Symposium on Environmental requirements and Market Access

10/12/2007

On October 3 Ms. Unni Mannerheim, Open Trade Gate Sweden, participated in a symposium, on Environmental requirements and Market Access in Geneva, Switzerland called “Turning Challenges into Opportunities”.

The symposium was organised by the UNEP-UNCTAD Capacity building Task Force on Trade, Environment and Development (CBTF) and the objective was to discuss the market access challenges developing countries face in view of the growing number of environmental standards and requirements in certain export markets.

The symposium addressed two topics; (i) agricultural products with a focus on requirements for organic agriculture and (ii) electrical and electronic goods with a focus on waste/recycling and energy efficiency requirements. Participants were policy-makers, importers and exporters from both developing countries and developed countries, international organisations and the donor community. A number of both concerns and opportunities were identified within the two topics as well as suggestions on how developing countries can effectively seize these new market openings