World Trade Organization (WTO)
Canada and the WTO
Environmental Assessment of the World Trade Organization (WTO)
Negotiations
Suspension of the WTO Draft Environmental Assessment process
In keeping with the Cabinet Directive on Environmental Assessment
of Policy. Plan and Program Proposals, the Canadian government is
conducting an Environmental Assessment (EA) of the WTO
Doha Development Agenda negotiations. The EA is being guided
by the Framework for Conducting
Environmental Assessments of Trade Negotiations, which provides
an analytical process for evaluating likely and significant environmental
impacts of trade negotiations. The objective of the EA is to assist
Canadian negotiators to integrate environmental considerations into
the negotiating process, and improve overall coherence between trade
and environmental policies.
The EA Framework calls for three increasingly detailed phases of
assessment: the Initial, Draft and Final EA. These phases correspond
to progress within negotiations. The Initial EA is a preliminary
examination to identify key issues and occurs early on in the negotiations.
The Draft EA builds on the findings of the Initial EA and requires
a more detailed analysis so as to inform the negotiators. The Final
EA takes place at the conclusion of the negotiations, and documents
the negotiations’ outcome. At the conclusion of each phase,
a report is issued and the public is invited to provide comments
on its contents. As of now, the government of Canada released its
Initial EA of the WTO negotiations
on November 22, 2002, and is now in the second phase, the “Draft
EA process”. More information on the EA process can be found
here.
In July 2006, further to the recommendation by the WTO Director-General
Pascal Lamy, the WTO Doha
negotiations were suspended until further notice. Consequently,
the WTO Draft EA process has been put on hold. The process will
restart and work will continue on the WTO Draft EA when the negotiations
resume. When completed, the Draft EA report will be posted on Foreign
Affairs and International Trade Canada's "Trade Negotiations
and Agreements" website for public comments.
Feedback and comments received on the analysis of the Draft EA
will continue to inform the EA process and policy development, as
well as in the preparation of the Final EA, which will be conducted
when the WTO Doha Round negotiations conclude.
Background Documents:
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