ACCTS negotiating rounds

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Round Thirteen

Round Thirteen of Negotiations of The Agreement on Climate Change, Trade and Sustainability (ACCTS) occurred from 30 May to 23 June 2023. Round Thirteen included in person negotiations, with a mix of virtual intersessionals.

Key Working Group Progress in Brief

The Fossil Fuel Subsidies Working Group:

  • Excellent progress was made during Round Thirteen. The Participants continued in-depth discussions across the Chapter, with a focus on the subsidy disciplines. A number of other key definitions are already agreed.

The Environmental Goods Working Group:

  • Good progress was made at Round Thirteen in the nomination of products for the environmental goods list. With more than 300 environmental products already identified for liberalisation, this is now at a level equal to ambitious environmental goods lists in other international agreements.
  • The latest round saw extended sessions and in-depth discussions on the Chapter Text, allowing for advancement towards potential landing zones across all remaining elements.

The Environmental Services Working Group:

  • Significant progress was made on the Environmental and Environmentally Related Services List. Based on progress to date, the group is tracking well towards the goal of creating an ambitious and credible services list that goes beyond existing reference lists.
  • In the latest round, the group agreed to exchange market access offers before the next round of meetings.
  • There are only a small number of remaining items in the chapter text.

The Ecolabelling Working Group:

  • The Working Group have finalised the development of guidelines to inform the development and implementation of voluntary eco-labelling programmes and associated mechanisms to encourage their promotion and application.
  • These guidelines promise to be a useful tool that will help ensure that eco-labels are able to best achieve their environmental purposes and deliver information meaningful to the market, while avoiding the inadvertent creation of barriers to trade.
  • This is the first chapter to be concluded in the ACCTS and has encouraged momentum in the negotiations.

The Legal and Institutional Working Group:

  • The in-person sessions allowed the group to make significant progress in relation to settling text across the Initial & General Provisions, Final Provisions, Dispute Settlement and Institutional Provisions chapters.
  • The group will continue its constructive discussion on the scope and application of exceptions to the Agreement.

Round Twelve

Round Twelve of Negotiations of The Agreement on Climate Change, Trade and Sustainability (ACCTS) occurred from 16 February to 30 March 2023. Round Twelve included the first in-person negotiations since the ACCTS was launched.

Key Working Group Progress in Brief

The Fossil Fuel Subsidies Working Group:

  • Significant progress was made across the Chapter text during Round Twelve, in particular Articles that focus on transparency and cooperation, as well as definitions.
  • The Participants engaged in in-depth discussions across the Chapter and identified key areas to prioritise for resolution at the next round of negotiations.

The Environmental Goods Working Group:

  • Significant progress was made at Round Twelve in the nomination of products for the environmental goods list. The number of products on the goods list continues to track towards a level consistent with ambitious environmental goods lists in other international agreements.
  • The latest round saw extended sessions and in-depth discussions on the Chapter Text, allowing for substantial advancement across all elements.

The Environmental Services Working Group:

  • Excellent progress was made across the Chapter Text.
  • Steady progress continues on the Environmental Services list. Following Round Twelve, the Working Group has meet weekly to continue, and build upon, the progress made.

The Ecolabelling Working Group:

  • Further headway was made in establishing best practice guidelines for voluntary ecolabelling. The Chapter Text is now very advanced.

The Legal and Institutional Working Group:

  • Significant progress was made across the initial, final, institutional and dispute settlement provisions during Round Twelve.
  • The Working Group provided guidance to the other Working Groups on cross-cutting issues. This will assist in unlocking further progress across the Agreement.

Round Eleven

Round Eleven of Negotiations of The Agreement on Climate Change, Trade and Sustainability (ACCTS) occurred from 15 November to 16 December 2022.

Key Working Group Progress in Brief

The Fossil Fuel Subsidies Working Group:

  • A number of definitions that are central to making progress within the Chapter remain under consideration. Alternative definitional proposals were tabled this round leading to in-depth discussions by the Working Group.
  • Some Chapter Text was stabilised, with participants intent to make significant progress at the next (in-person) negotiation round.

The Environmental Goods Working Group:

  • The Environmental Goods Working Group saw great progress this round with the environmental goods list expanding in number of product nominations, towards a level that rivals other environmental goods lists.
  • The Chapter Text continues to develop, with ongoing engagement intersessionally required to stabilise some elements.

The Environmental Services Working Group:

  • The Environmental Services Working Group welcomed a consolidated criteria proposal. Further discussion and domestic consultation is required but participants in principle agreed the criteria is heading in the right direction.
  • Participants almost completed a full run through of the environmental services list. More work is required to stabilise the list and the chapter text, but the Working Group had good discussions on overarching issues such as horizontal provisions, objective and definitions.       

The Eco-Labelling Working Group:

  • The Eco-Labelling Working Group made good progress in stabilising text.
  • There is still remains divergence on scope and the Working Group are still waiting for guidance from the Legal and Institutional Working Group to progress Chapter-specific institutional mechanisms.

The Legal and Institutional Working Group:

  • The Legal and Institutional Working Group made good progress across the Initial, Final and Institutional Provisions chapters, and aspects of the Dispute Settlement Chapter.
  • Participants also agreed on a programme of intersessional work, including bilateral engagement where helpful, to progress the text.

Round Ten

Round Ten of Negotiations of The Agreement on Climate Change, Trade and Sustainability (ACCTS) occurred from 23 August to 23 September 2022.

Key Working Group Progress in Brief

The Fossil Fuel Subsidies Working Group:

  • The Working Group had useful discussions on the scope and definition of fossil fuels.
  • The OECD and IEA gave an intervention and parties discussed different approaches to disciplining subsidies.

The Environmental Goods Working Group:

  • Excellent progress was made this round in populating the list of environmental goods. The list represents a broad coverage of sectors, with 20 of the Harmonised System (HS) chapters covered, between HS chapters 29 to 95. More work is required however to ensure the list continues to expand in both number and coverage.
  • The Chapter Text also requires ongoing work.

The Environmental Services Working Group:

  • Proposals to develop a common set of environmental services criteria were discussed by the Working Group.
  • Participants intend to undertake a full line-by-line discussion of the services list at the next round.

The Eco-Labelling Working Group:

  • Good progress was made to the text for the principal-based guidelines.
  • Some divergence on scope still remains but participants are looking to work with the Legal and Institutional Working Group for guidance.

The Legal and Institutional Working Group:

  • Participants made good progress in the Initial Provisions, Final Provisions, Dispute Settlement and Institutional Provisions chapters.
  • Participants also continued discussing the guidance to be provided to other Working Groups, and agreed some initial guidance to the Work Groups.

Round Nine

Round Nine of Negotiations of The Agreement on Climate Change, Trade and Sustainability (ACCTS) occurred from 28 April to 2 June 2022.

Key Working Group Progress in Brief

The Fossil Fuel Subsidies Working Group:

  • The Working Group continued its discussions regarding definitions and the scope of the Fossil Fuel Subsidies Chapter, based around the draft Chair’s Text. 
  • Participants have also begun discussions around the core prohibitions. Ensuring development considerations are appropriately reflected are also a feature of these discussions.
  • The OECD and IEA were also invited to present to the group, to assist what are often technically challenging discussions.

The Environmental Goods Working Group:

  • Important progress has been made with the Environmental Goods short list. The Working Group look to expand this in coming negotiations.
  • The Chapter Text continues to develop.

The Environmental Services Working Group:

  • Significant progress has been made in the Environmental Service Working Group as participants undertook an initial line-by-line analysis of a range of services sectors, with a view towards classifying and developing a list of environmental and environmentally-related services.
  • In addition to the list-based discussion, participants are also continuing discussions to develop a common criteria for further identifying environmentally credible services continue
  • Preliminary views on market access were also exchanged, in addition to further discussions on progressing the services chapter text. 

The Eco-Labelling Working Group:

  • The chapter text was advanced this round through additional attributions and wording proposals. The text of the principles-based guidelines made good progress. 
  • A bespoke working group session was held to discuss the chapter’s potential institutional mechanisms, including the potential scope and role of National Contact Points.
  • Discussions continue around issues relating to the appropriate Scope and Coverage for the chapter.

The Legal and Institutional Working Group:

  • Good progress was made in relation to the Institutional Provisions, particularly in respect of the functions and powers of the Joint Commission.
  • Participants also made progress in the Initial and Final Provisions chapters, especially in relation to provisions on transparency and confidentiality.
  • Dispute Settlement provisions were also discussed, in particular the provisions on panel hearing procedures. Finally, the Working Group agreed on cross-cutting guidance to other chapters.

Round Eight

Round Eight of Negotiations of The Agreement on Climate Change, Trade and Sustainability (ACCTS) occurred from 22 February to 31 March 2022.

Key Working Group Progress in Brief

The Fossil Fuel Subsidies Working Group:

  • Continued to discuss definitions and scope of the chapter, and also discussed the closely related articles on proposed prohibitions.   

The Environmental Goods Working Group:

  • Positive progress has was made on the chapter text.
  • Discussions continued on tariff liberalisation commitments and potential modalities.

The Environmental Services Working Group:

  • Proposals to develop a criteria to identify environmentally credible services was discussed by participants.
  • Participants agreed to develop a draft environmental services list, drawing on several of the environmental criteria proposals, with a view towards discussing at the next round

The Eco-Labelling Working Group:

  • Constructive progress continues to be made on the chapter text. Participants noted that it was desirable for the text to be as clearly and as simply worded as possible. Discussions on scope and coverage continue as a focus of the Group.  At the next round, a dedicated working group session will be held to consider and progress draft text in relation to this pillar’s potential institutional mechanisms.

The Legal and Institutional Working Group:

  • Continued discussions on draft text, with particular progress made on the Institutional Provisions and Dispute Settlement chapters this round.
  • Participants who had prepared draft text also had the opportunity to explain the new provisions and participants discussed these proposals.

Round Seven

Round Seven of Negotiations of The Agreement on Climate Change, Trade and Sustainability (ACCTS) occurred from 9 November to 7 December 2021.

The Round was streamlined to reflect competing resources pressures from FTA negotiations and the (ultimately postponed) WTO Twelfth Ministerial Conference.

Key Working Group Progress in Brief

The Fossil Fuel Subsidies Working Group:

  • Continued to grapple with definitions and scope of the chapter.
  • Participants noted the importance of clear language that adequately connects the definition of a subsidy to the production and consumption of fossil fuels.

The Environmental Goods Working Group:

  • Covered tariff liberalisation commitments and potential flexible modalities. This included considering flexibilities regarding the scope and timeframes for liberalising some environmental goods.
  • Continued to expand the consensus short list of environmental goods for the liberalisation of tariffs.

The Environmental Services Working Group:

  • Considered three proposals on developing a list of criteria to identify environmentally credible services.
  • The chapter text is well developed, drawing on precedent from the WTO General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS).

The Eco-Labelling Working Group:

  • Made constructive text-based progress. The group focused on attributions and wording proposals for the principle-based guidelines.

The Legal and Institutional Working Group:

  • Expanded discussions on draft text, with further discussions to be pursued intersessionally and at the next round.

Round Six

The Sixth Round of Negotiations of The Agreement on Climate Change, Trade and Sustainability (ACCTS) occurred over four weeks from August to September 2021.

Key Working Group Progress in Brief

The Fossil Fuel Subsidies Working Group:

  • Continued developing legally binding disciplines to eliminate harmful fossil fuel subsidies at entry into force, transitional disciplines for the gradual phase out of broader fossil fuel subsidy programmes and transparency provisions to apply to broader support measures.
  • Considered definitions of fossil fuel subsidies.

The Environmental Goods Working Group:

  • Continued to expand the consensus list of environmental goods for tariff liberalisation.
  • The Group also discussed text.

The Environmental Services Working Group:

  • Continued developing criteria for the environmental services list and agreed to discuss further how the criteria would be reflected in the agreement text.
  • Discussed draft text and consolidated the participating countries’ comments.

The Eco-labelling Working Group:

  • Focused on draft text.
  • Advanced consensus in the substance of the draft guidelines for eco-labelling programmes, with wording attributions and proposals made.
  • Discussed the appropriate scope and coverage of eco-labelling guidelines.

The Legal and Institutional Working Group:

  • Finalised the Drafting Guidelines and Guidance to Working Groups on Cross-cutting issues. These documents will provide guidance to working groups on clear drafting, and will ensure a consistent approach to the structure of the Agreement.

Round Five

The Fifth Round of Negotiations of The Agreement on Climate Change, Trade and Sustainability (ACCTS) occurred virtually over four weeks in May – June 2021.

The five Working Groups had useful and substantive discussions, including a productive first meeting of the Legal and Institutional Working Group.

Key Working Group Progress in Brief

The Fossil Fuel Subsidies Working Group:

  • Focused on the scope and definitions of key terms such as “fossil fuel” and “subsidy”.
  • Discussed categorisation approaches to discipline harmful fossil fuel subsidies under the ACCTS. They determined that further discussion is necessary on the treatment of secondary fuels and subsidies for non-energy purposes.

The Environmental Goods Working Group:

  • Continued to expand the consensus short list of environmental goods for the liberalisation of tariffs.
  • Discussed the chapter text, with the understanding it would be further considered in Round Six.

The Environmental Services Working Group:

  • Considered draft text based on relevant WTO General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) provisions.
  • Discussed dual-use issues from the current classification of services sectors, scope of the disciplines, and definitions of key terms.
  • Developed criteria to determine what constitutes an “environmental service” in order to aid the Working Group to develop a list of environmental services.

The Eco-labelling Working Group:

  • Discussed aims, scope, and draft text of the principles-based guidelines and institutional mechanisms.
  • Focused on the design of voluntary guidelines for the development and implementation of voluntary eco-labelling programmes supported by institutional mechanisms.

The Legal and Institutional Working Group:

  • Met for their inaugural meeting.
  • Focused on the structure of the Group’s work programme, including chapter content and the addressing of legal questions from working groups.

Round Four

The Agreement on Climate Change, Trade and Sustainability (ACCTS) met virtually for the fourth round of negotiations from 2 - 26 March 2021. 

Key Working Group Progress in Brief

The Fossil Fuel Subsidies Working Group:

  • Continued work to develop disciplines to eliminate harmful fossil fuel subsidies. 
  • Considered the advantages and disadvantages of approaches to the scope and definitions of fossil fuel subsidies and mechanisms to address these.

The Environmental Goods Working Group:

  • Focused on chapter text options and development of the environmental goods lists of nominations.
  • Continued to build on the consensus list of environmental goods. Existing work on environmental good informed nominations, including the list of 54 environmental goods agreed by APEC and work done under the (stalled) WTO Environmental Goods Agreement negotiations.

In the Environmental Services Working Group:

  • Agreed to develop a clear methodology and criteria to underpin an environmental services list and agreed a future list should provide legal certainty and predictability.

The Eco-labelling Working Group:

  • Discussed textual options, scope and definitions, and the principles-based guidelines and supporting institutional mechanisms. 

Where can I find out more?

Find out more about our overall objectives for this agreement, including information on the four key pillars of the agreement being negotiated at the Agreement on Climate Change, Trade and Sustainability (ACCTS) negotiations page of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade website.

Have your say

We continue to welcome feedback and engagement on the ACCTS negotiations – please contact us at: tradeforall@mfat.govt.nz or FTA_outreach@mfat.govt.nz

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