將循環(huán)經(jīng)濟(jì)條款納入?yún)^(qū)域貿(mào)易協(xié)定的選擇

1、Executive SummaryThe circular economy (CE) is gaining traction. This economic system designs out waste and toxicity and uses new business models and services to prolong and retain the economic value of materials from cradle to cradle. The CE helps address the triple crises of climate change, nature

2、and biodiversity loss, and the unsustainable use of natural resources.Many countries and economic blocs are beginning to embark on transforming their economies into a circular model. In todays globally connected economy, which is organized around highly integrated value chains connecting goods, tech

3、nologies, services, and data, the CE can only work when integrated into all its facets.Based on international comparative advantages and scale effects, trade can help enable a global CE transition. Cross-border exchange of relevant goods and services already occurs at all stages of the value chain,

4、including upstream services related to circular design, goods for refurbishment and remanufacturing, and trade in waste and secondary materials. Companies that provide circular digital solutions, such as predictive maintenance, sharing platforms, or product-service systems, are expanding globally.In

5、ternational trade cooperation and coherent policy approaches across jurisdictions are important. Governments can use a range of trade-related policy measures, including tariff and non-tariff measures, to encourage the transition away from the takemakewaste economic model. While global cooperation at

6、 the World Trade Organization (WTO) is the best option, CE cooperation under regional trade agreements (RTAs) can help build a new system and pilot CEtrade cooperation.Currently, some trading blocs have started including CE in their RTAswith the European Union taking the lead. CE provisions are most

7、 often situated within the trade and sustainable development (TSD) chapters and in the newest RTAs, some of which are still under negotiation. In one case so far, CE principles are included in an Annex on Energy and Natural Resources. Technical annexes in RTAs have been used before to promote politi

8、cally important goals, such as renewable energy.Already, preambular language in RTAs recognizes the mutually supportive relationship between trade and sustainable development, which could be interpreted as covering CE. The right to regulate in the public interest and commitments not to lower standar

9、ds in order to attract trade and investment are included in TSD and environment chapters. These could both implicitly and explicitly apply to CE. The gist of the TSD chapters relates to cooperation. At the end of the day, commitments to cooperate will be as effective or ineffective as their actual i

10、mplementation, and inclusive and supportive structures are needed in this regard.Tariff liberalization forms the core of RTAs and can facilitate the diffusion of circular solutions and technologies that promote the more efficient use of finite resources. Tariff elimination can be front-loaded and ex

11、port restrictions removed for goods related to the CE. Some key issues will have to be resolved, such as how to agree on what circular goods to include for tariff removal and classification issues related to secondary goods and materials that could go on to a second life after export. Overall, the H

12、armonized System (HS) usedto identify goods in trade agreements has its limitations and would need to be updated to account for the development of the CE while also distinguishing between hazardous and non- hazardous goods and materials.A focus on goods trade alone is not enough to advance the CE an

13、d may not be where the best opportunities for new and transformational growth and change lie. Services liberalization both in terms of rules and market accessis an area where RTAs can go deeper and further than what is possible at the WTO. Traditional environmental services areas, such as waterand w

14、aste treatment, remain relevant to CE activities. Supportive services, such as design, engineering, research and development, and digital services, are just as important. Horizontal services liberalization in and of itself is important to advance CE. Liberalizing circular goods and services together

15、 is important, as is the free flow of data for digitally driven CE solutions.Technical barriers to trade (TBTs) include standards, regulations, and conformity assessment procedures. In practice, CE will be driven by new circular product policies and regulations. Differences in the design and impleme

16、ntation of standards and regulations across jurisdictions would send diverging signals to producers and reduce incentivesto adopt consistent circular solutions along the value chain. Regulatory heterogeneity could also impose additional costs for exporters and act as non-tariff barriers to trade.Coo

17、peration on CE standards and regulations should be developed from the onset between trade partners in order to enhance transparency and facilitate trade and market access. TBT chapters and their implementing committees provide such a forum for cooperation between closely aligned trade partners.Going

18、 a step further, deep integration RTAs focus on good regulatory practice and cooperation. In practice, more advanced forms of cooperation are often easier on new regulatory issues like the CE, as agencies are less entrenched in their existing practice. Such cooperation does require a high level of e

19、conomic integration and trust among regulators.A shift toward more circularity and resource efficiency will require massive investments in new business models, technologies, and practices supported by effective regulations. Investment provisions in RTAs could focus on preserving regulatory flexibili

20、ties on CE matters and promoting investments in the CE, as well as ensuring that investments comply with CE standards and regulations.A successful CE transition will depend on supportive economic incentive structures. RTAs can support this goal by including provisions on subsidy disciplines aimed at

21、 increasing transparency, reducing harmful forms of support, or providing a safe harbour for beneficial subsidies and ensuring a level playing field between parties.Government procurement makes up a large portion of countries economies and is increasingly being harnessed to promote circularity goals

22、. Through RTAs, countries often open up their public procurement sector. At a minimum, RTAs can confirm the right to discriminate on the basis of environmental criteria, which could include CE standards.Going further, countries could commit to procurement processes and best practices in support of a

23、 CE.In RTAs, specific annexes could be developed in order to promote CE, either as a stand-alone or as annexes to TBT or other sectoral chapters. Given the wide-ranging effects of the CE transition, enabling provisions could also be horizontally integrated across the full range of an FTA, including

24、in TSD chapters, trade in goods, services, subsidies, investment, and public procurement chapters.Ultimately, the legal nature of CE-related provisions and their potential implications will mainly depend on how they are drafted and not so much on where they are located in an RTA. A dedicated chapter

25、 on the CE would nonetheless send a strong political signal from the parties that they are committed to cooperating on this matter. The risk, on the other hand, is presenting the CE as an add-on or afterthought as opposed to an integral part of the different components of an RTA.Table of Contents HY

26、PERLINK l _bookmark0 1.0 Introduction 1 HYPERLINK l _bookmark1 Options to Incorporate CE-Related Provisions in RTAs 3 HYPERLINK l _bookmark1 Preamble and General Exceptions 3 HYPERLINK l _bookmark2 Environmental/Sustainable Development Chapters 4 HYPERLINK l _bookmark3 Liberalizing Trade in Goods Re

27、lated to the CE 5 HYPERLINK l _bookmark3 Product Definition and Classification 5 HYPERLINK l _bookmark4 Front-Loading the Elimination of Tariff Barriers on Goods Related to the CE 7 HYPERLINK l _bookmark5 Conditioning Market Access Concessions on the Fulfillment of CE Requirements 8 HYPERLINK l _boo

28、kmark5 Toward More Flexible Rules of Origin 8 HYPERLINK l _bookmark5 Removing Export Restrictions 8 HYPERLINK l _bookmark6 Services Rules and Market Access 9 HYPERLINK l _bookmark7 Removing Unnecessary TBTs 10 HYPERLINK l _bookmark8 Promoting Good Regulatory Practice and International Regulatory Coo

29、peration 12 HYPERLINK l _bookmark9 Fostering Investment in the CE 14 HYPERLINK l _bookmark10 Reforming Incentives Provided by Subsidies 15 HYPERLINK l _bookmark11 Government Procurement 16 HYPERLINK l _bookmark12 3.0 Conclusion 18 HYPERLINK l _bookmark13 References 20 HYPERLINK l _bookmark14 List of

30、 Regional Trade Agreements 23 HYPERLINK l _bookmark15 Appendix 1. Summary of possible CE provisions in RTAs 25Abbreviations and AcronymsCEcircular economyCETAEU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade AgreementCPTPPComprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific PartnershipEFTAEuropean Fre

31、e Trade AssociationEUEuropean UnionEVelectric vehicleFTAFree Trade AgreementGDPgross domestic productGPAGovernment Procurement AgreementGRPgood regulatory practiceHSHarmonized SystemOECDOrganisation for Economic Co-operation and DevelopmentRTAregional trade agreementTBTtechnical barriers to tradeTRQ

32、tariff rate quotaTSDtrade and sustainable developmentUSMCAUnited StatesMexicoCanada Free Trade AgreementWTOWorld Trade Organization1.0 IntroductionThe transition to a circular economy (CE) entails a deep paradigm shift set to address the triple crises of climate change, nature and biodiversity loss,

33、 and the unsustainable use of natural resources. The fundamental logic of the linear take-make-discard economy will have to be replaced with one based on a new approach to product regulation that encourages safe, durable, repairable, and recyclable products onlyas well as replacing product ownership

34、 with service models that include product-as-a-service-systems, leasing, and sharing (Sitra, 2020).Economic growth must be decoupled from material input to remain within planetary boundaries. The extraction and processing of natural resources is responsible for 90% of biodiversity loss (Oberle et al

35、., 2109), while the CE represents 45% of the solution for reaching net-zero carbon dioxide emissions by 2050 (Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 2019). As a model of sustainable growth, the CE provides concrete tools for companies to create value by preventing waste and pollution in the first place through

36、 more careful design and new business models. Beyond helping get more from less, it also represents a more resilient economic model and is set to create new, decent jobs if the transition is well managed (International Institute for Sustainable Development & Sitra, 2020).In todays global economy, wh

37、ich is organized around highly integrated value chains connecting goods, technologies, services, and data, international trade is likely to play a critical role in enabling a global CE transition. Cross-border exchanges of goods and services related to the CE already occur at all stages of the value

38、 chain. These range from upstream services related to circular design, to technologies that promote resource efficiency and predictive maintenance, to trade in second-hand goods and goods for refurbishment and remanufacturing, as well as trade in waste and secondary materials. Increasingly, companie

39、s are also expanding globally in areas such as digital solutions for sharing platforms or product- as-a-service systems.With appropriate safeguards and regulations, trade can facilitate the diffusion of circular solutions by exploiting international comparative advantages and scale effects. As gover

40、nments seek to encourage companies to move away from the traditional take-make-waste model, they may have recourse to a range of trade-related policy measures, including tariff and non-tariff barriers. Analysis from the World Trade Organization (WTO) Secretariat shows, for example, that between 2009

41、 and 2017, some 370 CE-related trade measures were notified to the global trade body in areas such as subsidies, technical regulations, or quantitative restrictions, to list just a few (Steinfatt, 2020).These developments point to the need for international cooperation and coherent policy approaches

42、 across jurisdictions to harness the role of trade in scaling up the diffusion and uptake of circular solutions. Regional trade agreements (RTAs), among other mechanisms, can be a vehicle for cooperation on the trade and CE interface between specific trading partners. The European Union (EU) Circula

43、r Economy Action Plan, for example, envisages mainstream CE objectives in all of its free trade agreements as of 2020 (European Commission, 2020a).So far, however, specific CE references in RTAs remain at best embryonic (Yamaguchi, 2021).For example, the modernized EUMexico Global Agreement recogniz

44、es the importance of promoting inclusive green growth and the circular economy.1 Similarly, proposed drafts of the EUNew Zealand Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and the EUAustralia FTA includereferences to cooperation aimed at promoting a CE. So does the EUUnited Kingdom Trade and Cooperation Agreement,

45、which has been provisionally applied since the beginning of 2021. As a contribution to this emerging debate, this policy brief explores ways in which trade policy can further support a transition to a more circular economy using RTAs as a vehicle.In doing so, it suggests possible options to incorpor

46、ate CE-related provisions in future RTAs, building on precedents with similar objectives in agreements currently in force or under negotiation.1 See the Trade and Sustainable Development Chapter, Article 13.Options to Incorporate CE-Related Provisions in RTAsFrom a practical perspective, CE-related

47、provisions may be integrated into horizontal chapters (e.g., on environment or sustainable development, trade in goods, services, subsidies, investment, or government procurement) by making specific references to circularity. Parties may also decide to use targeted annexes attached to chapters on te

48、chnical barriers to trade (TBT)2 or sectoral annexes.3 Another option is negotiating a separate chapter dealing exclusively and holistically with the different aspects of the CE. The EUSingapore and EU Vietnam agreements, for example, contain chapters on facilitating trade in renewable energy that l

49、ay the groundwork for close cooperation, with a focus on local content requirements, standards, regulations, and mutual recognition of conformity assessment procedures. More directly related to the CE, the EU March 2020 Circular Economy Action Plan calls for coherent trade policy, and the European C

50、ommission highlights the potential to use energy and natural resource chapters to incorporate CE-related provisions into its RTAs (European Commission, 2020c). The revised EUMexico agreement, completed in 2018, contains a chapter on energy and natural resources in which parties agree to promote the

51、efficient use of resources (i.e., improving production processes as well as durability, reparability, design for disassembly, ease of reuse and recycling of goods).4Ultimately, the legal nature of CE-related provisions and their potential implications will mainly depend on how they are drafted and n

52、ot so much on where they are located in a future RTA.5 A dedicated chapter on the CE would nonetheless send a strong political signal from the parties that they are committed to cooperating on this matter. The risk, on the other hand, is to present the CE as an add-on or afterthought as opposed to a

53、n integral part of thedifferent components of an RTA. Keeping these considerations in mind, the following sections review possible areas of trade policy where CE-related provisions could be envisaged.Preamble and General ExceptionsThe mutually supportive relationship between trade and sustainable de

54、velopment, including the environment, is recognized under the WTO agreements, and the same basic principles are often referred to in RTAs, mostly in the form of preambular language or general exceptions similar to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) Article XX. In fact, these two2 See

55、for example Annex 8-G to the TBT chapter of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans- Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) dealing with organic products.3 See for example the Sectoral Annex on Energy Performance Standards of the United StatesMexicoCanada Agreement (USMCA).4 It should be noted, h

56、owever, that the main focus of this chapter is to facilitate access, trade, and investment in energy and raw materials. If such chapters are used to house detailed commitments on the CE and resource efficiency in future agreements, this would require a strong shift in the overall chapter objectives

57、and focus.5 From an enforcement perspective, some FTAssuch as the EUsexclude the Trade and Sustainable Development chapters from the general dispute settlement procedure the rest of the chapters are subject to.types of provisions are currently the most frequent environmental provisions in RTAs.6 The

58、y can already be interpreted as applying to CE measures, for example, to exceptions allowingfor quantitative restrictions on exports or imports of certain goods to promote circularity (e.g., single-use plastics, hazardous waste).7 For more certainty, parties may, however, want to make explicit refer

59、ence to CE in those provisions.Environmental/Sustainable Development ChaptersTHE RIGHT TO REGULATE ON CE AND NON-REGRESSION CLAUSESMany FTAs include specific chapters on environmental and sustainable development. These typically include clauses on the right to regulate, which refers to the parties s

60、overeign right to regulate in the public interest, reaffirming policy space for the future. They also include non- regression clauses, under which parties commit not to lowering environmental standards in order to attract trade and investment. The non-regression clauses seek to ensure a level playin