Mitigating and enhancing (M and E) measures can enhance the overall impact of measures on sustainable development by reducing the significant negative impacts and by increasing the positive impacts associated with particular measures in world trade agreements.
The effectiveness of enhancement and mitigation measures can be increased by cooperation between international organisations based on consideration of the interaction between trade-related areas and other policy areas, in a manner that is mutually supportive and complementary.
The conclusion of agreements by the WTO with other international organisations involved in social development and environmental policy matters, would allow for greater international coordination in the design and application of an overall international M and E strategy for advancing sustainable development.
The selection of M and E measures is based on the following criteria: (1) relevance: suitable to address specific deficiencies identified in the appraisal (i.e. would reduce negative impacts and/or enhance positive impacts; (2) workable: the measures proposed are practical in legal, organisational, and technical terms; (3) cost-effective: they are likely to be a least cost way of achieving the desired improvement; (4) WTO compatible but not necessarily WTO led: they should be consistent with WTO rules but not necessarily organised, financed or implemented by WTO (for example, some may be implemented by EC through partnerships with other bodies, including World Bank etc); (5) coherency: the measures proposed should both be consistent with each other, with measures already proposed, and with the goals of sustainable development; (6) complementary to other SD initiatives: proposed measures should not duplicate other measures more appropriately undertaken by others. Questions to consider in identifying appropriate measures include: Is it relevant to SD? Is it appropriate to a trade agreement? Is WTO (or some other organisation) the most appropriate to undertake such a measure?