A4-0125/98

Resolution on environmental, health and consumer protection aspects of world trade

The European Parliament,

- having regard to Rule 90(5) of its Rules of Procedure,

- having regard to its resolutions of 22 January 1993 on environment and trade ((OJ C 42, 15.2.1993, p. 246.)) and 24 March 1994 embodying the recommendations of the European Parliament to the Commission concerning the negotiations in the Trade Negotiations Committee of GATT on an agreement on a Trade and Environment Work Programme ((OJ C 114, 25.4.1994, p. 35.)),

- having regard to its resolution of 14 November 1996 on the communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament on trade and environment ((OJ C 362, 2.12.1996, p. 245.)),

- having regard to the report of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Consumer Protection (A4-0125/98),

A. whereas the ministerial conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO) held in Singapore in December 1996 failed to make any significant political progress in fulfilling the mandate given to the Committee on Trade and Environment (CTE) at Marrakesh in April 1994,

B. whereas, in the light of various rulings by the WTO's Dispute Settlement Body, notably on gasoline, hormones and (still pending) shrimp/turtles as well as on issues which have not yet reached the dispute settlement stage (e.g. the Leghold Trap Regulation), a range of legal and political issues involving the WTO have been raised which are in urgent need of political solutions,

C. whereas the CTE has proved to be incapable, in the absence of higher political instruction, of reaching agreed solutions to these legal and political problems,

D. whereas the US Administration has endorsed the idea of the creation of an 'Eminent Persons Group¨, reporting directly to the Director General of the WTO, to explore solutions to these problems,

E. whereas the ministerial conference of the WTO due to be held in Geneva in May presents the last sufficiently high level political occasion at which the necessary impetus could be given if solutions to these problems are to be found before the turn of the century,

F. whereas delaying the search for such solutions until the launch of any putative 'Millennium Round¨ presents serious risks of great political damage being caused to the WTO, not least in terms of its public reputation, pending the launch of such a Round,

G. whereas, moreover, solutions to serious global environmental problems, such as climate change, deforestation, the degradation of the marine environment and the public health hazards posed by endocrine disrupters, cannot wait for the WTO to sort out its own internal difficulties, provoking an increased potential for tension between trade policy and environmental and public health protection in the interim,

H. whereas on the basis of actual and anticipated interpretation of WTO rules, the application and development of Community legislation in the field of environment, public health, consumer protection and animal welfare is being adversely effected,

1. Reiterates and reaffirms its position with regard to trade and the environment set out in each of the resolutions it has adopted since January 1993;

2. Notes, nonetheless, that the case law of the WTO, notably in the hormones ruling, has clarified significantly a number of legal issues related to the environment; reaffirms the view, however, that the texts currently in force establish the prevalence of freedom of trade over the aims of environmentally and socially sustainable development;

3. Calls therefore, once again, for the work of the Committee on Trade and Environment (CTE) to be re-invigorated, not least as concerns Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs), Ecolabelling, Non-product related Process and Production Methods (PPMs), Transparency, Domestically Prohibited Goods, and for the work on environmental aspects of Trade Related Intellectual Property and Services (TRIPS) to begin in earnest, so that it can truly fulfil its Marrakech mandate before the end of the century;

4. Calls for the precautionary principle to be specifically established as the primary basis for decisions which have a bearing on public health and consumer protection;

5. Urges the Commission to advocate at the WTO ministerial conference due to meet in Geneva in May that the WTO should draw up a Statement or Understanding concerning the application of the principle of 'like products' which enables otherwise identical products to be differentiated where the production or processing of such products have different impacts on the environment; this Statement or Understanding should elaborate on the findings of the Panel on the US tax treatment of automobiles (the so-called 'Gas Guzzlers' ruling);

6. Re-emphasises its demand for the CTE and/or a specially established 'Eminent Persons Group¨ to explore solutions for the full integration into the WTO's system of the fundamental principles related to non-economic policy objectives, notably those concerning the protection of the environment, public health, cultural and ethical diversity and values, including animal welfare;

7. Urges the Commission and the Member States, as a first step in this direction, to seek the agreement of their WTO partners at the Geneva ministerial conference to a binding Declaration or Decision to give political momentum to this process;

8. Warns that, in the event of failure by ministers to make any progress in this regard, it will be forced to reconsider its posture towards the WTO, notably with regard to the negotiating mandates in other fields covered by the WTO and in the event of the launch of any putative 'Millennium Round¨ in particular;

9. Urges the US Administration to come forward as soon as possible with a renewed request for fast-track authority with a specific mandate on the environment so that these negotiations can get under way as rapidly as possible;

10. Calls for the establishment of a framework to coordinate the MEA secretariats, both between themselves and between them and the rest of the multilateral system, in particular UNCTAD, UNDP, UNEP and the WTO; this framework should also provide for the assessment of the most appropriate forum for the settlement of disputes;

11. Renews its request for consideration to be given to the setting up within the WTO structure of a 'Council for the Environment and Sustainable Development¨, either in parallel to or as a special meeting of the General Council, in the event of any future institutional reform of the WTO;

12. Instructs its President to enter into a dialogue with the Director-General of the WTO as well as with the Commission to work out formal arrangements as to how Parliament should be kept fully briefed and informed of the ongoing work of the WTO across the whole range of its activities;

13. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council, the Speaker of the US House of Representatives and the US Vice-President, and the Director-General of the WTO, with the request that it be made available to all non-EU WTO Member States.