United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)

http://www.unctad.org/

The Trade and Development Board (TDB) requested the UNCTAD secretariat "in connection with the efforts to promote dialogue within UNCTAD on the interlinkages between environmental and trade policies, to adjust the UNCTAD Trade Control Measures Information System (TCMIS) to monitor environmental regulations for possible protectionism and to monitor non-tariff measures which have a bearing on the environment". Further the General Assembly stressed "the need to further improve and strengthen the Database, including an expansion of its coverage of countries and measures". Para. 2.25 of Agenda 21 called upon UNCTAD to continue to collect information within the framework of the TCMIS and incorporate environmental measures which may have an impact on trade.

AGENDA 21 CHAPTERS AND PROGRAMME AREAS OF PARTICULAR FOCUS OR INTEREST:
See check list in annex.

BRIEF DESCRIPTIONS OF AND LINKS TO INFORMATION ACTIVITIES:

Data Collection, Observation, Monitoring

Since the early 1980s, the secretariat of UNCTAD has been reviewing on a systematic basis the import regimes of its member States. For this purpose documentation has been collected on Trade Control Measure (TCMs) applied by Governments and the modifications of these measures over the course of time. TCMs comprise measures that, either in practice or potentially affect international trade flows, whether because of the basic nature of these measures or because of the way they are applied. These include customs tariffs, lists of goods under quantitative restrictions etc. as well as bibliographic data of each collected document with a summary of its contents listed in an inventory. The inventory has been further developed into comprehensive descriptive notes of the import regimes of individual countries, following the framework of the UNCTAD Coding System of TCMs.

From 1988 onwards, the UNCTAD secretariat has been compiling information on trade measures applied by countries, according to the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System (HS) nomenclature, with the support of UNDP-financed technical assistance projects. Only the HS-Database for Sweden has been appropriately adjusted to take into account the environmental objectives as outline above.

The data comes from Governmental sources. Official journals and circulars are continuously reviewed in order to identify changes in trade practices and restrictions. In addition, GATT documents, especially the notifications of trade measures by member States, are an important source of information. Furthermore, publications specialized in the dissemination of TCM information at international and national levels are utilized.

Data in broad categories: tariff measures (TMs), para-tariff measures (PTMs), and non-tariff measures (NTMs), the latter being further divided into price control measures, finance measures, automatic licensing measures, quantity control measures, monopolistic measures and technical measures.

Methodologies, Quality Control, Harmonization
An important problem is finding the exact product coverage of environmental measures. Firstly the analysis of trade coverage of environmental measure is extremely difficult and secondly the usual description of the trade items does not properly indicate the product coverage of the measure in question, thus requiring the entry of additional information. The future revisions of the Harmonized System nomenclature should possibly take this problem into consideration. It is also worth noting that the Harmonized System Committee of the Customs Cooperation Council, "finalized a request by UNEP to introduce specific sub-heading on the Harmonized System in order to facilitate the collection and comparison of data on the international movement of substances controlled by the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer.

For the classification of the measures included in the Database, a coding system consisting of more than 100 different measures has been constructed. In addition, a list has been established of working definitions for these measures, ordered according to the coding system. The System has recently been adjusted to cope more appropriately with environmental regulations, by introducing for the measures regarding sensitive product categories, their corresponding specific objectives. These measures are further subdivided according to specific purposes if appropriate: protect human health, protect animal health and life, protect plant health, protect environment, protect wildlife, control drug abuse, ensure human safety, ensure national security and for purposes n.e.s.

Member States have been invited to designate Focal points for disseminating information from the Database. The Focal Points serve also as a channel through which the secretariat obtains recent information on the countries, particularly computerized information on tariffs and trade, as well as documentation on PTMs and NTMs. With a view in particular to keeping up-to-date, intergovernmental institutions have been approached for collaboration in the maintenance of the Database. Import regime notes are prepared by the UNCTAD secretariat in collaboration with secretariats of interregional and regional institutions such as OECD, ALADI, JUNAC, CARICOM, SIECA, ASEAN, and SAARC and cleared by the countries concerned. The Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP) has also been recently approached for assistance.

Assessment and Analysis

Indicators

Modelling

Expert Systems/Decision-support systems

Early Warning Mechanisms

Reports/Information dissemination

To facilitate dissemination, UNCTAD has developed the TRade Analysis and INformation System. (TRAINS) through a UNDP-financed project combined with bilateral assistance. It contains information from UNCTAD's database on TCMs combined in an integrated manner with other relevant trade information components and is designed to render compatible the presentation and analysis of six different databases by utilizing the HS coding system as the common classification. TRAINS is intended for use by policy-makers and economic operators engaged in exporting. It provides a comprehensive information system and powerful tool, both for trade negotiations, for monitoring of an integration process and for general research on international trade. TRAINS is available on CD-ROM.    

The GREENTRADE system, mentioned under the programme Trade, Environment and Commodities, will also be incorporated into TRAINS at a later stage. GREENTRADE is a computerized information system under development for environmental regulations that have a bearing on trade. The information provided by GREENTRADE will be consistent with the information contained in TRAINS but it will elaborate on the environmental dimension.

The TDB decided that the UNCTAD secretariat should provide information on TCMs contained in its database on request. Member States and regional institutions have been invited to designate Focal Points for this purpose who are supplied with TRAINS on CD-ROM, containing updated information on TCMs. The following have also drawn upon information in the Database: ECA, ECLAC, ESCAP, ESCWA, FAO, GATT, IMF, ITC, ITTO, UNFDAC, UNICEF, UNIDO, EU, OECD and the World Bank as well as many researchers from other international bodies, universities and research institutions.

Parallel to the national and regional TRAINS Focal Points for dissemination, many countries have designated Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) Focal Points with the purpose of improving the utilization of the various GSP schemes and the dissemination of the information contained there. On request, these GSP Focal Points will also be provided with TRAINS on CD-ROM. Beyond the Focal Points, the TRAINS CD-ROM is available to other parties that make a minimum contribution to the UNCTAD Trust Fund created for this purpose.

The use of INTERNET as an information broker/filter is being considered.

The meta-inventory TRAINS will become a sales product in 1995.

Network Development and Support

Capacity-Building
The publication Directory of Import Regimes contains in its Part I, Monitoring Import Regimes, UNCTAD's Coding System on TCMs and its corresponding working definitions. It is continually revised in line with observations and comments from the intergovernmental institutions participating in the INTERACTIVE TRAINS Programme.

The secretariat has organized study tours of a period of two to three months for staff members from ALADI and SAARC and others are expected in the next year.

Internet Access

http://www.unctad.org/

Responsible Office/Person (for inquiries or follow-up):
Mr Ulrich Hoffmann
Earthwatch focal point
Economic Affairs Officer, UNCTAD
Room-E-9098 Palais des Nations
1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland
Tel: +41 22 917 5780
Fax: +41 22 917 0033
ulrich.hoffmann@unctad.org

Mr Dirk Zandee
Chief TCMIS
Data Management Service
UNCTAD
Office E-7096 Palais des Nations
1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland
Tel: +41 22 917 00 51
Fax: +4122 917 55 40
dirk.zandee@unctad.org

Date of preparation: August 1994

United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)

Trade, Environment and Commodities

In Chapter 38 paragraph 26, as well as paragraphs 2.21 and 2.22, UNCED recognized that UNCTAD should play an important role in the implementation of Agenda 21, particularly in the interrelationship between development international trade and the environment. The General Assembly requested UNCTAD to continue playing its role in the field of trade and environment and to address comprehensively trade and environment measures. The work programme of UNCTAD's intergovernmental bodies is carried out by the Trade and Development Board and its various subsidiary bodies. To comply to paras 38.26 and 2.21 UNCTAD has established an Ad Hoc Working Group on Trade and Development to examine with a view to promoting sustainable development, interlinkages between trade, environment and development and related policies paying particular attention to the problems and special circumstances of the developing countries. Broadly, the group will examine the effects of environmental policies, standards and regulations on market access and competitiveness, identify and analyze emerging environmental policy instruments with a trade impact, explore the market opportunities and implications for exporters which may flow from the demand for "environmentally friendly" products, initially considering ways and means to define and certify environmentally friendly products, and study ecolabelling and eco-certification schemes, and possibilities for international cooperation in this field.

AGENDA 21 CHAPTERS AND PROGRAMME AREAS OF PARTICULAR FOCUS OR INTEREST:
See check list in annex.

BRIEF DESCRIPTIONS OF AND LINKS TO INFORMATION ACTIVITIES:

Data Collection, Observation, Monitoring

Para 2.22a of Agenda 21 calls upon UNCTAD and other institutions to "elaborate adequate studies for the better understanding of the relationship between trade and environment for the promotion of sustainable development". In response to this request, UNCTAD has started a broad research programme, funded largely by extra-budgetary resources, which includes country case studies (22 countries), covering a diversity of country situations and experiences, as well as thematic studies of general interest. In the latter studies, one on the interface between trade, environment and technology issues has been finalized. Research on the environmental policies of the EU, the US and Japan and their impact on international trade has also been carried out.

The data comes from: country case studies; direct contacts and cooperation with developing and developed country's trade and environment officers; official publications, contacts with research institutes and NGOs. Questionnaires have sometimes been used to obtain information from the private sector.

Methodologies, Quality Control, Harmonization
 

Assessment and Analysis
Chapter IV of Agenda 21 acknowledges the potential contribution that ecolabelling can make to encouraging changes in unsustainable consumption patterns. UNCTAD is carrying out research aimed at analyzing the potential impact of ecolabelling schemes on international trade. Its principal purpose is to help ensure that ecolabelling does not become an obstacle to developing countries' exports. In the context of para 38.26 of Agenda 21 and relevant paras. of the Cartagena Commitment of UNCTAD VIII, UNCTAD's Standing Committee on Commodities includes in its work programme "Fostering sustainable development in the commodity field". Work carried out in this area during the last two years focused on the role that natural resources management plays in helping to maximize the contribution of the commodity sector to sustainable development. Case studies on the importance of economic policy as a determinant of environmental effects of production as well as processing of selected products have been conducted in several countries.

A further main subject of analytical work has been the internationalization of environmental costs and resource values. Several conceptual studies have been conducted or are under way. A series of studies on internationalization of environmental externalities in developing countries and related meetings are planned. In the work on natural products and their potential in changing consumption towards environmentally preferable patterns, a survey of products with claims of lower environmental stress during their production, transport and use is being conducted. Further work in this area will most likely focus on those natural products with relatively large established markets and those with considerable potential but rudimentary markets. At the outset, it is planned to undertake activities to close information gaps for these regulations and policies which encourage/discourage their enhanced use. Two studies in the area of recycling are already undertaken.

For re-usable and recycled materials/products, it is also envisaged to start running an interactive on-line bulletin board service. This will disseminate, in a palatable form, information on opportunities and constraints arising from enhanced global re-use and recycling of materials for developing countries. It is conceived to become a gateway to a swift exchange of information between government agencies, Chambers of Commerce, industry associations, producers, traders and manufacturers of commodities and recycling technologies with a view to improving transparency in markets for re-usables/recyclables, reviewing implications of government regulations and preventing trade conflicts. The bulletin board service will also serve the Secretariat to fine tune the orientation and focus of its analytical work and to assess the need for organizing training courses or conduct seminars.

UNCTAD's activities on trade and environment at both the intergovernmental and secretariat levels are being carried out in consultation with, and taking into account work already available in GATT, OECD, UNEP, FAO, ISO and other international institutions. Experience has demonstrated the complementarity of UNCTAD's work with these institutions, with whom active collaboration has been established.

Indicators

Modelling

Expert Systems/Decision-support systems

Early Warning Mechanisms

Reports/Information dissemination

UNCTAD is currently developing GREENTRADE, which is a computerized information system that allows encoding a retrieval of information on environmental product concerns and measures, using a PC. GREENTRADE will be useful a) as a means of communication with member States in the process of information gathering and verification; b) for dissemination purposes; and c) as a reference which can be helpful in the classification of trade related environmental measures and the understanding of basic concepts and principles which are relevant for trade and environment issues. Information is also disseminated through information briefings, workshops and seminars.

The ad hoc Working Group on Trading Opportunities for Developing Countries has recalled the importance of technical assistance inter alia with a view to providing information on environmental regulations to developing countries. UNCTAD and ITC roles in providing technical assistance in this field have been stressed

Network Development and Support

Capacity-Building
Case studies on environmental effects of selected productions contain specific policy proposals and recommendations which may be useful analytical tools for decision-makers at ministerial level. The same applies to the review of economic policies and their impacts on the environment in Asian Least Developed Countries, to be conducted within the framework of the UNDP-financed regional project for Asia.

The purpose of UNCTAD's Trade and Environment courses, being developed with donor aid, is to help increase awareness and understanding of the complex linkages between trade, environment and development and to contribute to building institutional capacity to deal with the interface of environmental and trade policy. It is also hoped that the course will prove useful in the context of participation of developing countries in international deliberations on trade and environment. In addition, since environmental factors are having an increasingly important impact on market access conditions and competitiveness, the course tries to offer certain information and analysis which may be useful for the business sector. The interactive on-line bulletin board service mentioned above will most likely be supplemented by a cluster of training activities.

Internet Access

http://www.unctad.org/

Responsible Office/Person (for inquiries or follow-up):
Mr Ulrich Hoffmann
Earthwatch focal point and responsible
 for re-usable and recycled materials
Economic Affairs Officer
General Studies Section
Commodities Division, UNCTAD
Room E-9098 Palais des Nations
1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland
Tel: +41 22 917 57 80
Fax: +41 22 917 00 47
ulrich.hoffmann@unctad.org

Mr R. Vossenaar
Responsible for trade issues
Chief
Trade and Environment Section
International Trade Division, UNCTAD
Office E-8058 Palais des Nations
1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland
Tel: +41 22 917 56 79
Fax: +41 22 917 00 44

Mr S. Marchese
Responsible person for GREENTRADE
Trade and Environment Section
International Trade Division, UNCTAD
Office E-8048 Palais des Nations
1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland
Tel: +41 22 917 56 85
Fax: +41 22 917 00 44

Mr M.Arda
Responsible for commodity issues
Chief
General Studies Section, UNCTAD
Office E-9084 Palais des Nations
1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland
Tel: +41 22 917 57 90
Fax: +41 22 917 00 47

Date of preparation: August 1994, updated 30 April 1999

ORGANIZATION: United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)