WTO's Environmental Goods: Technical and Legal Scope

Abstract

The World Trade Organization introduced negotiations for an Environmental Goods Agreement. The aim is to reduce tariffs for "important" environmental-related products. There are however contentious debates on what environmental goods are and what makes some of those goods important. Adding the relevance of international environmental law on environmental goods, the issue of defining WTO's environmental goods becomes even more challenging. In this paper, the author aims to analyse these discussions, and set the boundaries for the scope of environmental goods.

The World Trade Organization introduced negotiations for an Environmental Goods Agreement. The aim is to reduce tariffs for "important" environmental-related products. There are however contentious debates on what environmental goods are and what makes some of those goods important. Adding the relevance of international environmental law on environmental goods, the issue of defining WTO's environmental goods becomes even more challenging. In this paper, the author aims to analyse these discussions, and set the boundaries for the scope of environmental goods.