HL Deb 10 May 2002 vol 634 c204WA
Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they have sought any clarification of World Trade Organisation rules on labelling; and whether they will ensure that any such clarification allows for mandatory and voluntary non-product related production and process methods labelling schemes for any social, health and environmental issue. [HL4122]

Lord Whitty

Clarification of the status of ecolabelling initiatives under WTO rules was one of the EU's objectives in its negotiating position at the fourth ministerial at Doha in November 2001.

Although it was not possible to reach a consensus on the need for negotiations on this issue at Doha, it was agreed that the WTO Committee on Trade and Environment should prepare a report on labelling for environmental purposes to be presented to ministers at the 5th WTO ministerial in 2003.

In the light of this report, the ministerial will decide whether to initiate negotiations on this subject. It is the UK's objective that analysis and in due course negotiations in the WTO should look at the issue of ecolabelling in a comprehensive way, including the status of mandatory and voluntary labelling schemes.