Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
in the Arab region, where these committees are generally convened by ministries responsible for environ-
ment and/or trade.
10.
These priorities were identi
ed during the 'Regional Workshop on Trade and Environment Capacity
Building', organized by ESCWA, UNEP/ROWA, the CAMRE Technical Secretariat, the Ministry of
Regional Municipalities, Environment and Water Resources of Oman and Sultan Qaboos University,
25-27 March 2006 in Muscat, Oman.
fi
11.
See ESCWA, 'Background paper on
nancial implications of food quality control and suggested arrange-
ments for setting up an analytical laboratory', presented to the Regional Seminar on Sustainable
Development and Competitiveness in the Agro-Food Sector, convened by ESCWA in Beirut, Lebanon,
1-2 December 2005, pp. 16 and 18.
fi
12.
Ibid., p. 27.
13.
ESCWA,
Trade and Environment Dimensions of the Fisheries Sector in the Arab Countries: The case of
Yemen and Oman
, United Nations: New York, E/ESCWA/SDPD/2007/W.2, 30 October 2007, p. 24.
14.
Ibid., pp. 4-5, compiled from FAO, Fisheries and Aquaculture Department, 'Total production 1950-2005
dataset', extracted from FishStat Plus in 2007.
15.
The other important area preventing progress entails overcoming implementation constraints associated
with managing trade in certain 'environmental goods,' such as the inclusion of products that require
speci
erentiation between products, and related concern
regarding the multiple use of certain environment goods for non-environmental purposes after they have
been imported under a preferential tari
fi
city beyond the six-digit HS level to allow for di
ff
ff
scheme.
16.
See WTO, 'Environmental goods - Submission by the State of Qatar on Paragraph 31 (iii)' to the WTO
Committee on Trade and Environment Special Session, TN/TE/W/14, 9 October 2002; and WTO,
'Harmonized System (HS) classi
cation codes of gas-related goods - Submission by the State of Qatar on
Paragraph 31 (iii)' to the WTO Committee on Trade and Environment Special Session and Negotiating
Group on Market Access, TN/TE/W/27 and TN/MA/W/33, 25 April 2003.
fi
17.
LAS, CAMRE Technical Secretariat, 'Arab Reference List on Environmental Goods', Final Report (avail-
able in Arabic), March 2007.
18.
Note that the LAS does not have standing before the WTO, although the LAS serves as secretariat of the
Greater Arab Free Trade Area (GAFTA) and its request for observer status in September 2000 was sup-
ported by Arab countries (see WTO, CTE, 'Request for observer status by the League of Arab States',
WT/CT/COM/5). As such, these guidelines were not formulated with the intention to prepare a submis-
sion for Arab countries to the CTE, but rather to inform the policy-making process at the regional level so
as to assist Arab countries to establish their respective negotiation positions.
19.
.
For further elaboration, see ESCWA,
The Liberalization of Trade in Environmental Goods and Services in
the ESCWA and Arab Regions
, United Nations: New York, E/ESCWA/SDPD/2007/WP.1, 22 October 2007
(available in Arabic and English).
