Environmental goods negotiations: issues and options for ensuring win-win outcomes

Incorporating special and differential treatment and environmentally preferable products of export into future WTO negotiations

In analysing possible approaches for ensuring balanced trade gains in the ongoing WTO negotiations, the author suggests that a combination of special and differential treatment (SDT) provisions and environmentally preferable products (EPP) of export interest to developing countries, could offer a balanced deal to developing countries. The author argues for a balanced reduction in trade barriers on environmental goods, which can bring environmental and commercial benefits to developed and developing countries.

The author outlines two possible appraoches:

promotion of trade in environmentally preferable natural products allows developing countries to utilise their comparative advantage of resources
currently, UNCTAD qualifies EPPs as agricultural products, production and process methods (PPM) as non-timber forest products and products made of natural fibres. The author suggests that another possible category to be categorised as a EPP could be biofuels, since fuel wood and charcoal may provide commercial opportunities for developing countries
alternatively, the negotiations could reflect the special and differential treatment provisions, either through less-than-full reciprocity and delayed compliance, or by a combination of both.

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Environmental goods negotiations: issues and options for ensuring win-win outcomes