Nairobi, 14/12/2015 (Agence Europe) - The EU and the 16 other WTO members participating in the negotiations underway for a multi-lateral agreement on the liberalisation of environmental goods (EGA) want to take advantage of the head of steam provided by the international agreement on climate concluded at the UN climate conference (COP 21) in Paris (see EUROPE 11452) to reach a rapid agreement, in 2016, on the list of ecological products on which customs duty will be removed. This is basically the message sent out by Australia, on the sidelines of the 10th ministerial conference of the WTO in Nairobi, on Monday 14 December.
“Recently, negotiators have been working to refine the full list of nominations towards a final, agreed EGA list. There has been a high degree of convergence in many areas”, said the Australian Minister for Trade, Andrew Robb, who is currently chairing the EGA negotiations, in a statement published on Monday.
Additionally, customs officials have provided significant technical input, helping to ensure that the products on the final list are environmentally credible and that the agreement is implementable and workable once it is put to the test at the borders, Robb added.
“Wishing to capitalise on the positive atmosphere and momentum that has characterised the EGA negotiations to date, EGA members will re-engage early in 2016 to continue on the path towards a positive conclusion”, the Australian Minister said, adding that this agreement, which is “being negotiated in line with WTO rules, will represent an important trade-focused contribution that the WTO and its members will make towards the protection of the environment and sustainable development”.
The WTO conference of Nairobi will not see the participating countries reach an agreement on the list of products of the future EGA agreement, but it will contribute to progress. “It would be a positive result if we could have progress in Nairobi, following the international climate agreement concluded at COP 21”, an Australian diplomatic source told us on Monday.
The negotiators of the stakeholder countries to the future EGA agreement will meet again in February in Geneva, for the 12th round of talks at expert level, with the aim of sealing a deal as soon as possible in 2016. “In March, or in September, I cannot say, but we hope to do so as soon as we can”, this source continued.
Following a commitment made in 2012 by the Asia-Pacific cooperation forum (APEC) to reduce customs duty on 54 environmental goods, and taking advantage of the relaunch of the Doha Round at the WTO at the Bali conference in late 2013, 13 countries - Australia, Canada, China, South Korea, Costa Rica, United States, Hong Kong, Japan, Norway, New Zealand, Switzerland, Singapore and Taiwan - engaged in the EGA talks in July 2014. They were subsequently joined by Iceland, Israel and Turkey.
Their aim is to agree on a list of products on which to remove customs duty. The talks are guided by the principle of 'environmental credibility': the products are chosen on the basis of their end purpose, rather than their production methods. The aim is also to ensure that the list of liberalised products will be easy for customs and industry to implement.
Discussions are currently ongoing on more than 600 pre-selected products across some 10 categories laid down at the start of the negotiations, such as the management of solid and hazardous waste, the management of wastewater and water treatment, air pollution control, renewable energy production, energy efficiency, environmental cleansing, attenuation of noise and vibration, analysis and control of the environment, etc.
The parties will also discuss a clear review mechanism for the agreement, so that it can be updated to add new products and define a working programme on non-tariff barriers.
First and foremost, the EGA negotiations will focus on goods, but the aim is to create a 'living agreement', which will evolve on the basis of future needs and, ultimately, tackle other obstacles to the trade in green goods and services, such as non-tariff barriers, but also local content requirements or restrictions to investment, the rules on awarding 'green' public procurement contracts, etc.
Initially, however, the aim is to conclude an ambitious tariff liberalisation agreement. The global average consolidated tariff on ecological products is nearly 9%, with peaks of more than 20% in southern Asia and more than 40% in Latin America, and the global market for these products could rise from $900 billion today to $2,000 billion in 2020, the Commissioner for Trade, Cecilia Malmstrom, predicted in June of this year (see EUROPE 11328). (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)