Trade, Sustainable Development and SIDS: Seeking a post-Doha Strategy

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Trade, Sustainable Development and SIDS Seeking
a post-Doha Strategy
AOSIS Workshop on Trade, Sustainable
Development and Small Island States 12-15
December 2001Montego Bay, Jamaica

• Charles Arden-Clarke
• Division of Technology, Industry
• and Economics (DTIE)
• Economics and Trade Branch (ETB)

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CSD 7 on Implementation of the Barbados
Programme of Action
the pace of globalization and trade
liberalization has affected the economies of
SIDS, presenting new problems and
opportunities..increasing the need for focused
implementation of the BPA. as a result of
globalization, national policy frameworks and
external factors, including trade impacts have
become critical in determining the success or
failure of SIDS in their national efforts for
sustainable development.
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WTO Ministerial Conference, Doha
The Third Age of Trade Policy?

• trade for sustainable development
• depends on who engages and how - which
  ministries, other stakeholders and IGOs
• if SIDS do not engage, with a strategy, their
  needs and policy priorities will not be met
  
  

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AOSIS and SIDS

• Need a strategy for forthcoming WTO negotiations,
  and related inter-governmental developments
• Need to enhance the necessary, technical,
  policy-making and negotiating capacity
• SIDS can collaborate and build on the Climate
  Change coalition, and their regional
  organisations
  

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Barbados Programme of Action

• 15 priority areas, both sectoral and
  cross-sectoral
• 10 with direct, concrete linkages to trade and
  finance, which are considered means of
  implementation
• Construct the post-Doha strategy around trade and
  finance
  

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Trade for Sustainable Development - Objectives

• Integrate environmental and natural resource
  considerations into trade promotion and
  expansion...
• ...so as to maximise the net development gains of
  trade (by minimising associated environmental
  damage and natural resource use), and
• mainstream trade in national socio-economic
  development plans.
  

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Trade for Sustainable Development - Means

• Cooperate, coordinate and enhance SIDS regional
  cooperation mechanisms (eg OECS, SPREP, AOSIS,
  ACP)
• Secure IGO and bilateral aid agency support for
  this (capacity-building)
• Defend trade preferences and Special and
  Differential Treatment in the WTO
  

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Joined-up Policy Making and Governance

• Coordinate activities across the different
  international fora (WTO, MEAs, WSSD, UNCTAD,
  UNEP)
• Share your experience and expertise (in meetings
  such as this)
• Benefit from the human and technical resources of
  NGOs, academics and the business sector
  

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The Doha Development Agenda - why this is an
opportunity

• places the needs and interests of developing
  countries at the heart of the WTO work programme
• commits members to addressing the
  marginalization of LDCs in trade and improving
  their effective participation in the WTO
• reaffirms the principle of Special and
  Differential Treatment and addresses
  implementation issues

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Doha Development Agenda Paragraph 6

• Commitment to objective of sustainable
  development and mutually supportive trade and
  environment policies
• Welcomes WTOs continued cooperation with UNEP
• Promote cooperation with environment and
  development organisations in run-up to WSSD
• Amounts to a call for integrated trade,
  environment and development policies
  

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Doha Development Agenda Paragraph 33

• Recognises the importance of technical assistance
  and capacity-building on T, E D, especially for
  LDCs
• Encourages sharing of expertise on environmental
  reviews of trade policy (also noted in para 6)
• Report required at 5th Ministerial
• Donor agencies are already beginning to factor
  this in to their programmes
  

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Doha Development Agenda Paragraphs 29 31 -
Negotiations

• clarifying relationship between WTO rules and MEA
  trade measures
• procedures on information exchange and granting
  observer status for MEAs in the WTO
• liberalisation of trade in environmental goods
  and services
• clarifying and improving WTO disciplines on
  fisheries subsidies
  

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Doha Development Agenda Paragraph 32 - Focusing
the CTE

• Effect of environmental measures on market
  access, and eliminating trade restrictions and
  distortions for T, E D
• examining the provisions of the TRIPS Agreement
  (technology transfer, ESTs?)
• labelling requirements for environmental purposes
• these are not formal negotiations

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Doha Development Agenda Other trade and
sustainable development issues

• Examining the relationship between TRIPS and the
  CBD, in the context of TRIPS reviews (para 19)
• CTE and CTD to identify and debate environmental
  and developmental aspects of the negotiations
  (para 51)
• preparations for negotiations on a multilateral
  framework for investment, to start only with
  consensus, at 5th Ministerial

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Doha Development Agenda Work relevant to
sustainable development for SIDS

• Work programme to examine issues relating to
  trade of small economies, for fuller integration
  into trading system
• Working Group on Trade, Debt and Finance
• Working Group on Trade and Technology Transfer

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UNEP Work Programme on Trade,Environment and
Development

• enhancing synergies and mutual supportiveness
  between MEAs and the WTO
• environmental and integrated assessment of
  trade-related policies, to maximise the net
  development gains of trade and trade
  liberalisation
• combining country projects and a reference
  manual on integrated assessment of trade-related
  policies

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UNEP Work Programme on Trade,Environment and
Development

• work on fisheries subsidies, agricultural trade
  liberalisation, and TRIPS and the environment
• UNEP-UNCTAD Capacity Building Task Force on
  Trade, Environment and Development (CBTF)
• country projects, thematic research
• regional seminars, training programmes
• demand-driven, 8 projects running, 40
  submitted

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Actions for SIDS
This workshop is a prime opportunity for SIDS to
formulate their own actions at this critical
juncture for trade, environment and development
policy integration. The experience, tools (eg
SIDSNET, SIDSTAP) and collaboration built on
climate change show the way. UNEP can provide
support and capacity-building to AOSIS members.

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Trade, Sustainable Development and SIDS Seeking
a post-Doha Strategy
Contact points Economics and Trade Branch, 15
ch. des Anemones, 1219 Chatelaine, Switerzerland T
el. 41 22 917 8179 Fax [phone] Email
etu_at_unep.ch Web-site www.unep.ch/etu