Non-Party Trade Provisions in Multilateral Environmental Agreements

The document analyzes how non-party trade provisions in existing MEAs, such as the Montreal Protocol and CITES, incentivize treaty ratification and prevent 'free-riding' by restricting trade with non-signatory states. It argues that a future plastics treaty should include similar trade bans or restrictions on polymers, additives, and plastic products to ensure effectiveness and a level playing field, while suggesting that the treaty's Secretariat be granted oversight authority to close implementation loopholes.

• Non-party trade provisions are used in MEAs to create incentives for non-parties to join and to prevent them from benefiting from environmental gains without making similar commitments, a phenomenon referred to as 'free-riding'.
• The Montreal Protocol is cited as a primary example of the success of non-party trade provisions, as its ban on trading controlled substances with non-parties helped it become the first international environmental treaty to achieve universal ratification with 196 Parties.

APA

de Anzizu, H. (2023). Non-Party Trade Provisions in Multilateral Environmental Agreements. Center for International Environmental Law. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/CIEL_brief_Non-Party-Trade-Provisions-in-meas_April-2023.pdf

Chicago

de Anzizu, Helionor. Non-Party Trade Provisions in Multilateral Environmental Agreements. Center for International Environmental Law, 2023. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/CIEL_brief_Non-Party-Trade-Provisions-in-meas_April-2023.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=de Anzizu |first1=Helionor |title=Non-Party Trade Provisions in Multilateral Environmental Agreements |publisher=Center for International Environmental Law |date=April 2023 |url=https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/CIEL_brief_Non-Party-Trade-Provisions-in-meas_April-2023.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{deanzizu2023nonparty, author = {de Anzizu, Helionor}, title = {{Non-Party Trade Provisions in Multilateral Environmental Agreements}}, institution = {Center for International Environmental Law}, year = {2023}, month = apr, url = {https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/CIEL_brief_Non-Party-Trade-Provisions-in-meas_April-2023.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }