NAMA NEGOTIATIONS: AN ENVIRONMENTAL PERSPECTIVE

This briefing from the Center for International Environmental Law examines the environmental implications of Non-Agricultural Market Access (NAMA) negotiations within the WTO Doha Development Agenda. It focuses on two primary areas: the informal pursuit of sectoral agreements for total tariff elimination in environmentally-sensitive sectors and the classification and negotiation of non-tariff barriers (NTBs). The document argues that environmental considerations are being neglected in tariff negotiations and warns against the potential for NTB negotiations to undermine legitimate public policy objectives regarding health, safety, and environmental protection.

• Informal negotiations are underway to completely eliminate tariffs in several sectors, four of which are identified as environmentally-sensitive: fisheries, forest products, chemicals, and raw materials.
• There is a lack of environmental consideration in tariff elimination negotiations, despite evidence of potential negative impacts. A June 2005 Sustainability Impact Assessment by the University of Manchester suggests that full liberalization of forestry products could lead to "considerable environmental and social costs" for developing countries and transitional economies with poor forest governance, potentially offsetting economic gains.
• The WTO Secretariat has categorized non-tariff barriers (NTBs) into four groups to determine negotiation modalities: Category 1 (covered by existing Agreements without a separate Doha mandate), Category 2 (covered by Agreements with a separate mandate), Category 3 (not covered by an Agreement but related to the Doha Work Programme), and Category 4 (not covered by a specific Agreement or separate mandate).
• Several WTO Members have notified environmental standards as problematic NTBs, including US fuel efficiency policies, EU REACH legislation for chemicals, EU energy efficiency directives for appliances, ISO 14000 and ISO 8000 environmental management standards, and labeling requirements for GMOs and 'dolphin-friendly' tuna.
• The document emphasizes that NTB negotiations must not result in the dilution of legitimate environmental, health, or safety standards, nor should they restrict the domestic policy space of Members to pursue these objectives.

APA

Bernasconi-Osterwalder, N., & Sherman, L. (2005). NAMA NEGOTIATIONS: AN ENVIRONMENTAL PERSPECTIVE. Center for International Environmental Law. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/NamaNegotiations_28Jul05.pdf

Chicago

Bernasconi-Osterwalder, Nathalie, and Linsey Sherman. NAMA NEGOTIATIONS: AN ENVIRONMENTAL PERSPECTIVE. Center for International Environmental Law, 2005. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/NamaNegotiations_28Jul05.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Bernasconi-Osterwalder |first1=Nathalie |last2=Sherman |first2=Linsey |title=NAMA NEGOTIATIONS: AN ENVIRONMENTAL PERSPECTIVE |publisher=Center for International Environmental Law |date=28 July 2005 |url=https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/NamaNegotiations_28Jul05.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{bernasconiosterwalder2005nama, author = {Bernasconi-Osterwalder, Nathalie and Sherman, Linsey}, title = {{NAMA NEGOTIATIONS: AN ENVIRONMENTAL PERSPECTIVE}}, institution = {Center for International Environmental Law}, year = {2005}, month = jul, url = {https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/NamaNegotiations_28Jul05.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }