21 December 2015
WTO Reports Progress on Environmental Goods Agreement
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The World Trade Organization (WTO) has achieved "considerable progress and a high degree of convergence" toward an environmental goods agreements (EGA) to lower trade barriers on environmental goods, according to the chair of the negotiations, Andrew Robb of Australia.

The EGA would contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, Robb notes.

World Trade Organization (WTO)14 December 2015: The World Trade Organization (WTO) has achieved “considerable progress and a high degree of convergence” toward an environmental goods agreements (EGA) to lower trade barriers on environmental goods, according to the chair of the negotiations, Andrew Robb of Australia. The EGA would contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, Robb notes.

The statement was released during the WTO’s tenth Ministerial Conference, which took place from 15-19 December 2015, in Nairobi, Kenya. The Conference adopted a package of decisions on elements of Doha Development Agenda, including on agriculture, preferential rules of origin for the least developed countries (LDCs), preferential treatment for services and service suppliers of LDCs, and tariffs on information technology products.

While no final agreement was reached on the EGA, Robb said members made progress towards an agreement that would liberalize trade in products related to environmental protection and climate change mitigation, including on clean and renewable energy generation, improving energy efficiency, controlling air pollution, managing waste, and treating waste water. He stated that EGA members will continue negotiations in early 2016.

The EGA negotiations were launched in July 2014 and have undergone 11 rounds of consultations to date. Current EGA participants include: Australia; Canada; China; Costa Rica; EU (representing 28 WTO members); Hong Kong; Iceland; Israel; Japan; New Zealand; Norway; Republic of Korea; Singapore; Switzerland; Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu; Turkey; and the US. [WTO Press Release, EGA] [WTO Press Release, Tenth Ministerial] [Statement of EGA Chair]


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