WTO: 2015 NEWS ITEMS

TRADE AND ENVIRONMENT


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“I am pleased to hear from Australia’s Minister for Trade and Investment Andrew Robb, the EGA chair, that there has been considerable progress and a high degree of convergence in many areas of the negotiations. Trade must play its role in addressing climate change and supporting the historic Paris Agreement delivered at COP21 last week,” the Director-General said.

“I further welcome Minister Robb’s statement that negotiators will capitalize on the momentum and re-engage early in 2016 to continue to work towards a successful conclusion. This agreement will be an important contribution of the international trade community towards realizing the complementary benefits of trade and environmental policy,” the Director-General said.

Seventeen participants, representing 44 WTO members1, are negotiating the EGA to lower their trade barriers on a number of important environmental goods. The participants are considering products in several significant areas of environmental protection and climate change mitigation including those that contribute to generating clean and renewable energy, improving energy efficiency, controlling air pollution, managing waste, and treating waste water. The participating members account for the majority of global trade in environmental goods and have committed that the entire WTO membership would benefit from the tariff reductions that would arise from the agreement.

EGA talks were formally launched in July 2014 and since May this year, EGA negotiators have worked on narrowing down the list of products to be covered by the deal. So far, eleven rounds of negotiations have been held.

Access EGA Chair Andrew Robb’s statement here.

Notes:

The current 17 EGA participants are Australia; Canada; China; Costa Rica; the European Union (representing 28 members); Hong Kong, China; Iceland; Israel; Japan; Korea; New Zealand; Norway; Singapore; Switzerland; Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu; Turkey; and the United States. back to text

 

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