Greening Regional Trade Agreements on Non-Tariff Measures through Technical Barriers to Trade and Regulatory Cooperation

This policy report, produced for the Joint Trade and Environment Working Group at the OECD, examines how non-tariff measures in regional trade agreements (RTAs) can be leveraged to advance environmental objectives, with a particular focus on provisions related to Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) and regulatory cooperation. As countries adopt an increasing range of environmental regulations — covering product standards, labelling requirements, conformity assessment procedures, and sustainability certification schemes — the potential for trade frictions related to TBT has grown significantly. At the same time, RTAs offer opportunities to manage these frictions through provisions on mutual recognition of standards, harmonisation of conformity assessment procedures, and enhanced regulatory dialogue.

The report analyses how TBT and regulatory cooperation chapters in existing RTAs address environmental dimensions. It identifies emerging best practices, including provisions that explicitly recognise the right of parties to adopt environmental regulations, mechanisms for sharing information on draft environmental standards, and commitments to engage in regulatory cooperation on issues such as eco-labelling, energy efficiency standards, and circular economy requirements.

A particular focus of the paper is on how these provisions can be designed to support the circular economy. As countries introduce product standards related to durability, repairability, recyclability, and recycled content, RTAs can play an important role in facilitating trade in environmentally preferable products, reducing compliance costs for exporters, and promoting the adoption of higher environmental standards.

The report concludes with recommendations for negotiators on how to strengthen the environmental dimension of TBT and regulatory cooperation chapters in RTAs, including through the inclusion of specific references to environmental objectives, the development of joint mechanisms for assessing the trade and environmental impacts of new standards, and the creation of platforms for ongoing dialogue between trade and environmental authorities.

The report was presented at the OECD Joint Working Party on Trade and Environment in February 2020, where OECD members provided feedback on an earlier draft. The presentation was followed by a two-day workshop on international trade and the circular economy, which examined the linkages between trade and circularity and explored how trade policy and circular economy objectives can be made mutually supportive.