Faced with an increasing potential of conflicts between free trade and environmental protection, the World Trade Organization (WTO) began to pay more attention to the relevant issues. The Preamble to the WTO Agreement emphasizes the significance of protecting the environment and underlines the goal of sustainable development. The 2001 Doha Declaration further provides negotiation mandate to the issues of trade and environment in paragraph 31 to 33, including, the relations between specific trade obligations set out in Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) and the existing rules of the WTO; the liberalization of trade in environmental goods and services; the influence of environmental measures on market access; and eco-labeling etc. The main results of this research project include: 1st, participating three CTE/CTESS meetings in 2004 and taking note of the latest development in those meetings, assisting the drafting of our position papers and negotiating strategies, and supporting EPA officials to effectively participate relevant meetings and negotiations. 2nd, keeping the latest development of issues relating to trade and environment. 3rd, assessing the latest development of environmental issue under in TBT Agreement, and assisting the EPA to respond to related issues. 4th, analyzing the relations between the WTO covered agreements and four MEAs containing trade measures. 5th, assisting the EPA in preparing negotiation strategies in bilateral and multilateral free trade negotiation. 6th, examining the consistency of domestic environmental laws and regulations with the WTO trade rules. 7th, holding an expert meeting to examine the adequacy of our related positions and provide suggestions. And, 8th, updating the EPA’s global information website regarding trade and environment issues with any latest development.

WTO,MEAs(Multilateral Environmental Agreements),Environmental Goods and Services,Trade and Environment