Trade Groups Form Coalition to Press Environmental Goods Agreement
International trade industry groups announced on July 9 the formation of a coalition to support World Trade Organization (WTO) Environmental Goods Agreement (EGA) negotiations, said the organizations in an emailed statement. The Coalition for Green Trade will be co-chaired by…
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
If your job depends on informed compliance, you need International Trade Today. Delivered every business day and available any time online, only International Trade Today helps you stay current on the increasingly complex international trade regulatory environment.
National Association of Manufacturers, National Foreign Trade Council and the United States Council for International Business, and will sit a number of other high-profile organizations, including the Chamber of Commerce, on its steering committee. The U.S., along with 12 other nations and the European Union (EU), launched negotiations on the agreement at the WTO in Geneva, Switzerland on July 8 (see 14070811). The agreement seeks to build on an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation pact that aims to reduce to 5 percent or less tariffs on 54 environmental products (here). "Global trade in environmental goods is already estimated to be around $1 trillion annually, and growing quickly," said the coalition along with other industry leaders in a July 8 letter to WTO negotiators. "An ambitious EGA will further increase global trade in environmental goods, lowering the cost of addressing environmental and climate challenges by removing tariffs that can be as high as 35 percent." WTO Director-General Roberto Azevêdo also praised the launch of the agreement in a July 8 statement (here).