FOLLOWING MY RECENT COMMENTS ON ENVIRONMENTAL GOODS

Mauricio López Dardaine

Minister at APEC meeting in Vladivostok

[The latest on Environmental Goods Liberalisation]

Media release [restricted to the issue on Environmental Goods]

4 September 2012

Trade and Competitiveness Minister Craig Emerson today arrives in Russia, where he will take part in the 24th Ministerial Meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Vladivostok.

Dr Emerson will use the two-day lead-up to the APEC Leaders' Summit - attended by Prime Minister Julia Gillard ­­­- to shore up support for proposals to reduce tariffs on environmental goods among APEC's 21 member countries, and to open up the higher education market in the region.

Australia has been a leading advocate of the environmental goods initiative since it was first proposed, almost two years ago.

One of the priorities at this year's APEC meetings will be to find agreement on a list of environmental goods for tariff reduction.

"Lower tariffs would free up the regional trade in green products to make them cheaper and more available to users," Dr Emerson said.

"More liberalised trade in these goods would help APEC economies make the transition to a lower-carbon future."

APEC's economies account for 56 per cent of the world's GDP and more than 70 per cent of Australia's trade in goods and services.

The regional grouping plays a crucial role in delivering trade and investment liberalisation, advancing economic reform and improving the environment for doing business in the Asia Pacific region.

"We will use the Vladivostok meetings to call for further efforts to take forward trade reform in World Trade Organization negotiations and to resist new protectionist measures," Dr Emerson said.

While at Vladivostok, members of the Trans-Pacific Partnership grouping will assess progress on the negotiations for a trade deal involving 11 APEC countries.