Canada seeking comment on WTO Environmental Goods Agreement

The negotiation of a plurilateral Environmental Goods Agreement (EGA) among a group of World Trade Organization (WTO) members was launched on July 8, 2014, with the objective of achieving global free trade in environmental goods.

The current participants in this initiative are Canada, Australia, China, Chinese Taipei, Costa Rica, the European Union, Hong Kong (China), Iceland, Israel, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, Switzerland, Turkey and the United States. Additional WTO Members could potentially join the negotiations, and a successful agreement would also be open to participation by other WTO Members. It is expected that the negotiations, if successful, would result in the elimination of tariffs on the final list of products on a Most Favoured Nation (MFN) basis.

In preparation for these negotiations, the Government of Canada conducted a domestic consultation process allowing all interested stakeholders the opportunity to provide input on a potential EGA. This consultation process was launched on May 3, 2014, through notices in the Canada Gazette, as well as on the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Website.

A wide variety of Canadian stakeholders participated in this consultation process, which resulted in the identification of a number of additional products to be considered as environmental goods. The Government is now inviting stakeholders to provide comments regarding the potential tariff elimination on these products, which were not included on the preliminary consultation list. With negotiations having commenced, other participating WTO Members have made their own nominations, which are being considered in confidence by other participants as part of the negotiations. The Government also welcomes expressions of interest or concern from stakeholders on other goods that are not included in this list of additional Canadian nominations. The deadline to submit your comments and input is August 7, 2015.

Products include certain residues, waste and scrap products and articles of plastic products, rubber waste, wood products, recyclable goods, nuclear reactors, pumps, certain machinery, electrical products and many more, classified in these Chapters 26- 29, 38, 39, 40-47, 59, 63, 68, 70-79, 80- 85.

A list of additional environmental goods can be found here.

Contact Information
Questions and contributions may be sent by e-mail or mail to:
WTO Environmental Goods Negotiations Consultations
Government Procurement, Trade and Environment Division (TPZ)
Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada
125 Sussex Drive
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0G2
Email: ENVconsultations@international.gc.ca

Questions or comments regarding Canadian tariffs may also be sent by e-mail or mail to:
WTO Environmental Goods Negotiations Consultations
International Trade Policy Division
Department of Finance
90 Elgin Street, 14th Floor
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0G5
Email: Tariff-Tarif@fin.gc.ca