Rules of Trade

The WEC Knowledge Network on Rules of Trade will concentrate on providing content for the Global Frameworks activity area. The objective is to examine rules of trade dealing with energy and energy investments and make recommendation to international agencies, ensuring that energy industry considerations are put forth.

 

Trade and Investment Rules
for Energy - download >

Immediate efforts are to better define important “energy and/or environmental goods and services (EGS)”, to investigate the rising interest among governments of requiring work to be done within countries (local content requirements), and to examine the efficacy of “border tax adjustments”. Services in this case include the area of professional skills necessary for successful implementation and operation of energy systems, including transportation systems.

 

Critical issues in this context include defining “green goods and services”, the efficacy of local content requirements, and the legitimacy of “border tax adjustments” to avoid carbon leakage, or the promotion of technology transfer to developing countries.