..Press Release................................ UNESCAP News Services

Date 5 April 2006
Note to Editor: N/17/2006

“UNCTAD Trade and Environment Review 2006”

The Emerald Hotel Bangkok
10 April 2006

BANGKOK (United Nations Information Services) – The electrical and electronic industries have been facing environmental requirements in export markets. Restrictions of the export markets impact on exports of the developing countries. This matter was brought up to the attention of the UN Conference on Trade and Development under Trade and Environment issues

The Review was launched in Geneva at a press conference on 31 March 2006. The Electrical and Electronics Institute, as a study partner, through the Trade and Sustainable Development Section, International Trade Division of the UNCTAD, Switzerland, and the United Nations Information Services of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, Thailand, cordially invite you and/or your representatives to attend a press briefing on the new UNCTAD Trade and Environment Review 2006 to be held on 10 April 2006 at Petch Pailin Room, The Emerald Bangkok, located on Rachadapisek Road, between 14:30 and 16:00 p.m.
The Trade and Environment Review 2006 contains a key article on national experience on pro-active adjustment strategies in China, Thailand, and the Philippines to environmental requirements in export markets for electrical and electronic equipment.

The TER 2006 focuses on environmental and related health requirements and their impact on developing countries´ market access. It examines both the opportunities and challenges presented by these requirements, which are increasingly stringent, complex and multi-dimensional. The Review includes both general and sectoral analyses of the issue, and looks at two sectors where environmental requirements are critical to market access: electrical and electronic equipment and organic agricultural products.
The evidence presented in the Review supports recommendations for developing countries to adopt a more strategic and proactive approach to coping with environmental and related health requirements in export markets. This requires being involved from the initial stages of standards-setting, both in the context of government regulations and the increasing number of private-sector standards that apply across supply chains. A proactive approach is also needed in order to take full advantage of the trade and development opportunities generated by increased environmental and health requirements, such as expanding markets for organic products and catalytic effects on resource efficiency and occupational safety.
The Review also provides an overview of recent UNCTAD technical cooperation and capacity building activities in the area of trade and environment, as follows:

· Consultative Task Force on Environmental Requirements and Market Access for Developing Countries (CTF);
· UNCTAD-FAO-IFOAM International Task Force on Harmonization and Equivalence in Organic Agriculture (ITF);
· BioTrade Initiative; and
· UNEP-UNCTAD Capacity-building Task Force on Trade, Environment and Development (CBTF).

The Electrical and Electronics Institute is also proud to be a project partner of the Asia Eco-design Electronics (AEDE) Project leading by the Centre for Sustainable Design in Farnham (Surrey, UK) that awards Euro 0.5m to help Thai, Indian and Chinese electronics companies understand EC and Japanese environmental legislation and build competence in eco-design.

Asia Eco-design Electronics (AEDE) is funded as part of the European Union's (EU) Asia Pro-Eco Programme, the overall goal of which is to assist Asian electronics and electrical suppliers to meet the challenges of existing and forthcoming EC and Japanese product-related environmental legislation and emerging CSR developments.

Key among the project’s activities this year is a series of four conferences, being held at The Emerald Hotel Bangkok in Thailand, India and China – with a final conference in Brussels later in the year. The first three conferences will focus on:
· Disseminating the results of country studies with special emphasis on the implications of the EU and Japanese legislation and CSR developments for producers
· Obtain feedback from delegates on the needs analysis and capacity building plans presented in country studies reports
· Develop a clear programme on future eco-design training requirements and ideas on how the training should be implemented in Thailand, India and China.

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For further information and participation, please contact: Chirapat Popuang, Ph.D., Director, Information and Technical Service Department, Electrical.

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