Brussels, 30/11/2007 (Agence Europe) - The report by Alain Lipietz (Greens, France) on trade and climate change, which was adopted in plenary by 541 votes for, 46 against and 19 abstentions on Thursday 29 November, calls on the EU to ensure better articulation of its trade policy in view of the aim to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions from 2015. The European Parliament advocates instituting common labelling schemes which are compatible with WTO rules concerning the greenhouse gas emissions associated with products, with the aim of pinning down emissions at each stage of production and transportation, and allowing consumers to contribute to reducing CO2. The EP also advocates adopting incitement measures in favour of the production and use of products which contribute to reducing CO2 emissions: such products could, for example, benefit from national and Community aid and a reduction in VAT. The EP invites the EU to promote the global development of environmentally-friendly industry. It stressed the need to reduce the obstacles to ecological trade by envisaging the elimination of customs duties on “green” products, at multilateral level (WTO). The EP suggests revising the rules on intellectual property rights (IPR), facilitating the marketing of environmentally-friendly technologies and taking account of climate issues when granting export credits. It invites a rethink of the trade policy in order to take better account of the need to encourage local production to reduce the volume of transportation required for trade and affirms the importance of technological cooperation with developing countries. Finally, the EP appeals for the addition in the GATT of a sustainability clause covering the “polluter pays” principle and the precautionary principle, and calls on the Commission to work on developing a certification system concerning the sustainability of biofuels which is compatible with WTO rules. (E.H.)