. /.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/CTE/GEN/21 
31 October 2005 
 (05-5037) 
Committee on Trade and Environment  Original:   English 
  
 
UNCTAD STATEMENT  
 
Statement by UNCTAD at the Regular Session of the 
 
Committee on Trade and Environment (CTE)  
of 11 October 2005  
 
 1. I would like to make a short intervention to brief delegations on so me forthcoming UNCTAD 
meetings and publications that may be releva nt for the discussions in this Committee on 
environmental requirements and market access for developing countries.   
2. As part of the Project Building Capacity for Improved Policy Making and Negotiation on Key 
Trade and Environment Issues  funded by the United Kingdom’s Department for International 
Development (DFID) we have continued to look  into sector-specific experiences of developing 
countries in responding pro-actively to both envi ronmental requirements in export markets and 
domestic environmental concerns.  At an earlier ses sion of the CTE, we briefed delegations on the 
results of a Sub-Regional Workshop on Envi ronmental Requirements and Market Access for 
Electrical and Electronic Goods, hosted by the secretariats of the UN Economic and Social 
Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) and UNCTAD in Bangkok (25 to 27 May 2007).   
3. The same project has also been looking into a nother sector, which is of key concern to the 
vast majority of developing countries, namely food products.  Case studies have been prepared and 
workshops held, at national and sub-regional le vels in Asia and in Central American and 
Spanish-speaking Caribbean countries.  The next  regional workshop will be held in Managua, 
Nicaragua, from 8 to 10 November 2005, follo wed by a national workshop for Nicaragua 
on 11 November.  These workshops will focus on issues related to bot h paragraphs 31 (in particular 
environmental goods) and 32.  In the latter case, the workshop will focus both on market access issues 
as well as trading opportunities for organic agricult ural products.  Case studies carried out in eight 
Central American and Caribbean countries illust rate that the capacity of producers to respond 
adequately to environmental and social concerns  and related market requirements represents an 
important element of international competitiveness.  Case studies provide examples of four categories 
of requirements with possible implications fo r (production and) expor ts of food products:  
(a) Government regulations, especially in the area of  food safety, which often have implications for 
environmental management in the exporting countries,  e.g. with regard to the use of pesticides;  
(b) private-sector standards, such  as EurepGAP;  (c) industry and NGO codes;  and (d) multilateral 
environmental agreements, e.g. regarding the use of  methyl bromide in the production of melon.   
4. As we mentioned in an earlier intervention,  the results of our DFID-funded project and 
discussions in several forums, including this Comm ittee, have provided significant inputs to the 
current and future activities of the Consultative Task Force (CTF) on Environmental Requirements 
and Market Access for Developing Countries.  In the area of public- and private-sector standards for 
food products, we would like to draw the attenti on to a series of country case studies currently being 
prepared on national or sub-regional protocols on  Good Agricultural Practice that reflect national 
circumstances and development priorities and whic h are ultimately benchm arked to international 
private-sector food standards, such as EurepGAP.  La ter this year and early next year, the drafts of WT/CTE/GEN/21 
Page 2  
 
these papers will be discussed at three sub-regional stakeholder consultations, one in Latin America, 
one in East and Southern Africa, and one in East Asia. 
5. Given the importance of market access issu es for developing countries, the 2005 edition of 
the UNCTAD Trade and Environment Review (to be  published shortly) provides conceptual and 
factual analysis of the relationship between environmental requirements and market access for 
developing countries.  The first two Chapters seek to conceptualize the key issues, provide practical 
information and identify possible actions at natio nal and multilateral levels to assist developing 
countries in strengthening their capacities to respond  to emerging environmental and related health 
requirements.  Another Chapter seeks to respond to the need for more secto r-specific analysis by 
examining strategies used by developing countries to adapt to new environmental requirements for 
electrical and electronic equipment (EEE), a very dynamic export sector.  Finally, the Review 
includes an analyses trade opportunities for developi ng countries in the organic agriculture sector.  
This sector provides an example of how new envir onmental and related health concerns in major 
markets can create market opportunities for envir onmentally preferable products from developing 
countries.  Local and national sustainable development benefits may also be generated.  The analysis 
is complemented by an analysis of relevant e xperiences of Central American countries (Costa Rica, 
El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua a nd Panama), Cuba and the Dominican Republic, 
drawing, among other things, on case studies carried out under the DFID project mentioned earlier.  
Apart from the TER, we are currently preparing publications containing syntheses of the case studies on the horticulture sector in South and South-east Asia and food products in Central America, Cuba 
and the Dominican Republic. 
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