United Nations Environment Programme
Division of Technology, Industry, and Economics
Economics and Trade Branch

UNEP / MEA Meeting on Enhancing MEA and WTO Information Exchange

11 November 2002, Palais des Nations, Geneva, Switzerland

Key Discussion Points:

Briefings by individual MEA secretariats

Procedures for MEAs / WTO information exchange

Criteria for observer status at the WTO

The Meeting was organized by the secretariats of a number of Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) and UNEP.

It immediately preceded the Special Session of the WTO's Committee on Trade and Environment on 12 November that also addressed information exchange and observer status between MEAs and the WTO.

The meeting provided a multi-stakeholder forum in which modalities for information exchange and other issues connected to the ongoing WTO negotiations could be explored in an informal setting.

The morning session of the meeting was dedicated to briefings convened by individual MEA secretariats. The briefings enabled MEA Secretariats to explore issues of particular relevance to the agreements whose parties they serve.

The afternoon session of the meeting was dedicated to a meeting jointly sponsored by MEA Secretariats and UNEP Economics and Trade Branch on the two WTO negotiating issues that the SS-CTE focused on the following day:

  1. Procedures for information exchange between MEAs and the WTO.

  2. Criteria for observer status at the WTO.

The meeting was open to participants from governments (both trade and environment officials), other inter-governmental organisations and NGOs.