. /.WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/CTE/W/128
29 November 1999
(99-5134)
Committee on Trade and Environment
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN MULTILATERAL ENVIRONMENTAL AGREEMENTS
(MEAS)
Note by the Secretariat
I. INTRODUCTION
1. This Note provides Members of the Committee on Trade and Environment (CTE) with an
update of the recent developments in tw o multilateral environmental agreements:
− Convention on the Prior Informed Consent (P IC) Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals
and Pesticides in International Trade.  The Sixth Session of the Intergovernmental
Negotiating Committee (INC) was held in Rome, Italy from 12 to 16 July 1999.  The
Seventh Session of the INC will be held in Geneva, Switzerland in September-October 2000.
Information on this agreement was provided to the CTE by the Secretariat ofUNEP Chemicals (IRPTC) at the MEA Information Session of 23 July 1998.
1
− Draft International Legally Binding Instrume nt for Implementing International Action on
Certain Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs).  The Third Session of the IntergovernmentalNegotiating Committee was held in Geneva from 6 to 11 September 1999.  The
Fourth Session of the INC will be held from 20 to 25 March 2000 in Bonn, Germany.Information, which includes the chemicals, pestic ides and by-products that are listed as POPs,
and the objective of the draft instrument, was provided to the CTE by the Secretariat of
UNEP Chemicals (IRPTC) at the MEA Information Session of 23 July 1998.
2
II. PRIOR INFORMED CONSENT CONVENTION (PIC)
2. The PIC Convention is a new multilateral envir onmental agreement,  negotiated under the
auspices of both the United Nations Environment Programme and the Food and AgricultureOrganization.
3. The text of the PIC Convention was finalized at the Fifth INC
3, and it was adopted at a
Conference of Plenipotentiaries in Rotterdam, Netherlands on 10 September 1998.  The Convention
was open for signature at UN Headquarters in New York from 12 September 1998 to
10 September 1999.  It will enter into force once 50 States have ratified it.  As the Convention is notin force, it is operating on an interim basis through the INC.  At the time of the Sixth INC,
63 countries had signed the Convention.  There were no trade-related developments at the
Sixth Session of the INC.
                                                     
1 Members may consult WT/CTE/W/91 (20 July 1998).
2 Members may consult WT/CTE/W/91 (20 July 1998) beginning at page 5.
3See document UNEO/FAO/PIC/INC.5/3 (17 March 1998) for the text of the Convention, which is
available at the WTO Secretariat for consultation.  Th e Articles of that Convention which are relevant for
Members may also be consulted in document WT/CTE/W/86 (8 July 1998).WT/CTE/W/128
Page 2
III. DRAFT PERSISTANT ORGANIC POLLUTANTS  INSTRUMENT (POPs)4
A. CERTAIN ARTICLES CONTAINED IN THE PRELIMINARY DRAFT TEXT5
4. Article D, paragraph 1 was revised at the Third Session of the INC.  In the Report of the
Third Session, paragraph 46 states "A number of representatives spoke in favour of a ban on importsand exports of POPs.  Some representatives pointed out that draft Article D should conform to
relevant existing international trade treaties.  Sim ilar references were made to environmental treaties,
such as the Rotterdam and Basel conventions.  Many representatives maintained that an exception
should be made for transboundary movements of POPs intended for destruction or disposal, with the
proviso that such movements should be undertaken in an environmentally sound manner."
ARTICLE D:  MEASURES TO REDUCE OR ELIMINATE RELEASES
Prohibition of the production and use of certain persistent organic pollutants
1.  [Subject to the accessibility of financial and technical assistance,] each Party shall
[prohibit] [prohibit [and] [or] take [other] [the ] legal measures necessary to eliminate] [take
the legal measures necessary to eliminate], the production[, import, export] and use of thechemicals listed in Annex A (Elimination), in accordance with the provisions in that Annex.
[1 bis.  Each Party shall ensure that chemicals listed in Annex A, once their production and
use have been banned, shall not be exported or imported except for the purpose of
environmentally sound [destruction] [or] [disposal].]
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4See documents UNEP/POPS/INC.1/7, UNEP/POPS/INC.2/6 and UNEP/POPS/INC.3/4 for a report of
the First, Second and Third Sessions of the INC.  Th ese documents are available at the WTO Secretariat for
consultation.
5Two Articles (J and K) on Technical Assistance, and Financial Resources and Mechanisms, are still to
be developed. In the Report of the Third Session, paragraphs 87 to 89 state that:  "A few representativessuggested that existing bilateral, multilateral and regional funding schemes could be used at the outset but that anew mechanism should be established once the instrument came into force …  Some representatives welcomed
the suggestion that GEF should act as a financial mechanism in that regard.  Some others and regional groups
expressed concern about the ability of the GEF to fulfil that role."
The Implementation Aspects Group will develop a propos ed consolidated text for Article J and K for
review at the fourth Session.  All other Articles reported in WT/CTE/W/112 (10 May 1999) were not revisedat INC 3.