If you are a World Trade Organisation (WTO) groupie, you would undoubtedly be familiar with TRIMs and TRIPS. If the acronyms are alien, or you require a quick refresher, TRIMs stands for Agreement on Trade-Related Investment Measures and TRIPS for WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights.

TrPMs is the latest acronym in my repertoire. It debuted on September 18 in a WTO news item titled ‘Dialogue on plastics pollution and environmentally sustainable plastics trade’. Want to venture a guess as to what the acronym stands for? The ‘Tr’ should be obvious – ‘Trade Related’ – while the ‘P’ stands for ‘Plastic’ and the ‘M’ for ‘Measures’. So, trade-related plastic measures.

The WTO’s news item reported that participating WTO members in the Dialogue on Plastics Pollution and Environmentally Sustainable Plastics Trade, which turned into another acronym – DPP – met to advance discussions on two key areas: capacity building for developing members, and the potential creation of domestic inventories of TrPMs. These topics are among the eight focus points outlined by the WTO earlier in the year. The DPP discussions aim to achieve meaningful outcomes in curbing plastic pollution at the fourteenth Ministerial Conference (MC14). Both points are considered critical in tackling the challenges of plastic pollution while ensuring trade remains a solution to this global issue.

Regarding ‘capacity building’, the WTO members reviewed the latest data and outcomes from the WTO’s Aid for Trade Global Review and Needs Assessment Survey. They discussed the ongoing efforts by the DPP to align existing funding opportunities with the specific trade-related needs of developing- country members.

Several WTO members emphasised the importance of leveraging collaboration with other international organisations, such as the World Bank, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, and United Nations Trade and Development. They noted that these institutions play a crucial role in supporting the development of tailored programmes to help developing-country members incorporate sustainable trade practices into their domestic strategies to combat plastic pollution.

The WTO members also explored how efforts to match funding opportunities with trade-related needs could be refined ahead of MC14. The discussions centred on identifying new initiatives or areas of cooperation that could be launched at the next Ministerial Conference to further support developing members in their efforts to combat plastic pollution through trade.

Regarding ‘TrPM’, the participants examined the potential for developing domestic inventories of TrPMs. The WTO secretariat provided an overview of the results from the dialogue’s TrPM survey, highlighting gaps in available information on trade-related policies and regulations aimed at addressing plastic pollution.

An open discussion followed, during which the possibility of creating a global, publicly available online inventory of TrPMs was raised. This platform, which could include structured information such as the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System codes, could enhance transparency and promote international cooperation on trade-related policies that address plastic pollution.

The WTO members discussed whether such an initiative, potentially hosted by the WTO in collaboration with other institutions, would be useful and how to avoid duplication with existing initiatives and maximise resources.

The utility of establishing domestic coordination mechanisms, such as focal points or inter-Ministerial committees, to streamline the management of TrPMs was debated. These mechanisms could help ensure a coordinated approach to addressing plastic pollution through trade policies at the domestic level.

An important topic was whether a global online TrPMs inventory would help increase transparency and facilitate cooperation among members. Another centred on whether establishing domestic coordination mechanisms could improve the implementation of trade- related measures aimed at tackling plastic pollution. These topics underscore the importance of both transparency and coordination in addressing the global challenge of plastic pollution through trade policies.

The DPP is expected to reconvene in the coming months to continue refining its approach to integrating trade into global efforts to combat plastic pollution.

The WTO members agreed that the outcomes of these discussions would be pivotal in shaping the agenda for MC14 and ensuring that trade contributes meaningfully to addressing one of the world’s most pressing environmental challenges.