TL: NGO STATEMENT ON GATT AND THE ENVIRONMENT EC-US Round Table on Environment and Trade SO: FoE, Greenpeace International, European Env Bureau, WWF DT: February, 1994 Keywords: environment groups greenpeace gatt trade / NGO STATEMENT ON GATT + ENVIRONMENT M E M O R A N D U M To:Trade, Environment and Development NGOs cc Colin Hines, Greenpeace International Manus van Brakel, Friends of the Earth InternationalRaymond van Ermen, European Environmental Bureau From:Charlie Arden-Clarke, WWF International, Av. du Mont- Blanc, 1196 Gland, Switzerland, Tel: +41 22 364 95 09,Fax: +41 22 364 58 29 or +41 22 364 82 19, e-mail:charles.arden-clarke@wwf-int.ch (not absolutely reliable!) Date:31 January 1994 Subject: NGO statement on GATT Trade and Environment Work Programme =========================================== Attached to this fax is a joint statement made by Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, the European Environmental Bureau and WWF at the recent EC-US Round Table on Environment and Trade.The statement focuses on the proposed GATT Trade and Environment Work Programme, which was the major agenda item of the EC-US meeting.The purpose of the statement was to provide recommendations to direct better the work programme to meet environmental and sustainable development objectives.The statment was developed from an initial draft by WWF. The joint statment was prepared in a very short time immediately before the EC-US meeting.We did not have time therefore to send it out for further comment and signature by other groups.We would like to do this now - we consider this important as the GATT members are moving quickly on the development of this work programme.It is expected that all the major decisions will be taken on the work programme before the end of March and plurilateral negotiations on this subject will start in Geneva this week. An appropriate target for a joint statement signed by more groups would be the forthcoming UNEP trade and environment meeting in Geneva on 17th February, to which somewhere between 10 and 20 environment ministers will come (half and half South and North). If you are interested in joining this initiative could you therefore please comment on the current draft by Monday 7th February at the latest.We would like to retain the current structure of the paper and keep it to no more than four pages.On the basis of the comments we will re-draft the paper and send a revised statement out again for signature on Wednesday 9th February.We will not be able to take into account further comments on the second draft.Signatures received by close of business European time on 15th February will be attached to the statement. It is clearly up to individual groups to decide how to use this document.We think it would be a good idea to put it out with a press release on 16th February in as many places as possible - there would be no attempt to coordinate press work other than to ask that it happen on the same day.This way we should be able to get it into the newspapers on the day of the UNEP meeting.If you have any further suggestions for press or publicity work, please pass them back to me. One point about the second draft - we are considering recommendingthat UNEP be named as the lead UN organisation in the redrafted statement.It has an environmental remit to balance the GATT's trade remit and seems at this stage to be taking an equitable South-North approach and is supportive of better NGO access to the GATT trade and environment work.If you have any comments on this idea, please pass those on too. Best wishes, Charlie Arden-Clarke ----------------------------------------------------------------- The GATT Trade and Environment Work Programme: Joint European NGO Statement European Union/United States Round Table on Trade and Environment, Den Haag, 27-29th January 1994 At the end of the Uruguay Round negotiations the terms of reference for the development of a programme of work on trade and environment were agreed by the Contracting Parties of GATT (MTN.TNC/W/123, 13 December 1993). If this programme of work is to address effectively the coordination of trade and environment policies, it must take account of the enhanced scope and influence of the post-Uruguay Round GATT.Coordination and integration of trade and environment policies will be necessary for as long as these policies continue to evolve.This ongoing need for policy coordination must be reflected in the institutional structures of the multilateral trading system, and particularly in the proposed World Trade Organisation (WTO). Contracting Parties should consider institutional and work programme requirements external to the GATT, and the need to define clearly the limits of this body's competence on trade and environment issues.The effects of trade policies and trade agreements on the environment must be considered if the work programme is to be balanced. Elements of an elaborated work programme which meet these objectives are detailed below.Recommendations are also made on specific issues which should be addressed under the broad topics identified in the terms of reference. 1) Reform of the WTO GATT Contracting Parties should recognize, at theApril 1994 Ministerial Meeting, the need to adjust thelegal provisions of the WTO and incorporate additionalmechanisms to ensure that this body directs trade tosupport sustainable development.In particular thereshould be a legally binding commitment to this objective, enhanced provision for public consultationon the functioning of the WTO and for consultation andcooperation with UN organisations.Without thesemodifications, Article XVI.4 of the WTO which requiresconformity of national laws with provisions of all theGATT agreements, could undermine sustainable development, and block policy innovations generally. The coordination of adjustments to GATT provisionsmust be established as a permanent feature of thefunctioning of the GATT system.This would best beachieved by establishing a permanent Trade and Environment Committee within the new World TradeOrganisation, at the April 1994 Ministerial Meeting inMarrakesh. Contracting Parties should include representatives oftheir environment ministries in delegations servingthis committee.This committee should liaise closelywith the other permanent committees in the WTO, and inparticular the Trade and Development Committee. 2) Assessing Uruguay Round Effects The work programme must be integrated with the UruguayRound implementation process.The implementationprocess itself must in turn respond as the requirements for the successful integration of tradeand environmental policies are more accurately identified. To this end it will be necessary to assess the implications of the trade liberalisation achieved bythe Uruguay Round for sustainable development.Thefocus of this assessment should be on meeting people'sresource and economic needs and maintaining environmental security, and should cover both thepositive and negative effects of the agreement onthese policy objectives.Where this assessment indicates that implementation of the Uruguay Round agreements could undercut sustainable development, recommendations should be submitted to the ContractingParties on modifications to these agreements. 3) The Environmental Effects of Trade Policies and Agreements The work programme must be extended to consider theaspects of trade policies which may result in significant environmental effects.As this liespartly outside the competence of the GATT, this willrequire the involvement of other multilateral institutions with mandates and expertise relating tosustainable development.These should include theUnited Nations Commission on Sustainable Development(UNCSD), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP),United Nations Conference on Trade and Development(UNCTAD) and the United Nations Development Programme(UNDP). These institutions should collaborate on an equalfooting with the WTO, and have a surveillance roleregarding the environmental effects of trade policies,including multilateral trade agreements.The ongoingwork of the OECD's Joint Session on Trade and Environment should be taken account of in executingthe GATT work programme. 4) Transparency and Public Consultation Environmental management and sustainable developmentpolicies must operate at all levels of human society,to be effective.Governments and multilateral tradebodies should therefore enhance opportunities for theconsultation of local communities and NGOs on decisions taken within the Multilateral Trading Systemwhich have implications for the environment and sustainable development.Public consultation on theGATT trade and environment work programme would befacilitated by granting observer status to NGO's andpublic interest groups at meetings of the Trade andEnvironment Committee. 5) Issues for the Work Programme In considering and recommending modifications of theprovisions of the Multilateral Trading System, thework programme should identify and address circumstances when Trade-Related Environmental Measures (TREMs) are an effective policy option forpromoting sustainable development.The active collaboration of other multilateral institutions, andin particular the UNCSD, UNEP , UNCTAD and UNDP shouldbe secured for this task. Modifications to GATT rules and the dispute settlementprocess should be considered, with the objective ofensuring that TREMs make a positive contribution tothe environment in all countries. The work programme should have an agenda which can bedeveloped and expanded as the examination of trade andenvironment issues progresses.The agenda shouldinclude the following issues: Processing and Production Methods (PPMs) - consideration of modifications to those GATT provisions necessary to enable discrimination on thebasis of PPMs and develop criteria for the use of suchtrade measures; Eco-dumping - investigation of this phenomenon and itseffect on trade flows and consideration of how anyimpacts on sustainable development might be addressedwithin the Multilateral Trading System; Environmental subsidies - consideration of the adequacy of the Uruguay Round exemption provided forsuch subsidies and the utility of enhancing thisexemption for developing countries; Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) - in consultation with the secretariats and members of MEAs, clarify the relationship between GATT and MEAs, taking into account the need to prevent "free riding" and ensure that the objectives of MEAs are fulfilled; Export controls - develop recommendations for relaxingGATT disciplines on the use of export controls tofacilitate the sustainable management of naturalresources; Exemption for food security - consideration of anextension of the existing GATT exemption to enablecountries to take trade measures which secure theagricultural resource base and environment; Tariff escalation - consideration of stronger GATTprovisions to counter this practice, with the objective of enabling commodity producers to add morevalue to their exports; Transboundary and global environmental threats - develop recommendations to ensure that multilateraltrade disciplines do not prevent national governmentsand regional authorities from using fair and transparent trade measures to address transboundary and global environmental threats; Technical and financial assistance on TREMs -develop recommendations on meeting the needs of developingcountries for technical and financial assistance inthe design, utilisation and response to TREMs andtechnical regulations; Understanding on Dispute Settlement (UDS) - consideration of modifications to the UDS, in particular increasing its openness and establishingmechanisms for public consultation, and providing forthe GATT Dispute Settlement Body to seek advisoryopinions from other legal institutions. The work programme should be initiated within two months of the initialling of the Uruguay Round Agreement.A progress report should be delivered after one year, and recommendations for joint action by Contracting Parties within two years. Greenpeace International26th January 1994 European Environmental Bureau Friends of the Earth International World Wide Fund for Nature International IF YOU HAVE ANY COMMENTS PLEASE SEND THEM TO CHARLES ARDEN- CLARKE, ADDRESS SEE ABOVE.