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UN COMMITTEE ON TRADE AND ENVIRONMENT AND ITS ROLE IN BALANCING INTERNATIONAL TRADE AND ENVIRONMENT ISSUES
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UN COMMITTEE ON TRADE AND
ENVIRONMENT AND ITS ROLE IN BALANCING INTERNATIONAL TRADE AND ENVIRONMENT
ISSUES
AUTHORED BY - K. AASHIKA
ABTRACT
The links between international trade
and environmental policy have been an extremely active field of research during
the last years. The literature in this field started with a few contributions
in the 1970s. However, particularly during the last decade it has expanded
rapidly and a diverse set of questions and issues has been addressed. One
important issue was the concern that increasing economic integration could make
governments reluctant to burden local firms with stringent environmental
regulations, which would result in inefficiently low environmental policies and
deteriorating environmental quality. A second source of contention has been the
use of trade policy to reduce environmental degradation abroad. One important
example is the use of trade bans or of labelling schemes for tropical woods to
reduce tropical deforestation. Another prominent example was the tuna-dolphin
dispute between the United States and Mexico. Finally, there have been a large
number of trade disputes over new national environmental policies.
1.
Aim/ object of study
Ensuring proper goals, rules,
institutions and forward looking agenda, the WTO and UN Committee on Trade and
Environment provides the important means of advancing international
environmental goals. The main aim is to ensure the sustainable development,
environmental requirements and market access, labeling, environmental reviews,
trade and technical barriers etc... This has been discussed further.
2.
Scope of study
The main scope of this paper is to
produce qualitative content on UN Committee on trade and environment. This
issue includes the history of sustainable development as well as the pillars
and principles of this concept. About the sustainable development goals and the
associated debate regarding the trade offs, costs and benefits of the
improvement to the developing countries.
Non-tariff measures of WTO covers the anti dumping duties, import licensing,
subsidies, safeguards, environment and labour standards. Among these measures
environment and labour standards are the two major non-tariff measures, which
would affect India's international trade, rather than other non-tariff measure.
3.
Research problem
The aim of this paper is to provide
an outline of some of the main strands in the diverse and voluminous literature
that has investigated the interactions between trade and the environment and UN
Committee on Trade and Environment. The approach will be grouped under four
main questions:
What are the properties of optimal
environmental and trade policies in open economies with local pollution?
What are the properties of such SDG
policies in the case of trade aspect?
What are the environmental and
welfare consequences of trade exports?
How can we explain the political
economy of the trade and environment nexus?
Should Trade Policy be used to
achieve environmental objectives?
How Multilateral Environmental
Agreements of WTO achieve environmental objectives in India?
4.
Research hypothesis
The way to improve hunger and poverty
issues is to open trade and generate the standard of living of people through
greater productivity, increased competition and more choice for consumers at
better prices. Other government can give needy products on subsidy.
Contribution to the food security, affordable medicines and legal pathway as
free is a stepping stone to success.
5.
Method of study
This article was guided by doctrinal
methodology. The data were collected through review of relevant materials
including articles, conference presentations and other documents on UN
committee on trade and environment, role of the UN Committee on trade and
environment, principles, sustainable development. Pieces of information
gathered were analyzed, combined for a qualitative content analysis.
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION:
The WTO’s objective is to
reduce trade barriers and eliminate discriminatory treatment in international
trade relations by adopting specific agreements of trade-related measures aimed
at protecting the environment provided a number of conditions to avoid the
misuse of protection of environment in the practice of trade.
For the betterment of the
society, we must all make the necessary contribution to for the protection and preservation
of the environment through its objective of trade openness. This is carried out
by the WTO organization through its ongoing efforts under the Doha Development
Agenda. The Doha Agenda includes specific negotiations on trade and environment
and some tasks assigned to the regular Trade and Environment Committee.
HISTORY
The necessity of Trade
and environment was seen in earlier times, it was also seen as an issue. There
was always a fragile bond between trade and environment since there was always
a chance of exploitation of recourses of environment when dealt with trade. The
impact of environmental policies on trade, and the impact of trade on the
environment were recognized as early as 1970. Growing international
concern about the impact of economic growth on social development and the
environment led to a call for an international conference on how to manage the
human environment. The 1972 Stockholm Conference was the response.
The members of GATT were urged to examine what the implications of
environmental policies might be for international trade in 1971 by Director
General Olivier Long. In the same year the council of representatives agreed
to set up a Group on Environmental Measures and International Trade (EMIT)
which was open to all GATT members from 1991 only when the members of the
European Free Trade Association asked for the EMIT Group to be convened. As a
result of further developments from the year 1971–1991 it was declared
truthfully that the EMIT group’s proposal met with a positive response.
Along with the
environmental protection policies, the EMIT group focused also on the effects
of environmental measures such as eco-labelling schemes on international trade,
the relationship between the rules of the multilateral trading system and the
trade provisions contained in multilateral environmental agreements such as the
Basel Convention on the Tran boundary Movement of Hazardous Wastes and the
transparency of national environmental regulations with an impact on trade.[1]
Further in the years, the
preamble to the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization
is an inclusion of its importance of working towards sustainable development.
The preamble states:
“that their relations in
the field of trade and economic Endeavour should be conducted with a view to
raising standards of living while allowing for the optimal use of the world’s
resources in accordance with the objective of sustainable development, seeking
both to protect and preserve the environment and to enhance the means for doing
so in a manner consistent with their respective needs and concerns at different
levels of economic development.”
Recognition and
importance of such environmental and trade and sustainable development can be
made from the fact that the first paragraph of the preamble recognizes
sustainable development as an integral part of the multilateral trading system.
On 1994 ministerial decision the ministers also signed a
“Decision on Trade and Environment” which states that:
“There should not be, nor
need be, any policy contradiction between upholding and safeguarding an open,
non-discriminatory and equitable multilateral trading system on the one hand,
and acting for the protection of the environment, and the promotion of
sustainable development on the other.”
This decision leads to
the creation of the Committee on Trade and Environment which we know now.[2]
The Committee on Trade and Environment’s role:
The 1994 Ministerial
Decision on Trade and Environment created the WTO’s Committee on Trade and Environment
(CTE), which is open to the entire WTO membership, with some international
organizations as observers. The committee’s mandate is broad, and it has
contributed to identifying and understanding the relationship between trade and
the environment in order to promote sustainable development.
The UN Trade and
Environment contributes in balancing international trade and environmental
issues by creation of committee. The committee which was set up by the
Marrakesh ministerial decision on trade and environment as explained before has
the goal to identify the relationship between trade measures and environmental
measures in order to promote sustainable development and make appropriate
recommendations on whether any modifications of the provisions of the multilateral
trading system are required, compatible with the open, equitable and
non-discriminatory nature of the system. Since the 2001 Doha Ministerial
Conference, the regular Committee on Trade and Environment CTE began work with
a 10-point work programme focusing on Doha negotiations but they have not
recommended any changes to the rules of the multilateral trading system so far.
The UN Committee on Trade
and Environment balances the issues relating to the international trade and
environment through the process of negotiation. The points of their discussions
would be regarding, Trade Rules, trading system, environment agreements,
environmental protection and disputes, how taxes and other environmental
requirements fit in (i.e.) the charges and taxes for environmental purposes;
requirements for environmental purposes relating to products and recycling
requirements.[3]
Another
very concerning issue arises in maintaining the transparency of environmental
trade measures for environmental purposes. An environmental database was
established in 1998 for compiling to measure related the documents regarding
the environmental and trade policies. These transparencies were also discussed
in CTE’s 1996 report.
Other work under UN Committee on
Trade and Environment discussions would be regarding the Environment and trade liberalization, measures
affect market access, Domestically prohibited goods, also in regards
to the particular hazardous waste exports, the relevant provisions of
the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement ,
the service work programme envisaged in the Decision on Trade in Services
and the Environment and several other negotiations related to WTO and other
organizations.
Labelling:
Concerns have been
raised about the growing complexity and diversity of environmental labelling
schemes. Labelling is one of the subjects assigned to the Committee on Trade
and Environment (CTE). It is part of the committee’s work programme in which
the committee is assigned to consider the relationship between the provisions
of the WTO’s agreements and the requirements governments make for products in
order to protect the environment. Environmental labelling schemes are complex,
causing concerns about developing countries’ and small businesses’ ability to
export. WTO members generally agree that labelling schemes can be economically
efficient and useful for informing consumers, and tend to restrict trade less
than other methods. This is the case if the schemes are voluntary; allow all
sides to participate in their design, based on the market, and transparent.[4]
The multilateral trading system and climate change:
Greta Thunberg, a 16 year old climate
activists states the issues of climatic changes in the environment that should
be seen as a crisis, she states,
"Humanity is now
standing at a crossroads. We must now decide which path we want to take. How do
we want the future living conditions for all living species to be like?"
The main
goals of this UN trade and environment are raising standards of living, optimal
use of the world's resources in accordance with the objective of sustainable
development, and protection and preservation of the environment.
The
issue of climate change, per se, is not part of the WTO's ongoing work program
and there are no WTO rules specific to climate change and ambitions for
economic growth and human advancement. However, the WTO is relevant because
climate change measures and policies intersect with international trade in a
number of different ways. Climate change is the biggest
sustainable development challenge the international community. It is a
challenge that transcends borders and requires solutions not only at national
levels but at the international level as well.
The
Marrakesh Agreement also promotes the freer trade as not an end in itself; it
is tied to crucially important human values and welfare goals captured in this
WTO's founding charter. The WTO provides a framework of disciplines to
facilitate global trade and serves as a forum to negotiate further trade
openness and is one part of the architecture of multilateral cooperation.
It is also to be noted
that trade openness can help efforts to mitigate
and adapt to climate change, for example by promoting an efficient allocation
of the world's resources including natural resources, raising standards of
living and hence the demand for better environmental quality and improving
access to environmental goods and services. The WTO is relevant because
national measures to mitigate and adapt to climate change may have an impact on
international trade as they may modify conditions of competition and may be
subject to WTO rules.[5]
Green Economy:
International trade is a
key component of sustainable development. Sustainable development and trade
that may be pronounced at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable
Development which is commonly known as Rio+20 that took place in Brazil in June
2012. They speak about the workings of the WTO and how the multilateral trading
system supports countries’ efforts to realize sustainable development and a
green economy. It examines the contribution of trade to sustainable development
and refers to green economy measures.[6]
It discusses how WTO rules and monitoring mechanisms help ensure such measures
are not disguised protectionism. The brochure also looks at WTO efforts to help
developing countries maximize the benefits of participation in international
trade. The final part discusses the contribution to sustainable development
that can be made through a successful completion of the Doha Round.
The WTO and the Sustainable Development Goals:
There is an agenda
created by the WTO and UN trade and environment for the protection and
preservation of sustainable development of the resources used for trade related
activities. They is central to achieving
the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs), which set targets to be achieved by 2030 in areas such as poverty
reduction, health, education and the environment. By delivering and
implementing trade reforms which are pro-growth and pro-development, and by
continuing to foster stable, predictable and equitable trading relations across
the world, the WTO is playing an important role in delivering the SDGs.
The issues regarding the
mitigating factors that are more likely is an helping hand in the creation of
or exploitation of recourses that are bound to be saved by the UN trade and
environment. These mitigating factors are seen to be reduced or gained based
upon the factors itself for the betterment of society and sustainable
development. There is increasing evidence that well planned and strategically
executed trade policy initiatives can impact positively on sustainable poverty
reduction. Trade opening has also generated higher living standards through
greater productivity, increased competition and more choice for consumers and
better prices in the marketplace. Eliminating subsidies that cause distortions
in agriculture markets will lead to fairer more competitive markets helping
both farmers and consumers while contributing to food security. And by ensure
access to affordable medicines for all. An important amendment to the WTO’s
TRIPS Agreement recently entered into force. This measure will make it easier
for developing countries to have a secure legal pathway to access affordable
medicines which is seen as a boon in every developing and under developed
countries.
Opportunities for women’s
employment and economic development are another very important aspect for
trade. Through trade, job opportunities for women have increased significantly.
Jobs in export sectors also tend to have better pay and conditions. [7]Export
sectors are an important job provider for women in developing countries.
Trade-led inclusive economic growth enhances a country’s income-generating
capacity, which is one of the essential prerequisites for achieving sustainable
development. The transfer of technology, knowledge and innovation is an
advantage. Open markets have been identified as a key determinant of trade and
investment between developing and developed countries allowing for the transfer
of technologies which result in industrialization.
The Decision on Fisheries
Subsidies taken by WTO members in December 2017 is a step forward in
multilateral efforts to comply with committing members to prohibit subsidies
that contribute to overcapacity and overfishing, and eliminate subsidies that
contribute to illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, with special and
differential treatment for developing and least-developed countries. The WTO
plays an important role in supporting global, regional and local efforts to
tackle environmental degradation of our oceans Members committed to fulfilling
this commitment by the 12th Ministerial Conference.
It is also certainly
important for the countries to promote a universal, rules-based, open,
non-discriminatory and equitable multilateral trading system; the increase of
developing countries’ exports and doubling the share of exports of
least-developed countries and the implementation of duty-free helping the least
developed countries also. [8]
The key contributes of
the sustainable development goals are as follows:
1.
No
Poverty
2.
Zero
Hunger
3.
Good
Health and Well-being
4.
Gender
Equality
5.
Decent
Work and Economic Growth
6.
Industry,
Innovation and Infrastructure
7.
Reduced
Inequalities
8.
Life
below Water
9.
Partnerships
for the Goals
CHAPTER III
Conclusion:
The paper hence convenes with a
notion as the process of economic development generally involves substantial
expansion of international trade. A very significant portion of raw materials
and capital goods essential for the sustenance of economic growth needs to be
imported, either because these are not produced domestically or because it is
cost effective to import them. In order to pay for these imports, adequate
foreign exchange has to be earned by exporting Indian products to the rest of
the world. For example, Indian policy makers were pessimistic about the
possibility of large-scale expansion of exports and emphasized import
substitution as a strategy for growth. This strategy, however, did not help
India to realize its full growth potential, as import restrictions - a major
ingredient of the strategy - encouraged inefficiency in domestic production.
Sustainable economic growth would
require both expansion of trade in certain sectors and cleanliness of the
environment. The policies adopted in the areas of trade and environment would
have major implications on each other. The policy response in either area
cannot be fully analyzed independent of possible actions by other players at
the global level trade competitors and the international agencies dealing with
trade and environment.
This study is concerned with the
analysis of these linkages, the impact of trade on environment and of
environment on trade, in the Indian context. Hence the study will confine the
issues relating to environmental and trade related aspects.
Bibliography:
1. Book –
Limits to growth by Meadows in 1972
2. Book- Our
common future by Gro Harlem Brundtland of Norway in 1987
Webliography:
1. https://unctad.org/en/docs/ditcted200512_en.pdf
2. https://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/coher_e/sdgs_e/sdgs_e.htm
3. https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/envir_e/envir_e.htm
4. https://www.wto.org/english/res_e/publications_e/rio20_e.htm
5. https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/envir_e/climate_intro_e.htm
6. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-94-017-0333-8_6
7. https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/envir_e/wrk_committee_e.htm
8. https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/envir_e/hist1_e.htm
9. https://www.icrier.org/pdf/deb.pdf
[1] https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/envir_e/envir_e.htm
[2] https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/envir_e/hist1_e.htm
[3] https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/envir_e/envir_negotiatio
[4] https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/envir_e/wrk_committee_e.htm
[5] https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-94-017-0333-8_6
[6] Limits
to growth by Meadows in 1972
[8] https://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/coher_e/sdgs_e/sdgs_e.htm
Article Information
UN COMMITTEE ON TRADE AND ENVIRONMENT AND ITS ROLE IN BALANCING INTERNATIONAL TRADE AND ENVIRONMENT ISSUES
Authors: K. AASHIKA
- Journal IJLRA
- ISSN 2582-6433
- Published 2024/04/11
- Issue 7
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International Journal for Legal Research and Analysis
- Abbreviation IJLRA
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