EU appeal at WTO Panel seeks to weaken Brazil’s green laws

Anti-poverty and green campaigners have called on the European Commission to withdraw a challenge it is mounting to health and environmental protection measures in Brazil. The Commission is appealing against a recent World Trade Organisation report into a dispute over a Brazilian ban on imports of retreaded tyres. Brazil has argued that the large quantity of tyre waste it has to deal with each year create a risk of soil, groundwater and air contamination. Tyre waste also increases the likelihood of diseases, especially in a tropical climate. A panel set up by the WTO has found the restrictions on retreaded tyres are “provisionally justified” as they are needed to protect humans from malaria and other illnesses carried by mosquitoes. But the Commission is arguing that banning retreaded tyres from the EU is discriminatory as Brazil imports them from its neighbouring countries.

Jürgen Maier from the German NGO Forum on Environment and Development argues that the EU’s position in this case “does not make sense”. In a letter to Peter Mandelson, the European commissioner for trade, he pointed out that the EU has defended its own environmental and public health standards at the WTO in disputes relating to hormone-treated beef, asbestos and genetically modified foods. “Instead of appealing, the Commission should support Brazil and other developing countries to implement efficient measures for the responsible management of used tyres and other hazardous waste,” said Maier.

In an open letter to the European Commission's Trade Commissioner Mandelson, CIEL and WWF Europe express their concern about the EC's decision to appeal the WTO Panel report in the Brazil-Retreaded-Tyres dispute. In their letter, CIEL and WWF urge the EC to either withdraw their intention to appeal or, at a minimum, to focus any appeal narrowly to avoid compromising the ability of WTO Members to protect life, health, and the environment. In addition, because of the undeniable public importance of this case and precedent-setting effect any Appellate Body decision will have, the two groups ask that an appeal in this case be conducted in a transparent and open manner. The most effective way of achieving this is by posting pleadings (including with respect to appeals) on the official governmental web site contemporaneously with their being filed with the WTO, and by web casting hearings in real time.

Banks, pulp and people: The social and environmental impacts of the pulp industry

Over the next five years, the global pulp industry is planning to increase its production capacity by more than 25m t. This capacity increase is unprecedented and would mean a five-fold increase, when compared to the growth rates of the last decade. More importantly, it would mean a dramatic increase in the problems that the pulp sector is already causing for people and the environment in producer countries. “Pulp mills and the industrial tree plantations that feed them have become increasingly controversial”, says Chris Lang, the author of a new report, Banks, Pulp and People – A Primer on Upcoming International Pulp Projects. The vast areas of monocultures required to feed modern mills have severe impacts on biodiversity, forests, water, land rights and livelihoods. And pulp mills themselves are among the most polluting industrial facilities, with grave consequences for the health of local communities and river ecosystems.

Lang, who studied Forestry at Oxford University, has been analyzing the pulp sector for over 15 years. His study gives an overview of the industry’s expansion plans and provides information on individual projects in the pipeline. The bulk of new expansions are slated to take place in only a few countries: Uruguay, Brazil, Indonesia, Australia, China and Russia. “The aim of our report is to inform financial institutions about the impacts and risks of upcoming pulp investments before decisions are made and contracts are signed”, says Heffa Schücking, director of the German environment and human-rights organization Urgewald, the report’s publisher.

“Pulp mills are extremely capital intensive”, says Schücking. “As such the financiers of pulp mills play an important role in deciding which mills get built and where. One only needs to look at countries like Indonesia, to see that financial institutions have yet to begin taking their responsibilities seriously.” In order to hold the financiers of the pulp industry accountable, Urgewald has also set up a new website, www.pulpmillwatch.org. It documents the problems caused by the pulp industry's operations and informs the public, financiers and decision makers regularly about upcoming problematic projects.