The Basel Convention Plastic Waste Amendments have redefined the global framework for trade in plastic wastes.

UNCTAD 15 Bridgetown Covenant at UNCTAD 15 has made a call to “addressing the discharge of plastic litter and other waste in oceans and significantly reducing marine pollution of all kinds and ensuring sustainable consumption and production patterns” in light with SDG 14 and 12. Focus of UNCTAD work has been the development of the first ever plastic trade database, the identification of material substitutes to plastics and to support subsides reform in the polymer sector.

At the WTO Dialogue on Plastic Pollution and Environmentally Sustainable Plastic Trade, trade officials have been discussing ways in which enhanced trade cooperation can support international efforts to address plastic pollution, including in particular under the BRS Conventions. In their Ministerial Statement, Trade Ministers of the 76 co-sponsors called for concrete, pragmatic, and effective outcomes by the 13th WTO Ministerial Conference (MC13) scheduled to take place in February 2024.

In this context, the WTO, UNCTAD and BRS Secretariats have been closely cooperating to support such efforts. As delegations ramp up their deliberations towards WTO MC13 and UNCTAD 16 Ministerial Conference, this event will brief participants on some of the relevant discussions and data generated in the multilateral trading system, including better understanding of trade in plastic along the value chains as well as plastic waste trade and “hidden material flows” of plastics and facilitating access to technologies required to implement the Basel Convention Plastic Waste Amendments.

It will also introduce how these initiatives could assist in current discussions under the International Negotiating Committee to end plastic pollution.

Tentative programme

High-level opening remarks (20 min), followed by technical interactive Panel (40 min) followed by Q&A with the audience (30 min).