Trade measures in multilateral environmental agreements

210 Pages·1999·1.28 MB·English

by  OECD

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TRADE MEASURES
IN MULTILATERAL
ENVIRONMENTAL AGREEMENTS
ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT
ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION
AND DEVELOPMENT
Pursuant to Article 1 of the Convention signed in Paris on 14th December 1960, and which came into force
on 30th September 1961, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) shall promote
policies designed:
– to achieve the highest sustainable economic growth and employment and a rising standard of living in
Member countries, while maintaining financial stability, and thus to contribute to the development of the
world economy;
– to contribute to sound economic expansion in Member as well as non-member countries in the process of
economic development; and
– to contribute to the expansion of world trade on a multilateral, non-discriminatory basis in accordance
with international obligations.
The original Member countries of the OECD are Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany,
Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland,
Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States. The following countries became Members subsequently
through accession at the dates indicated hereafter: Japan (28th April 1964), Finland (28th January 1969),
Australia (7th June 1971), New Zealand (29th May 1973), Mexico (18th May 1994), the Czech Republic
(21st December 1995), Hungary (7th May 1996), Poland (22nd November 1996) and Korea (12th Decem-
ber 1996). The Commission of the European Communities takes part in the work of the OECD (Article 13 of the
OECD Convention).
Publie´ en franc¸ais sous le titre :
LES MESURES COMMERCIALES DANS LES ACCORDS MULTILATE´RAUX SUR L’ENVIRONNEMENT
 OECD 1999
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FOREWORD
A significant number of Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) use trade
provisions along with other instruments to address a wide array of environmental contexts. When
these provisions are examined in detail, it becomes clear that there are many different types of trade
measures,whichareaimedatachievingavarietyofobjectives.
Amongst the manyissuesinthetradeandenvironment debate,the effects of the use of trade
measures in MEAs figure prominently, some fearing their inadequacy to meet global environmental
challenges, others predicting their use could lead to the demise of the world trading system, etc. The
OECDJointSessionofTradeandEnvironmentExpertsdecidedinmid-1996toadvanceitsanalysisof
this important series of trade and environment issues by adopting a case study approach and to
examine the actual experience with the use of trade measures in three separate Multilateral
EnvironmentalAgreements(MEAs): theConventiononInternationalTradeinEndangeredSpeciesof
Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES); the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer;
andtheBaselConventionontheControlofTransboundaryMovementsofHazardousWastesandtheir
Disposal. The experiences arising from the use of trade measures in these three very different MEAs
havebeenbroughttogetherinthefirstsectionofthisbook.
As each set of environmental and economic factors is unique, the appropriate set of policy
instruments for a particular MEA will be unique. Nevertheless, there are some common policy
approaches in use in MEAs such as the precautionary principle, differentiated responsibilities, co-
operative non-compliance mechanisms, and the principle of prior informed consent. There are also
common implementation difficulties, particularly with respect to inadequate resources for effective
implementation and enforcement, illegal trade and common issues with respect to the multilateral
trading system. The OECD trade and environment group decided therefore to draw up a synthesis
report, aimed at summarising the main issues raised, at bringing together the main themes and at
drawing out lessons learned from the case study analyses. The synthesis report included in this
volumeassemblestheissues,themesandlessonsfromthethreecasestudies.
The study on CITES was prepared by Dale Andrew of the Trade Directorate with research
assistance from Karsten Steinfatt. The studies on the Montreal Protocol and the Basel Convention
were carried out by Jan Adams of the Environment Directorate. The synthesis report was also
elaboratedbyJan Adams, withinput fromDale Andrew. This bookis published onthe responsibility
oftheSecretary-GeneraloftheOECD.
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TABLEOFCONTENTS
FOREWORD...................................................................................................................................3
ACRONYMSANDABBREVIATIONS.........................................................................................9
Chapter1 EXPERIENCEWITHTHEUSEOFTRADEMEASURESINTHECONVENTION
ONINTERNATIONALTRADEINENDANGEREDSPECIESOF
WILDFAUNAANDFLORA(CITES) .....................................................................11
Theenvironmentalcontext.......................................................................................................11
Thetrademeasures...................................................................................................................16
Objectivesofthetrademeasures..............................................................................................29
Combatingnon-complianceandillegaltrade...........................................................................32
Addressingdevelopingcountryconcerns.................................................................................37
Assessingeffectivenessofthetradeprovisions........................................................................41
CITESandthemultilateraltradingsystem...............................................................................51
Concludingremarks..................................................................................................................55
Notes.........................................................................................................................................59
Chapter2 EXPERIENCEWITHTHEUSEOFTRADEMEASURESINTHEMONTREAL
PROTOCOLONSUBSTANCESTHATDEPLETETHEOZONELAYER............63
Introduction..............................................................................................................................63
Environmentalandindustrialcontext.......................................................................................64
OutlineoftheMontrealProtocol..............................................................................................66
Purposeandeffectivenessofthetrademeasures......................................................................75
Complianceissues....................................................................................................................82
RelationshipbetweentheMontrealProtocolandthemultilateraltradingsystem...................86
Developingcountryaspects......................................................................................................90
Concludingremarks..................................................................................................................92
Notes.........................................................................................................................................94
Chapter3 TRADEMEASURESINTHEBASELCONVENTIONONTHECONTROLOF
TRANSBOUNDARYMOVEMENTSOFHAZARDOUSWASTES
ANDTHEIRDISPOSAL............................................................................................97
Introduction..............................................................................................................................97
Theenvironmentalcontext.......................................................................................................98
MainprovisionsoftheBaselConvention..............................................................................103
Purposeandeffectivenessofthetrademeasures....................................................................113
Compliance.............................................................................................................................125
RelationshipbetweentheBaselConventionandthemultilateraltradingsystem..................127
Developingcountryaspects....................................................................................................132
Concludingremarks................................................................................................................133
Notes.......................................................................................................................................161
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Annexes:
Annex1.FourthConferenceoftheParties: selecteddecisions....................................................137
Annex2.Tables..............................................................................................................................153
Chapter4 TRADEMEASURESINMULTILATERALENVIRONMENTALAGREEMENTS:
SYNTHESISREPORTOFTHREECASESTUDIES.............................................165
ExecutiveSummary................................................................................................................165
Introduction............................................................................................................................169
Background: environmentalcontextandobjectivesofagreements......................................169
NatureoftrademeasuresandtheirroleinachievingMEAobjectives..................................173
Effectivenessoftrademeasuresinadvancingobjectives.......................................................181
MEAsandthemultilateraltradingsystem.............................................................................192
Concludingremarks................................................................................................................198
Notes.......................................................................................................................................207
Annex:
MembershipinthreeMEAsandtheWTO.............................................................................201
REFERENCES...............................................................................................................................209
Figures:
1.1 StructureofCITES.................................................................................................................13
1.2 LivespecimensofAppendixIspecies: tradableornottradable?.........................................27
1.3 TradeinCITES-listedplants: wild,artificiallypropagatedandhybrids..............................28
1.4 CITESPartiesandparticipationatCoPmeetings..................................................................42
2.1 Profileofchlorineloadingthrough2100...............................................................................79
Tables:
1.1 Wildlifetradeinheavily-tradedspecimens............................................................................14
1.2 Commercialcaptivebreedingoperations(AppendixISpecies)
registeredbytheCITESSecretariat.......................................................................................18
1.3 CITESmechanismsofflexibility: quotas,rangingandsplit-listings....................................21
1.4 Blackmarketvaluesforwildlife.............................................................................................36
1.5 CITESSecretariattrainingseminars......................................................................................38
1.6 CITESnon-PartiesandWTOMembership...........................................................................43
1.7a TransfersoftaxabetweenAppendicesIandII......................................................................48
1.7b DeletionsoftaxafromAppendicesIandII...........................................................................48
1.8 CITESenvironmentaleffectiveness: conclusionsofspeciesspecialists...............................49
2.1 SummaryofMontrealProtocolmeasures..............................................................................67
2.2 Consumptionofchlorofluorocarbonsandhalonsinselectedcountries,1986and1994.......76
2.3 Substitutesforozone-depletingsubstances............................................................................77
3.1 ExportsofhazardouswasteswithintheOECDarea............................................................115
4.1 MaintrademeasuresinuseintheMEAsstudiedandtheirobjectives................................180
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Boxes:
1.1 TypologyoftheCITESrelatedtrademeasures.....................................................................19
1.2 AbuseofCITEStrademeasures:forgery,smugglingandlaundering...................................33
1.3 EnforcingCITES:stings,seizuresandsentencing.................................................................35
1.4 CITES-relatedmultilateralco-operation................................................................................40
2.1 SummaryoftrademeasurestakentodateundertheMontrealProtocol................................70
2.2 Ozoneaction..........................................................................................................................74
3.1 DecisionIII/1: amendmenttotheBaselConvention..........................................................107
3.2. Statisticalanalysisofcertainsub-categoriesofmetalscrapandresidues...........................117
4.1 CITESandsustainableuse...................................................................................................184
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ACRONYMSANDABBREVIATIONS
ACP African,CaribbeanandPacific
CBD ConventiononBiologicalDiversity
CFC Chlorofluorcarbons
CITES ConventiononInternationalTradeinEndangeredSpeciesofWildFaunaandFlora
CoP ConferenceoftheParties
EC EuropeanCommission
EU EuropeanUnion
ERM EnvironmentalResourcesManagement
GATT GeneralAgreementonTariffsandTrade
GEF GlobalEnvironmentFacility
HBFC Hydrobromofluorocarbons
HFC Hydrofluorocarbons
HCFC Hydrochlorofluorocarbons
ICJ InternationalCourtofJustice
INTERPOL InternationalCriminalPoliceOrganisation
IUCN/SSC WorldConservationUnion/SpeciesSurvivalCommission
MEA Multilateralenvironmentalagreement
NIS NewIndependentStates
NGO Non-governmentalorganisation
ODS Ozonedepletingsubstances
PFC Perfluorocarbons
PIC Priorinformedconsent
TEAP TechnologyandEconomicAssessmentPanel
TRAFFIC TradeRecordsAnalysisofFloraandFaunainCommerce
TWG TechnicalWorkingGroup
SBC SecretariatoftheBaselConvention
UNCTAD UnitedNationsConferenceonTradeandDevelopment
UNDP UnitedNationsDevelopmentProgramme
UNEP UnitedNationsEnvironmentProgramme
UNIDO UnitedNationsIndustrialDevelopmentOrganization
UV-B Ultravioletradiation
WCMC WorldConservationMonitoringCentre
WCO WorldCustomsOrganisation
WTO WorldTradeOrganization
WWF WorldWildlifeFundforNature
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Chapter 1
EXPERIENCEWITHTHEUSEOFTRADEMEASURESINTHECONVENTIONOF
INTERNATIONALTRADEINENDANGEREDSPECIESOFWILDFAUNAANDFLORA
(CITES)1
Theenvironmentalcontext
Biological diversity has been defined as the number, variety, and variability of all living
organisms in terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems, and the ecological complexes of which
they form part. Although difficult to quantify, the benefits biodiversity offers to human society are
extensive. Vital ecosystem functions such as, inter alia, carbon exchange, watershed flows of surface
and ground water, the protection and enrichment of soils, and the regulation of surface temperature
and local climate are rendered possible through biodiversity. Furthermore, biodiversity is the source
of many of the world’s products, including foodstuffs, fibres, pharmaceutical products and chemicals.
As the basis for the improvement of crop and livestock varieties, biodiversity also constitutes a
fundamental input to biotechnology. Finally, biodiversity is usually associated with “intangible” or
non-monetaryvalues,whetheraesthetic,culturalorscientific.
The decline in biodiversity levels, and implications for the continued habitability of the
planet, are widely recognised phenomena. Assessing how fast species are becoming extinct is rife
with difficulties -- mainlydue to the uncertainty surrounding the actual number of living species.2 At
the same time it is recalled that extinctions are natural phenomena and are not per se cause for alarm.
As fundamental components of biodiversity, wild plant and animal species are subject to varying
pressuresincluding:
• loss of natural habitats, which is usually associated with the conversion of high diversity land,
forinstancenaturalforests,intolandusedforagriculture;
• introduction of new species into natural ecosystems, which may translate into new pests and
diseasesaswellasincreasedcompetitionbetweennewand nativespecies;
• over-exploitation of species, including through subsistence use, domestic commercial use and
internationaltrade; and
• pollutionandglobalenvironmentalchange.
Due to the complex interaction between these and other, less-obvious factors such as the
homogenisation of agricultural systems based on few species, the causes of species extinction are
overlydiffuseanddifficulttoidentify.However,itisestimatedthathabitatloss plays the predominant
roleintheextinctionofwildlife. Onestudyestimatesthat68%ofallendangeredmammalspeciesand
almost 80% of endangered reptiles and fish are threatened by the destruction or alteration of their
habitats. Thedirectroleofinternationaltradeisgenerallylesssignificantinspeciesextinctionrelative
to other factors, particularly habitat loss, introduction of alien species to ecosystems and domestic
commercialuse.3
AsanearlierOECDstudy4pointedout,afewaspectsofwildlifetrademustbeborneinmind
when considering the pressure exerted by international trade on wild fauna and flora. First, the
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