Following the first WCO Green Customs Global Conference, held on 27 and 28 June 2022, the Deputy Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), Mr. Jean-Marie Paugam, met the Deputy Secretary General of the WCO, Mr. Ricardo Treviño Chapa, to present the WTO Communication on the work of the Informal Dialogue on Plastics Pollution and Environmentally Sustainable Plastics Trade (IDP) in support of efforts to address plastic pollution.
The Communication, which was adopted by the 72 co-sponsors of the Dialogue on 8 June 2022, is aimed at continuing to build on the WTO’s positive and constructive relationship with the WCO concerning the classification of plastics and to address implementation challenges. It expands on pre-existing cooperation in other trade-related areas, with the possibility of drawing on the WTO's environmental initiatives as a "laboratory" of ideas to forecast what Customs officials will need to know to implement green trade policies for environmental protection.