Bridges Trade BioRes • Volume 6 • Number 10 • 2nd June 2006
Proposal to Eliminate Tariffs on Trade in Chemicals
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A proposal to eliminate all tariffs on trade in chemicals at the WTO was put forward on 15 May by Canada, Norway, Singapore, Switzerland, Taiwan and the US (TN/MA/W/72) in the WTO Negotiating Group on Non-Agricultural Market Access (NAMA). Under the proposal, once enough WTO Members got on board (”critical mass”), developed country supporters of the plurilateral “sectoral” initiative would eliminate their tariffs immediately, while developing countries would be given longer periods to implement tariff reductions for certain highly sensitive products, but would nonetheless be expected to bring their tariffs to zero. The tariff reductions would apply to a wide range of chemicals, including fertilizers, pharmaceutical products, explosives, herbicides and organic and inorganic chemicals. These tariff reductions would be voluntary and go beyond the requirements of the formula to be agreed in the NAMA negotiations for products overall. Trade in and production of chemicals is also governed by the Stockholm Convention, which regulates persistent organic pollutants, the Rotterdam Convention, which introduces prior informed consent procedures for certain hazardous chemicals and pesticides, and the Montreal Protocol on ozone-depleting substances (see http://www.trade-environment.org/page/ictsd/news/chemicals.htm for news coverage). The Conventions cover a number of chemicals that are listed as candidates for tariff cuts in the WTO proposal, including fertilizers, methyl bromide and carbon-based chemicals, but the relationship between these multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) and the proposal has not yet been discussed at the meeting.
ICTSD Reporting.
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