Trade and Environment Review 2006

The review examines the impact of environmental requirements on access to markets by developing countries. It examines both the opportunities and challenges presented by these requirements, which are increasingly stringent, complex and multi-dimensional. The review includes both general and sectoral analyses of the issue, and looks at two sectors where environmental requirements are critical to market access: electrical and electronic equipment and organic agricultural products.

Points highlighted by the report include:

• by helping to enhance resource efficiency, lower emission intensity and improve occupational safety, governments and other key stakeholders in developed and developing countries can do more to limit the trade-restricting effects of environmental requirements and to maximise their contribution to sustainable development in developing countries
• the role of WTO rules and disciplines for limiting the trade restrictiveness of environmental requirements is often overestimated
• WTO Agreements can also do little to overcome the supply-related capacity constraints of exporting developing countries or contribute to turning environmental requirements into a catalyst for sustainable development
• developing countries need to adopt a more strategic and proactive approach to coping with environmental and related health requirements in export markets, for example by being involved from the initial stages of standards-setting, both in the context of government regulations and the increasing number of private-sector standards that apply across supply chains
• proactive approach is also needed in order to take full advantage of the trade and development opportunities generated by increased environmental and health concerns, such as expanding markets for organic products.