WTO Committee on Trade and Environment

The World Trade Organization Committee on Trade and Environment will initially address the following matters:

• the relationship between the provisions of the multilateral trading system and trade measures for environmental purposes, including those pursuant to multilateral environmental agreements;
• the relationship between environmental policies relevant to trade and environmental measures with significant trade effects and the provisions of the multilateral system; the relationship between the provisions of the multilateral trading system and:
  • charges and taxes for environmental purposes;
  • requirements for environmental purposes relating to products, including standards for technical regulations, packaging, labelling and recycling;
• the provisions of the multilateral trading system with respect to the transparency of trade measures used for environmental purposes and environmental measures and requirements which have significant trade effects;
• the relationship between the dispute settlement mechanisms in the multilateral trading system and those found in multilateral environmental agreements;
• the effect of environmental measures on market access, especially in relation to developing countries, in particular to the least developed among them, and the environmental benefits of removing trade restrictions and distortions;
• the issue of exports of domestically prohibited goods.