ABSTRACT
The impact of environmental standards on market access and the possibility that they could become non-tariff barriers to trade has been an issue of special concern for developing countries. One reason is that environmental problems are more often associated with the production process, than with the product itself. The use of process and production methods (PPM)-based standards, which is essential for environmental purposes, should in most cases not result in conflicts with trade rules. The international community generally recognizes that global environmental problems caused by PPMs should be addressed on the basis of multilateral cooperation, preferably through multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs). The debate about the competitiveness effects of environmental regulations has focused on the costs of compliance and the variations between environmental regulatory systems in different countries. Environmentally related consumer preferences in overseas markets may have effects on processes and raw material usage in developing countries.
