Trade and Environment

Overview

The 1994 Marrakesh Agreement refers to the importance of optimally using the world’s resources in accordance with the objective of sustainable development and seeking to protect and preserve the environment. As such, the role of the WTO in relation to trade and environment is to ensure that environmental policies do not act as obstacles to trade, and that trade rules do not stand in the way of legitimate domestic environmental protection.

Trade and environment issues within the WTO are dealt with by the Committee on Trade and Environment (CTE), which was created by the 1994 Ministerial Decision on Trade and Environment. The Committee’s mandate is broad, and provides opportunities for WTO members to raise a wide range of issues relating to trade and environment. Some of the topics currently being examined by the Committee include eco-labelling and environmental technology dissemination.

Further information on the Trade and Environment debate in the WTO