregoing its cultivation was not considered an option. 
109. These assessments had also often led to enhanc ed inter-ministerial coordination at the 
national level.  In several of the projects, deci sion makers who were initially reluctant to adopt 
strengthened environmental and/or social policies had become some of the strongest advocates for 
these policies after conducting the assessment which provided them with an appreciation of the 
linkages between trade, the environment and development.   
110. Moreover, these studies had indicated that, where adequate policies, me asures or institutions 
were not in place, trade liberalization resulted in  negative environmental and social impacts.   
111. UNEP's experience had shown that assessment processes and methodologies needed to be 
adapted to local conditions, needs and priorities.  The importance of ensuring this flexibility implied 
that a menu of assessment methodologies was needed  from which the most appropriate methodology 
could be selected for a given locality. 
112. The challenges in undertaking these assessments should not be underestimated.  For instance, 
these could be due to the limited data availability, in sufficient data and financial resources, lack of 
capacity and experience with respect to assessment tools and techniques, as well as the challenge to 
integrate the assessment outcomes into policy and decision making processes.   
113. Finally, regarding assessment capacity building and the development of assessment tools, it 
had been shown that there was no substitute for le arning by doing.  In these projects, it was the 
national institutions and government ministries, not international experts, who conducted the 
assessments.  It was them who developed policy response packages to addr ess any negative impacts 
and enhance the positive ones. 
114. He informed the CTE of a new UNEP initiative which was an operational manual on 
integrated policy making and sustainable developmen t.  A draft of this manual was available for 
comments on the UNEP Economics and Trade Branch we bsite, and a technical review meeting would 
take place in Geneva on 14-15 May.  This initiativ e aimed to provide guidance for incorporating 
various societal objectives in the development of pub lic policies.  It responded to repeated calls for  WT/CTE/M/44 
 Page 17 
 
 
  upstreaming sustainability-related assessment in polic ymaking processes.  He hoped that this work 
would provide a foundation for c onstructing guidelines that would target at mainstreaming the 
environment into trade policy making processes.  He concluded by thanking the donors (including the 
EU, Norway, Sweden, US and the Geneva Intern ational Academic netw ork) for supporting UNEP 
assessment activities over the years.   
115. Regarding the room document on a list of environmental reviews, the Chairman  invited 
Members to submit any supplementary information to  the Secretariat by 30 May.  Following that, the 
list would be issued as a working documen t, and would be updated regularly.   
116. 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. 
117. The Chairman
 recalled that at the end of 2006, a Secretariat note WT/CTE/W/243 on the 
environment related elements in the Doha Negotia tions had been prepared.  This note compiled the 
environment-related issues in the following five ar eas of the Doha negotiations:  agriculture, market 
access for non-agricultural products, rules, servi ces and trade and environment.  He invited 
delegations to further reflect on that paper.   
118. The Committee took note  of the statement made.   
IV. OTHER BUSINESS 
119. The Chairman  recalled that a request by the Basel Convention for observer status in the CTE 
had been received in February 2007 (WT/CTE/COM/13  and WT/CTE/INF/6/Rev.4).  At its meeting 
of 4 October 2001, the CTE had agreed to postpon e discussions of requests for intergovernmental 
observer status in the Committee pending discu ssions in the General Council (paragraph 3, 
WT/CTE/M/28).  This would include this la test request from the Basel Convention. 
120. He noted that currently, there were three pending requests from MEAs (Montreal Protocol, 
International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) and Basel Convention).  His view was that, in the case of specific matters arising in the CTE whic h concerned them, the Committee could explore the 
possibility of inviting these MEA Secr etariats to CTE meetings on an ad hoc  basis.  He encouraged 
these MEAs and CTE observers to inform him or th e Secretariat of any specific presentations they 
wished to give of which the information could be  useful to the CTE's work.  The CTE could then 
decide to take up the offers on a case by case basis. 
121. The Committee took note
 of the statement made.   
122. The next meeting of the Committee would be held  in the third quarter of 2007 with the exact 
date to be announced nearer to the time.    
 
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