With time in short supply, senior trade officials from the 21 APEC member economies are ramping up efforts to meet their landmark commitment to cut tariffs on environmental goods by year's end. The implications for the future of global trade and development are substantial.
APEC members meeting in Boracay through this week are briefing one another on their progress in reducing tariffs on an APEC list of 54 environmental goods such as waste water purifying equipment, solar panels and wind turbines, and working out technical issues to bring levels down to five per cent or less. The region's Leaders launched the undertaking and set a three-year deadline in 2012.
In play is the first multilateral tariff-cutting arrangement in 18 years. Its completion would help to lower the cost of goods on the APEC list, improving access to them as markets grapple with the effects of development, demand for stronger environmental protection rises and new targets in areas like carbon emissions and renewable energy are considered.
More than 70 per cent of these goods produce renewable energy, are used for environmental monitoring, analysis and assessment, or strengthen air pollution controls, according the APEC Policy Support Unit.
Bringing the initiative to a successful conclusion would boost a USD500 billion global industry and with it, jobs and economic growth in the region. Twelve of the top 30 global exporters of environmental goods are APEC members, including half of the top ten, the International Trade Center reports.
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