WTO - Plastics Pollution Dialogue unveils elements of potential outcome for MC13 The Dialogue on Plastics Pollution and Environmentally Sustainable Plastics Trade made substantial progress at a meeting on 25 May, introducing the coordinators’ draft vision on the way forward and elements for a potential outcome at the 13th Ministerial Conference (MC13) to be held in February 2024. The coordinators of the Dialogue hailed the draft elements as the culmination of extensive work over the past two years and a pivotal step towards achieving “concrete, pragmatic and effective outcomes” at MC13. It’s our responsibility to make MC13 a success, they said.

WTO - Plastics Dialogue participants brainstorm on MC13 outcomes, welcome US co-sponsorship Next year’s 13th Ministerial Conference (MC13) presents an opportunity for the WTO to deliver concrete, pragmatic, and effective outcomes to reduce plastics pollution and address environmental concerns, according to participants in the Dialogue on Plastics Pollution and Environmentally Sustainable Plastics Trade at a meeting on 13 March. The attendees had their first focused discussion on the structure of MC13 outcomes and welcomed the United States as a new co-sponsor of the initiative.

WTO - Plastics Dialogue participants prepare ground for achieving outcomes at MC13 At the first meeting of the year of the Dialogue on Plastics Pollution and Environmentally Sustainable Plastics Trade on 16 February, co-sponsors discussed the latest developments in global efforts to reduce plastic pollution. The primary goal in 2023, as outlined by the co-coordinators, is to take steps towards turning a wealth of technical information into “concrete, pragmatic and effective” outcomes at the 13th Ministerial Conference (MC13), which is due to take place in Abu Dhabi in February 2024.

WTO - Plastics Dialogue hails substantive progress, sets path towards achieving concrete results Plastics talks have made great strides in 2022 and work will intensify in the year ahead with the aim of achieving concrete results in curbing plastics pollution no later than the next Ministerial Conference (MC13), said co-sponsors of the Dialogue on Plastics Pollution and Environmentally Sustainable Plastics Trade at a stocktaking meeting on 7 December.

WTO - Plastics Dialogue advances on ministerial mandate to seek outcomes by MC13 Participants in the Dialogue on Plastics Pollution and Environmentally Sustainable Plastics Trade met for their third plenary meeting on 11 October and reported progress on working towards “concrete, effective and pragmatic outcomes” for the WTO’s 13th Ministerial Conference (MC13) as mandated by their ministers. They also welcomed Mexico, Samoa and Mauritius as new co-sponsors of the initiative.

WTO - Trade ministers present early results, pledge to advance plastics dialogue at MC12 event Trade ministers representing the six co-coordinators of the Informal Dialogue on Plastics Pollution and Environmentally Sustainable Plastics Trade — Australia, Barbados, China, Ecuador, Fiji and Morocco — issued a Ministerial Statement on 13 June presenting early results from their discussions and next steps for the group while reaffirming their commitment to strengthen work on how to tackle the immense challenges posed by plastic pollution.

WTO - Plastics dialogue discusses MC12 plans, next steps to implement Ministerial Statement At a meeting of the Informal Dialogue on Plastics Pollution and Environmentally Sustainable Plastics Trade (IDP) on 24 May, participants discussed plans for the 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12) on 12-15 June and the next steps to implement the Ministerial Statement issued in December 2021.

WTO - Trade must be part of the global effort to address plastics pollution: DDG Paugam International efforts to reduce plastics waste and promote more sustainable use of plastics must include a better understanding of the role trade can play in achieving these outcomes, Deputy Director-General Jean-Marie Paugam said on 31 March. DDG Paugam spoke at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s annual Environment Ministerial Meeting in Paris.

WTO - Plastics dialogue emphasizes need for international collaboration, cooperation At a meeting of the Informal Dialogue on Plastics Pollution and Environmentally Sustainable Plastics Trade (IDP) on 30 March, participants were updated on the first workstream meeting, which looked into international efforts to reduce plastics waste. Deputy Director-General Xiangchen Zhang urged the IDP to deepen its collaboration and cooperation with other international organizations and work towards concrete and pragmatic solutions for tackling plastics pollution.

Plastics dialogue launches three workstreams to advance discussions Participants in the Informal Dialogue on Plastics Pollution and Environmentally Sustainable Plastics Trade (IDP) launched on 18 March discussions in three new workstreams to advance work on reducing plastics waste. This marks the first step in implementing the IDP Ministerial Statement announced in December 2021, said Australia, co-coordinator of the IDP.

WTO - New initiatives seek to put environment at heart of trade discussions Co-sponsors of three new environmental initiatives met jointly on 15 December and vowed to put environmental concerns at the heart of future trade discussions. WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala joined ministers from the initiative co-coordinators, heads of international organizations and representatives from business and civil society groups in welcoming the initiatives.

WTO - MC12 Ministerial Statement on Plastic Pollution Published The proponents of the plastic polllution and enviromentally sustainable plastics trade informal dialogue circulated their Ministerial statement for MC12 in a 22 November unrestricted communication to all WTO Members.

LetsRecycle.com - WTO to ‘strengthen trade dimension’ of fight against plastics pollution A group of World Trade Organization (WTO) members says it discussed a roadmap to strengthen the trade dimension of global efforts to tackle plastics pollution at a meeting last week.

WTO - Plastics dialogue on track for very positive MC12 outcome, says co-coordinator WTO members participating in the Informal Dialogue on Plastics Pollution and Environmentally Sustainable Plastics Trade (IDP) discussed on 22 October a draft ministerial statement regarding a roadmap for the IDP’s work in support of global efforts to reduce plastics pollution and to transition towards environmentally sustainable plastics trade. Ambassador George Mina (Australia), who chaired the meeting, stressed that the statement is a significant step forwards and urged participants to garner broader support from the WTO membership before the 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12) at the end of November.

WTO - Plastics pollution dialogue advances discussions, eyeing MC12 outcome WTO members participating in the Informal Dialogue on Plastics Pollution and Environmentally Sustainable Plastics Trade (IDP) discussed on 21 June how the WTO can contribute to strengthening policy coherence, exploring collective approaches among WTO members and improving technical assistance to developing countries in support of global efforts to reduce plastic waste and move towards a circular plastics economy. A strong call was made for a declaration to be issued at the WTO’s 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12), to be held in late November, to guide further actions.

WTO - Informal Dialogue on Plastics Pollution kicks off again The Informal Dialogue on Plastics Pollution and Environmentally Sustainable Plastics Trade took place on 29 March 2021 and focused on enhancing transparency and international cooperation. The aim was to establish a solid factual basis to support WTO members’ efforts to reduce plastics pollution and to promote sustainable trade in plastics, with a view to reaching an outcome at the 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12) to be held in late 2021.

IISD - Trade-Related Policy Measures to Reduce Plastic Pollution: Building on the state of play Authors: Ieva Baršauskaitė and Tristan Irschlinger

As international efforts to tackle plastic pollution are underway at both the United Nations and the WTO, this report examines the trade-related plastic pollution-reduction measures that have already been taken and notified by members of the WTO. By providing a detailed overview of existing policy interventions, the report aims to contribute to ongoing discussions on what further steps could be taken by governments in their efforts to address this complex environmental challenge, either individually or collectively.

TESS Forum - Trends in Trade Flows Across the Life Cycle of Plastics: Preliminary Review Authors: Carolyn Deere Birkbeck, Diana Barrowclough, Mahesh Sugathan, Christophe Bellmann and Leonardo Souzo Campos Rodrigues

This briefing note provides a preliminary review of trends in trade flows across the full life cycle of plastics, starting from trade in feedstocks, precursors, and chemical additives commonly used in plastics through to plastic products and plastic waste.

TESS Forum - The WTO Dialogue on Plastics Pollution: Overview and State of Play Authors: Carolyn Deere Birkbeck, Mahesh Sugathan and Simon Ardila Eraso

The member-led WTO Dialogue on Plastics Pollution—launched in November 2020 and co-sponsored by 75 members representing over 75% of global trade in plastics—aims to foster trade cooperation on plastic pollution within the framework of the WTO’s rules and mechanisms while complementing, supporting, and preventing duplication with efforts and processes in other international fora. This policy brief is intended as an introduction for government officials and stakeholders keen to understand more about the origins and work of the Dialogue. It reviews the Dialogue’s evolution, purpose, and work and also presents an overview of key options for trade-related cooperation identified to date.

TESS Forum - Aid for Trade Priorities on Plastic Pollution Author: Mahesh Sugathan

This policy brief identifies how aid for trade could be harnessed to support developing and least developed countries to address the trade-related aspects of the plastic pollution crisis in a manner that is aligned with their priorities and needs. It suggests a set of short- and medium-term “deliverables” on aid for trade and plastic pollution that WTO members could pursue through the Dialogue on Plastics Pollution and related cooperation at the WTO.

TESS Forum - Plastic Pollution and Trade Across the Life Cycle of Plastics: Options for Amending the Harmonized System to Improve Transparency Author: Carla Vaca Eyzaguirre and Carolyn Deere Birkbeck

This policy brief identifies gaps and challenges in the World Custom Organization’s Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System (HS) that are relevant to efforts to tackle plastic pollution. It then puts forward options for amending the HS that would facilitate monitoring and regulating trade flows across the life cycle of plastics. Drawing from the wide range of potential HS amendment options identified, the authors recommend a subset of options that could be pursued in the current 2022-2027 HS amendment cycle.

UNCTAD - How to build concerted multilateral action on plastic pollution Authors: David Vivas-Eugui and Henrique Pacini

Turning the tide on plastic pollution requires multiple and parallel responses within the UN and the multilateral trade system to succeed. It also requires bottom-up, detailed analysis and action at the domestic level, redesigning incentives towards less overall resource usage. While plastic owes its success to its special physical properties, the response by the UN and the multilateral trade system to the plastic pollution challenge must have equivalent properties by being malleable, useful, adaptable and lightweight.

TESS Forum - Standards and the International Standardization Landscape: Relevance to Plastics Author: Reinhard Weissinger

This policy brief aims to help policymakers, academia, and the interested public obtain a better understanding of the structure and functioning of the international standardization system. It offers an overview of some of the main standardization organizations and current plastic standards, identifies some of the gaps in the landscape of these standards, and highlights the potential role, as well as the limitations, of standards in combatting plastic pollution. The paper also provides recommendations for enhancing the impact and effectiveness of standardization.

GPAP - Trade and the Circular Economy: A deep dive into plastics action in Ghana The case study aims to better understand how trade flows and trade policies may help or hinder Ghana in addressing plastic pollution and transitioning to a circular economy. The research and recommendations form a preliminary assessment and complement the forthcoming Roadmap for Radical Reduction of Plastic Pollution in Ghana.

WEF - Plastics, the Circular Economy and Global Trade This briefing note draws on the expertise of trade and environment experts from across the plastics value chain to identify the key cross-border challenges to scaling a more circular economy for plastics. It also provides basic trade and investment solutions for tackling these challenges and opens the door for further multistakeholder collaboration to build a sustainable circular plastics economy.