WTO Members Push to Finalise Plastics Pollution Statement Ahead of MC14

At a meeting on 27 January, members focused discussions on a revised draft ministerial statement, updated following intensive consultations over the past two months.

WTO members participating in the Dialogue on Plastics Pollution and Environmentally Sustainable Plastics Trade (DPP) have stepped up efforts to deliver a ministerial statement at the WTO’s 14th Ministerial Conference (MC14), scheduled for March in Cameroon.

At a meeting on 27 January, members focused discussions on a revised draft ministerial statement, updated following intensive consultations over the past two months. The aim is to finalise the text in the lead-up to MC14, ensuring it reflects a balance of views while setting a clear direction for future work.

The meeting was chaired by Barbados, China, Ecuador and Morocco, the DPP co-coordinators, alongside Australia and Fiji. Opening the meeting, the co-coordinators reaffirmed the importance of delivering a ministerial statement at MC14, describing it as a key milestone for the Dialogue.

They said the revised draft seeks to accommodate the full spectrum of members’ comments, while highlighting the Dialogue’s progress since its launch and outlining a high-level roadmap for a pragmatic work programme from MC14 through to the 15th Ministerial Conference.

Attached to the draft statement are five updated technical documents detailing the Dialogue’s work on trade-related solutions to plastics pollution. These cover:

• Monitoring trade flows of plastic inputs and products

• Trade-related plastics measures

• Regulation of single-use plastics

• Goods, services and technologies for waste management

• Plastic substitutes and alternative materials

Members welcomed the co-coordinators’ continued consultations and streamlining of the text, stressing that the ministerial statement should both recognise achievements to date and provide strategic direction for future action. Many highlighted the Dialogue’s value as a platform for advancing practical, trade-based approaches to reducing plastics pollution.

Members also offered further suggestions and sought clarification on specific elements of the draft, while reaffirming their commitment to achieving a balanced and inclusive outcome.

The co-coordinators thanked members for their engagement and said they would further refine the text in light of the feedback, calling on participants to maintain a spirit of collaboration and flexibility to reach consensus ahead of MC14.

The meeting also highlighted the recently published Harmonised System 2028 (HS2028) update for customs classification, which introduces more granular subheadings for plastic products — including specific single-use plastics and plastics embedded in goods — and explicitly recognises the contribution of the WTO Dialogue on Plastic Pollution.

Launched in November 2020, the DPP now has 83 co-sponsors, representing nearly 90 per cent of global plastics trade, underscoring its growing relevance in global efforts to address plastics pollution through trade cooperation.

Members are encouraged to intensify engagement ahead of MC14 to ensure the Dialogue delivers a meaningful ministerial outcome and a clear roadmap for collective action.