At a World Trade Organization (WTO) meeting on 25 November 2025, the co-coordinators of the Dialogue on Plastics Pollution and Environmentally Sustainable Plastics Trade (DPP) introduced a draft ministerial statement for the 14th Ministerial Conference (MC14), scheduled to take place in March 2026. Participants also reviewed a revised draft of the technical outcome documents, reflecting progress in the dialogue’s work. The coordinators stressed the importance of issuing a DPP ministerial statement at MC14. They also reiterated the DPP’s objective of delivering concrete, pragmatic, and effective outcomes and of contributing trade-related solutions to the global effort to end plastics pollution.
Australia, China and Ecuador chaired the meeting, co-coordinators of the DPP (along with Barbados, Fiji and Morocco). The coordinators noted that the draft statement built on previous ministerial statements of the DPP, reaffirmed and highlighted DPP work and the progress achieved since its launch, set out collective action for work after MC14 and identified pathways to build on the substantive discussions captured in five technical documents.
These documents include an analytical summary of statistical approaches to estimate trade flows of embedded plastics, packaging and single-use products discussed in the DPP; a synopsis of considerations related to the adoption of trade-related plastics measures raised in DPP discussions; an analytical summary of the different approaches to regulating single-use plastic products; a synopsis of services and technologies for waste management and clean-up activities; and a synopsis of non-plastic substitutes, alternatives and related services to single-use plastic products.
The co-coordinators provided an update on these technical outcomes, which have been revised since the October pre-plenary meeting to incorporate feedback from members and stakeholders, while maintaining their factual and non-prescriptive nature.
Members welcomed the draft ministerial statement and the revised technical documents. They offered a range of suggestions and looked forward to further engagement on the documents.
The co-coordinators thanked members for their active engagement and collaborative spirit. They invited members to submit written comments by 28 November 2025, expressing their readiness for further consultations. They also indicated that a follow-up meeting may be held in December to continue discussions focused on the draft ministerial statement.
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Launched in November 2020 by a group of WTO members, the Dialogue on Plastics Pollution currently consists of 83 co-sponsors, representing almost 90 per cent of global trade in plastics.