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| UNCTAD/ TED Palais des Nations, CH - 1211 Genève 10, Suisse trade.environment@unctad.org tél +41 (0)22 917 1330 Terms & conditions Privacy |
Consultative Task Force on Environmental Requirements and Market Access for Developing Countries.
CTF Meetings
UNCTAD contributes to a book on analysis of developmental and market-access impact of private sustainability standards on horticultural exports in Africa.
UNCTAD contributes an article on pro-actively complying with private voluntary standards on Good Agricultural Standards: Key findings of country-case studies in Ghana, Kenya and Uganda.
http://www.agrifoodstandards.net
| Date | Location | Title | M |
| 22 April 2008 | Accra, Ghana | Making Sustainability Standards Work for Pro-poor Agricultural Development and Trade. UNCTAD XII side event | More |
| 7-9 April 2008 | Arusha, United Republic of Tanzania | Making Sustainability Standards Work for Small-scale Farmers. A Pre-UNCTAD XII Event | More |
| 25 June 2007 | Geneva, Switzerland | Joint UNCTAD/WTO Informal Information Session on Private Standards | More |
| 6-9 March 2007 | Nairobi, Kenya | Good Agriculture Practices in Eastern & Southern Africa: Practices and Policies | More |
| 3-4 July 2006 | Geneva, Switzerland | Wrap-up Workshop of the UK-DFID-funded UNCTAD Project "Building Capacity for Improved Policy Making and Negotiation on Key Trade and Environment Issues" and Annual Session of UNCTAD's Consultative Task Force on Environmental Requirements and Market Access for Developing Countries | More |
| 8-10 Dec 2005 | Rio de Janiero, Brazil | UNCTAD/ INMETRO Sub-regional Stakeholder Meeting on EurepGAP: Opportunities and Challenges for Central and Southern America | More |
| 29-30 Nov 2005 | Manila, Philippines | EurepGAP Asia 05: Potential and challenges of EurepGAP in Asia | More |
| 25-26 Nov 2005 | Bangkok, Thailand | UNCTAD/ ITD National Workshop on Good Agricultural Practice and Benchmarking to EurepGAP | More |
| 25-27May 2005 | Bangkok, Thailand | UNCTAD-UNESCAP Workshop, Exchanging National Experiences among the Principal Exporting Developing Countries - Environmental Requirements and Market Access for Electrical and Electronic Goods, CTF | More |
| 5-6 Nov 2004 | Geneva, Switzerland | 1st Meeting of the Consultative Task Force (CTF) on Environmental Requirements and Market Access for Developing Countries | More |
| 7-8 June 2004 | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | UNCTAD XI, Environmental Requirements and Market Access for Developing Countries | More |
CTF Coordinators
| Name | Position | Email, tel, fax |
|
| Ulrich Hoffmann | Chief | ulrich.hoffmann@unctad.org | tel: +41 (0)22 917 5780 Fax: +41 (0)22 917 0247 |
| Andrew Stevenson | Economic Affairs Officer | andrew.stevenson@unctad.org | tel: Fax: |
Objectives
The Consultative Task Force (CTF) is an open-ended multi-stakeholder
forum of government, private sector and NGO representatives that assists developing
countries in analyzing key trends of environmental requirements (ERs) in export
markets and to exchange national experience on pro-active approaches to meeting
these ERs with a view to maintaining market access, harnessing developmental
gains and safeguarding social welfare. CTF activities are not intended to “second-guess” the
legitimacy and objectives of environmental requirements, nor to develop guidelines
for good regulatory practice. Rather, CTF activities will analyze and discuss
ways of overcoming specific developing country challenges regarding the development
and implementation of, as well as adjustment to ERs. The added value of the
CTF is that it:
(i) links policy and capacity-constraints issues aimed at developing
a more holistic and development-oriented approach on environmental requirements
and market access;
(ii) interfaces discussions in the WTO, notably on paragraph
32(i) of the Doha Ministerial Declaration, with other debates at international
and national level;
(iii) includes in the analysis and discussion voluntary
environmental requirements of the private sector and NGOs and thus provides
a formal exchange mechanism
between these stakeholders and governments;
(iv) draws into the discussion
stakeholders normally not involved in WTO debates; and
(v)
allows a regular exchange of information among agencies and initiatives
that provide technical and capacity-building assistance in fields relevant
to CTF
discussions.
Background
As countries seek to enhance environmental protection and promote sustainable development, ERs are expected to become more frequent, including in sectors of key export interest to developing countries. While recognizing that governmental and non-governmental requirements need to be differentiated, many voluntary requirements developed by the private sector or NGOs are de facto mandatory and tend to be globalized through international supply chains. They are largely outside WTO disciplines on TBT measures, yet some of them may be the precursor of future regulation. This contrasts with the lack of capacity in many developing countries to raise awareness on new ERs in key export markets, gather and disseminate much-needed information on them, and encourage effective public-private partnerships to adjust to the new requirements in a developmentally beneficial way. Also, there is not enough consistent and credible information on the types of problems that exist in developing countries and the interplay between policy and capacity-constraints issues is not well understood. Furthermore, there is an insufficient exchange of information among international organizations and other initiatives on their activities on ERs and market access although a strategic partnership among them would be required. Background note on environmental requirements and market access for developing countries (TDTD/(XI)/BP/1)
Mandate
Following an Expert Meeting on Environmental Requirements and International Trade on 2-4 October 2002, the UNCTAD Commission on Trade in Goods and Services, and Commodities, at its seventh session in February 2003, recommended exploring “the possibility of creating a consultative group on environmental requirements and international trade, which should closely coordinate and collaborate with relevant work and initiatives in other bodies and involve the private sector, as a project-based activity” (document TD/B/COM.1/L.26).
Thrust of activities and modalities of CTF
The CTF will provide a forum for well-structured and focused dialogue and networking on relevant issues at the interface of ERs and market access for developing countries (this will include analysis, policy dialogue, information exchange and supportive activities). Under its umbrella, the CTF may consider launching some specific, well-defined and time-limited project activities, whose results will aid the substantive debate in the CTF. Initially, this would include work on (a) sector-specific experience in the preparation, adoption and implementation of regulations and standards and the related examination of possible trade implications for developing countries; (b) the development of holistic, proactive strategies in developing countries that effectively respond to ERs in key export markets; (c) improved access to and dissemination of information on ERs, including private-sector requirements. For more detail, see: Report of the Rio workshop
Donor support
Dutch government