Introductory
material back
to top
Trade and Environment at the WTO
The WTO Secretariat has prepared this background document to assist public understanding of the trade and environment debate at the WTO.
The
environment — a new high profile
In “Understanding the WTO”, the introduction to the WTO.
MEA Database: Matrix on Trade Measures
Pursuant to Selected MEAs
Frequently-asked
questions
Negotiations
on trade and environment back to top
 Ministers
agreed at the Doha Ministerial Conference to start negotiations on
certain aspects of the trade and environment linkage. These
negotiations are conducted in Special Session of the Committee
on Trade and Environment.
Work
in the Committee on Trade and Environment (Regular session) back
to top
Since 1995, work has been conducted in the CTE pursuant to a
comprehensive work programme.
In Doha, Ministers instructed the CTE
(paragraph 32 of the Ministerial Declaration), in pursuing its work on
all items of its agenda, to give particular attention to three issues.
Relevant
WTO provisions
back
to top
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Relevant
WTO provisions: descriptions
A description of provisions such as non-discrimination, general
exceptions to regular trade rules (GATT Article 20 (i.e. XX), GATS
Article 14 (i.e. XIV), etc.)
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Relevant
WTO provisions: texts
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>
Agreements: Preamble to WTO Agreement. GATT
Article 20. TBT, SPS, Agriculture, Subsidies, and TRIPS. GATS Article
14
> Decision on Trade and Environment
> Decision on Trade in Services and the
Environment
Disputes:
clarifying the rules
back
to top
- Dolphin-tuna,
gasoline, shrimp-turtle and other environment-related disputes in GATT/WTO
Secretariat background note on dispute settlement practice
relating to the application of
GATT Article XX to environmental measures.
History:
30 years of ‘trade and environment’ in
GATT/WTO back
to top
- The
link between trade and the environment —
both the impact of environmental policies on
trade, and the impact of trade on the environment
— was recognized as early as 1970.
- Early
years: emerging environment debate in GATT/WTO
The
1971 GATT Secretariat study, and EMIT — the
GATT group on Environmental Measures and
International Trade.
- 1994:
the Marrakesh Agreement and the ministerial
decision
The
preamble places sustainable development firmly
among the WTO’s objectives. A dispute ruling
four years later has reinforced the legal
position.
Events,
publications back
to top
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Workshop on
Environmental Goods — 11 October 2004
The WTO organized a Workshop on Environmental Goods to assist WTO Members in
their deliberations under Paragraph 31(iii) of the Doha Development Agenda (DDA).
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> Programme,
with links to presentations
- Trade and Environment at the WTO — April 2004
The WTO Secretariat has prepared this background document to assist public understanding of the trade and environment debate at the WTO.
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Public symposium on challenges ahead on the road to Cancún — 16-18
June 2003
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Public
symposium on the Doha Development Agenda and beyond —
29 April - 1 May 2002
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Cooperation
with other international organizations back
to top
In
the context of the work on trade and environment, the GATT, and
subsequently the WTO have undertaken a number of initiatives
aiming to promote greater coherence and mutual supportiveness of
trade and environmental policies.
Secretariat background note on
existing
forms of cooperation and information exchange between
UNEP/MEAs and the WTO.
Trade and Environment Review 2003 (UNCTAD)
(opens in new window).
External
links
back
to top
- List
of links to Multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs)
secretariats and other international organizations websites.
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