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EU Forest Watch June 1999 Issue #35
Trade negotiations and forests Finns in charge Environment Integration NGO Consultations Ecolabels EU Forest Agenda Trade negotiations and forests New trade negotiations are under way, which could have major implications for the world’s forests. Most significant is the third ministerial conference of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) which starts on 30 November in Seattle. Further tariff reductions on wood products, oilseeds and rubber are expected to be on the agenda, as well as agriculture and services. The WTO may also be considering wider issues, such as non-tariff measures (NTMs), some of which are seen as barriers to trade, as well as a new multilateral investment agreement and government procurement. US NGOs organised a meeting in Seattle (24-27 June) to discuss the WTO's possible impact on the world’s forests. They are concerned about the elimination of remaining tariffs on wood products. Figures from the American Forest and Paper Association suggest that wood consumption will increase by 3-4% worldwide if existing tariffs disappeared. Surprisingly no research has been done on the environmental and social impact of tariff reductions. The elimination of tariffs on forest products may be further compounded by the liberalisation of NTMs. An APEC1 study on NTMs and its effect on the timber trade will be published in September, just before the WTO meeting. Forest certification and phytosanitary rules will all be addressed by this study. On June 29, APEC ministers agreed to refer tariff negotiations on oilseeds and rubber to the WTO. This indicates a shift in Japan's position. The US indicated again its priority for progress on eight tariff areas including fish and forestry. At a meeting with NGOs on 22 June, the EU -the largest player outside APEC-has indicated support for tariff liberalisation, but only as part of a new trade round. At this meeting NGOs repeated their demand for sustainability impact assessments of the current trade regime before decisions are taken to expand it. As agriculture is part of WTO's inbuilt agenda, NGOs pressed for a follow up meeting on agriculture. DG I (external affairs) and VI (agriculture) agreed. The EU could find itself in an awkward position at the Seattle talks, as the new Common Agricultural Policy may not conform with WTO rules. The EU's agricultural policy has also proved to be a sticking point in a separate round of trade liberalisation talks with the Mercosur countries of South America on June 28. The EU and Mexico are currently negotiating a free trade agreement, strongly criticised by Mexican2 and European NGOs. Despite all these trade liberalisation negotiations, there is very little research available on the economic, social or environmental impact of past and future trade liberalisation. 1 Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum, which includes the US, Canada and Japan 2 available from Fern Finns in charge The Finns have taken over the EU presidency for the next six months1 and intend to open up the Union's decision making process to greater public scrutiny. This move is strongly welcomed by NGOs. Under the Treaty of Amsterdam, the Union must ensure access to EU documents. The Council has to approve, jointly with the Parliament, general principles and restrictions for such transparency legislation. Finland aims to do the groundwork for such legislation and hopes to get the legislation adopted during its presidency. To show that they mean business, the Finns have already started to publish so far secret agendas of Council meetings and Council working groups on their website2. Fern has presented a set of NGO recommendations to the Finnish Presidency, supported by WWF, Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace3. As the recommendations focus also on greater transparency of EC aid and trade policies, the NGOs hope that progress will be made. Other issues addressed are the need for a biodiversity forest action plan (see other page), the full implementation of the indigenous peoples Resolution and certification. Other NGOs like the UK Rainforest Foundation and the European Environmental Bureau (EEB) have also sent their recommendations focusing on EC aid and environmental policies respectively4. 1 Finnish programme available from Fern 2 http://www.presidency.finland.fi 3 available from Fern 4 available from Fern
Environment Integration Article 6 of the Amsterdam Treaty lays down the obligation to integrate environment in all EU policies. In response, the Commission presented a report1 on environmental integration into EU policies and a Communication2 on implementing the Kyoto protocol to the Council meeting in Cologne 3-4 June. The Commission also released a Communication on integrating environment in the single market. In its report, the Commission states that sectoral integration strategies will ensure that environmental concerns are built into EU policy and legislation. The Commission regrets that the environmental aspects of its proposal for Agenda 2000 were weakened by the Council. NGOs have welcomed the efforts of the Commission to develop new mechanisms to integrate the environment into other EU policies. However, they feel that greater participation in the preparation phase, notably by DG XI, is necessary. The Communication on the single market and environment, reveals that only 18% of environment Directives have been transposed into all member states. It lists a series of key initiatives to integrate environment into the single market. The EEB strongly criticises the paper as it lacks an analysis of trade-offs between the single market and the environment and contains few proposals for new programs. The EEB hopes a more strategic document will be produced for the Helsinki Summit in December. In its Communication on preparing the implementation of the Kyoto Protocol, the Commission is openly critical of the member states’ delays in putting adequate policies into practice. The Cologne Council requested that all relevant sectors make their contributions in the framework of climate protection. The Helsinki Summit will re-examine progress. 1&2 available from Fern 3 minutes available from Fern
NGO Consultations On June 17, DGXI (Environment) held an NGO consultation on the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). The Commission stated that the implementation of the EC's Biodiversity Strategy (Forest Watch 21, 25) is now fully under way. Action plans for the different sectors are being developed. However, some controversy still remains over the forest action plan. It should have been covered by the Forestry Strategy adopted in December 98 (Forest Watch 28, 29). However, the Forestry Strategy does not implement most of the objectives listed by the EC's Biodiversity Strategy. Therefore NGOs argue an action plan on forests is still required. A consultation between French forest NGOs and the Development Cooperation Ministries was held in Paris on 16 June. The aim was to establish a dialogue to improve the transparency of French aid. Similar NGO consultation processes are already well established in many other member states. Fern believes that it is high time that the European Commission establishes an ongoing dialogue with forest and development NGOs in North and South to create a more coherent EU forest policy, to increase the transparency and to improve the quality of the EC aid programme.
Ecolabels On June 24, the Environment Council agreed on a revision of the EU ecolabel Regulation. An earlier proposal for revision of the Regulation was not approved by the Council in June 98 (Forest Watch 25). One controversy was the obligation to phase out national labelling schemes. Under the agreed compromise the EU ecolabel scheme will not replace national schemes. However, all is not well, as the EEB has threatened to leave the Ecolabel Board if a proposal from the member states to increase the representation of industry and commerce in the EU Ecolabelling Board is not more balanced with respect to public interests i.e. consumers and environmentalists. Under the agreement an advisory board consisting of competent bodies will be set up. The composition of this board is not clear and the EEB is still considering its position.
EU Forest Agenda 5th July: the EU Forest Based and related Industry into the Third Millenium, DGIII (Industry) Helsinki. 19-20 July: External Affairs Council, Brussels 19-20 July: Agriculture Council, Brussels 23 July: Informal Environment Council, Brussels |