DR.

RAM MANOHAR
LOHIYA NATIONAL LAW
UNIVERSITY

SYNOPSIS :- INTERNATIONAL
ENVIRONMENT LAW

TOPIC:- TRADE AND ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES

AT WTO

SUBMITTED TOBY-

DR. A.K. TIWARI

ABHISHTHELA
PROFESSOR OF LAW,
SEMESTER
RMLNLU
NO.07

SUBMITTED

IXth
SECTION-A
ROLL

TABLE OF CONTENTS

>INTRODUCTION
>ORIGINS OF TRADE AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONFLICTS
>RECONCILING TRADE AND ENVIRONMENT
>ENVIRONMENT AND WTO PREAMBLE
>PRECAUTIONARY PRINCIPLE
>INDIAN AND ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES AT WTO
>CONCLUSION
>BIBLIOGRAPH

INTRODUCTION

Origins of trade and environmental conflicts

International concern for the environment, except in particular areas such as marine pollution
and aircraft noise, is of relatively recent origin. Protection of the environment was not a major
issue when the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade was drawn up. Not a word was said
about the environment in GATT 1947. The same is the case in the charter of UN and the
treaty of rome establishing the European Economic Community. It was only in the beginning
of 1950s, a number of widely read books and films1 stimulated a world wide movement
dedicated to preservation of the environment.
The Tokyo round of GATT negotiations in the 1970s consolidated the assault on non-tariff barriers
and produced a series of GATT codes to combat some of the obstacles. The Uruguay Round of
negotiations advancedthe process further by adding new non- tariff concerns such as intellectual
property to the GATT agenda. Trade experts see this as a pattern to cutdown non-tariff barriers. Some
see this as protectionist interests finding new ways to bend trading system.2

The Environmental Challenge

While the vituperative nature of some of the assaults on the international trade regime has been
excessive, the charge that trade and trade liberalisation can be environmentally counterproductive is
accepted even by the most ardent free traders. 3 Stripped of its ad hominem aspects, the
environmentalists challenge to free trade boils down to four central propositions:

A - Without environmental safeguards, trade may cause environmental harm by promoting

economic growth that results in the unsustainable consumption of natural resources and
waste production.
1 Rachel Carson and Jaques-Yves, The sea around us,1951
2 S. shrybman, international Trade and the environment, 1990, pp. 33 ;
www.wto.com/ps/enviro.asp
3 ibid

Reconciling Trade and Environment

Firstly, international trade and protection of the environment are both essential for the
welfare of mankind. In a majority of the matters, these two values do not come into conflict
with each other. Rather they supplement each other.4 Section 2.19 of agenda 21, which was
adopted at the UN conference on Environment and Development in 1992 states that
environment and trade policies should be mutually supportive. An open multilateral trading
system makes possible a more efficient allocation and use of resources and thereby
contributes to an increase in production and incomes and to the lessening of demands on the
environment protection. A sound environment, on the other hand, provides the ecological and
other resources needed to sustain growth and underpins the continuing expansions of trade. 5

4 s charnovitz, exploring the environmental exceptions in the gatt, (1991)

25 Journal of the world trade 37
5 id

Environment and WTO Preamble

Prior

to

the

disinclined

to

founding
give

of

much

the

WTO

weight

in

to

1995,

dispute

environmental,

and

settlement
other

panels
social

were
policy

considerations in 'determining how trade and domestic policies should be craned for members to
comply

with

GATT non-discrimination

obligations.

However, reflecting

the

trend

in

intemational_agreements that makes specific reference to the need to balance the trade and economic
objectives of the GATT, GATS, TRIPS and other WTO agreements on the one hand and
environmental policy considerations on the other. The opening paragraphs of the Preamble to the
Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organisation States;The Parties to this Agreement,
Recognising that their relations in the field of trade and economic endeavor should be conducted
with a view to raising standards of living, ensuring full employment and a large and steadily growing
volume of real income and effective demand, and expanding the production of and trade in goods
and services, 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.6

The

The WTO-MEA Relationship

relationship

between

WTO

and

Multilateral

Environmental

Agreements-(MEA) was a hotly debated topic during the last decade. There are at least nearly 250
MEAs in existence, of which the WTO secretariat has identified 22 with potential trade policy
implications. Many of these agreements protect specific group and classes of flora and fauna, while
others facilitate the joint management of resources taken in the global commons and still others
focus on broader environmental problems.7

ENVIRONMENTAL SUBSIDY

There has been increasing emphasis by many countries on 'win-win-win'

outcomes from future WTO negotiations, which would benefit trade, environment and sustainable
development. Several WTO members advocate for the removal of tariff escalation and tariff peaks

6 Sabrina Shaw and Risa Sauchwartz, trade and environment in the WTOState of play, Journal of World Trade, 36(!), 929-154, 2002
7 www.wto.com

for forest and leather produces and subsidies in agriculture and fisheries in order to contribute to
both environmental protection and trade liberalisation.

(C) TRIPS AND BIODIVERSITY

Another

long

standing

debate

covering

the

relationship

of

trade

and

environment is the compatibility of the TRIPS and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).
The issue has got a new lease of life in the recent discussions in the CTE, TRIPS Council and the
CBD.
PRECAUTIONARY PRINCIPLE

The

precautionary

principle

has

been

defined

as

taking

precautionary

measures when there is insufficient scientific proof, yet when inaction could lead to irreversible
damage

or

risks

to

human

health

or

the

environment.

The

controversial issue that surrounds the principle is not to the determination of whenthe threshold
shifts the burden of proof towards protection of the environment, or health or safety. This threshold
can be high, when it involves serious or irreversible harm to the environment, or lower, when it may
cause harm to the environment.8

INDIA AND ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES AT WTO

India

has

called

for

moratorium

on

linking

trade

and

environment

unless

it clearly impinges on collective ecological security. It is not in favour of plain

protectionism being passed off as environmental concern. Further, it proposed to ensure that any
decisions which attempt to bring in environmental considerations to modify trade relations conform
rigorously to the RIO consensus; if trade advantages are to recede due to 'restrictions under the garb
of environment', it would not only hit the country's development efforts but also aggravate the
environmental problems themselves. In the country's opinion, the whole idea of international ecolabelling based on processes amounted to legitimization of extra-territorial interference.

8 ibid

CONCLUSION

Trade liberalisation and environmental protection share a common aim to enhance social welfare by
improving

the

quality

of

life.

In

pursuing

for

this

cherished common goal considerable amount of conflict arose over the adoption of approaches and
emphasis. The issues concerning environment have grown in prominence for both domestic and
international
environmental

policy
issues

affecting

or

effecting

agendas.
trade

draws

the

The

attention

of

the

policy

makers. The problem of environment has revealed the ecological inter-dependence. No country has
complete

environmental

independence.

For

the

redressal of the problem the international co-operation is required.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

A.K. Kaul, Trade and Environmental Law, 1st ed. 2005, Bharat Law House, Jaipur

P.K. Rao, International Environmental Law and Economics, Blackwell Publishers, 2002

Urls

www.wto.com
www.trade.com/enviro