DPP co-sponsors identify priority areas, advance on workplan towards MC15

Facilitating the discussion, the coordinators of the DPP - Australia, Barbados, China, Ecuador, Fiji and Morocco - recalled the activities that have been conducted since MC14 with a view to charting a path forward. These activities have included the circulation of a questionnaire to members and stakeholders to identify common priorities, a pre-plenary session on 10 June to present and discuss the questionnaire results, and subsequent bilateral consultations with interested parties.  

The coordinators said that the consultation process had revealed strong and balanced interest across the topics listed in the questionnaire, including the transparency of trade flows, approaches to addressing single-use plastics, lessons learned in the adoption of trade-related plastics measures, access to goods, services and technologies, non-plastic substitutes and alternatives, and the development dimension. 

At the same time, coordinators noted the suggestion from delegations regarding the need to prioritize work areas to ensure more focused discussion and practical outcomes, and the importance of maintaining a manageable pace of work to avoid overburdening delegations.

Following the consultation process, the coordinators presented a 2026-27 workplan for the DPP. The proposed workplan highlighted a range of substantive topics, with a focus on concentrating discussions on those showing sufficient technical maturity to develop practical outcomes. While keeping the existing workstreams, the plan reduces the intensity and frequency of activities, as requested by delegations.

The coordinators also outlined the timeline and substance of the DPP's work in the second half of the year. The first technical meeting, scheduled for October, will focus discussions on upstream and circular solutions (such as product redesign, reuse models and packaging improvements) waste management and clean-up, single-use plastics and trade-related plastics measures. The second meeting, in November, will feature a dedicated workshop on substitutes and alternatives to plastics, as well as discussions on statistical approaches and a customs classification, which will aim to improve the transparency of plastics trade flows.

Development considerations - including technical assistance, capacity-building, access to technology and the specific challenges faced by developing members, least-developed economies and small island developing states - will be integrated into both meetings. The coordinators noted that this sequencing ensures that all substantive topics will be addressed in 2026, establishing a foundation for more focused technical work and the progressive development of practical outcomes during 2027.

Co-sponsors broadly welcomed the proposed workplan and supported the coordinators' efforts to balance DPP members' diverse priorities while streamlining the Dialogue's activities. They emphasized the DPP's value in advancing trade-related solutions to global plastics pollution and as a forum for technical cooperation and experience-sharing and for the practical, trade-focused discussions that are part of its mandate.

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Launched in November 2020 by a group of WTO members, the Dialogue on Plastics Pollution and Environmentally Sustainable Plastics Trade has grown from 78 co-sponsors at the 13th WTO Ministerial Conference (MC13) in 2024 to a current total of 83 co-sponsors, representing almost 90 per cent of global trade in plastics.