 |
|
ITTC-34
in English
ITTC-34
in French
ITTC-34
in Spanish
Links
to ITTO and Forest Internet Resources
Linkages
Home
| |
|
|
SIDE EVENT: THE LINKAGES BETWEEN TRADE AND ENVIRONMENT IN THE CONTEXT
OF THE WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION – organized by the World Trade
Organization Trade and Environment Division
Doaa Abdel Motaal (right), World Trade Organization (WTO) Trade and
Environment Division, provided an overview of the trade and environment
debate as it pertains to the WTO. She explained that this discussion started in 1991 with the tuna-dolphin dispute, in
which the US imposed an import ban on Mexican tuna on the grounds that
Mexico's tuna fishing practices resulted in high levels of dolphin
mortality. In this case, Mexico challenged the US import ban under GATT
rules, arguing that the US had no right to take trade measures to address
environmental concerns outside their territory (extraterritorial
measures), and should not discriminate against imports on the basis of
process and production methods (PPMs). Whether or not countries should be
allowed to discriminate between "like" products, she said, lies at the
heart of the trade and environment debate.
 Motaal explained that the
WTO wants to create and open and non-discriminatory multilateral trading
system. Underscoring that the WTO is not an environmental protection
organization, she noted that although both the WTO and ITTO aim to
facilitate trade, the ITTO aims to ensure that trade takes place in a
sustainable manner, whereas the WTO does not have this goal. She stated
that the WTO should ensure that its rules do not stand in the way of
sustainable development, but that it must be vigilant against countries
that take protectionist trade measures under the guise of environmental
concerns. |
 Motaal
then gave an overview of GATT rules that are relevant to the
trade-environment debate. She explained that GATT Article I on the
"Most-Favored Nation" stipulates that countries must not
discriminate between "like" products from different sources, and
that GATT Article III on "National Treatment" specifies that
countries must not discriminate between imported and
domestically-produced "like" products. By way of example, she said
countries cannot place higher tariffs on plywood from country "A"
than from country "B", and cannot give privileges to domestic
plywood over imports. This, she stressed, is the backbone of the
multilateral trading system. |
|
Motaal also drew attention to GATT Article XI on the "Elimination of Quantifiable Restrictions", which stipulates that countries cannot put quantifiable restrictions, or bans, on any product that they import or export. She noted, however, that GATT Article XX on "General Exemptions", states that violations to GATT rules are permissible when taken to protect human, animal or plant life or health, or to conserve an exhaustible natural resource, provided that such measures are taken in conjunction with restrictions on domestic production and consumption. She highlighted that this may be of particular relevance to the ITTO because tropical forests are an exhaustible natural resource. By way of example, she explained that a country banning certain wood imports in order to conserve an exhaustible natural resource, if challenged, would be asked to show how it is restricting domestic production and consumption, and may be asked to consider non-discriminatory methods, including stumpage fees or logging taxes. |
|
Motaal then highlighted the WTO's Committee on Trade and the Environment (CTE), which was created in 1995. She noted that the CTE addresses the relationship between multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) and WTO rules, noting that the WTO considers the ITTA to be an MEA in this context. She said the CTE attempts to determine whether specific trade obligations (STO) of MEAs are compatible with WTO rules, and if not, considers what can be done to ensure harmony between the two. She noted that the CTE also addresses issues such as product labeling, and the environmental effects of removing trade restrictions. Providing an example, she noted that Japan declared that trade liberalization and tariff reductions in the forest sector would not necessarily benefit the environment, whereas the US argued that trade liberalization can only improve forest management. |
|
|
|
She explained that paragraph 32 of the Doha Ministerial Declaration calls on the CTE to report to the Cancun Ministerial Conference in September 2003 on the desirability of expanding negotiations on the environment beyond paragraph 31. |
|
Links
Recent
SD coverage on Forest:
|
ENB Summary of
ITTC-33 in PDF (|
Back to Linkages home - Visit IISDnet
- Send e-mail to ENB |