毕业论文外文翻译从可持续发展的角度看绿色壁垒.doc

Appendix：Green Barriers from the Standpoint of Sustainable DevelopmentAbstract: Green barriers are one kind of non-tariff barrier (NTB). This paper points out that green barriers evolved from sustainable development theory and environmental protection, but are compatible with true comparative advantage. The best way to surmount green barriers for Chinese enterprises is to implement circular production processes and clean production techniques.Key Words: Green barriers, sustainable development, ecology environment, circular economy, life-cycle analysis.1. IntroductionSince the opening up and economic reform of China, its foreign trade volume has risen continuously from US$20.6 billion in 1978 to US$1,422 billion in 2005. The sum of exports plus imports as a fraction of GDP is 65.8%, the share of exports is 36.2%, the share of imports is 29.6% in 2006 in China (The National Bureau of Statistics of China, 2006). Exports mainly concentrate on labor intensive and resource intensive industries: labor intensive products accounting for 40% of total manufacturing exports and resource intensive including rubber and metal products accounting for 20%. This export pattern depletes resources and causes high emissions and high pollution, a serious environmental problem in China (Gu, 2005). In addition,besides agricultural products, the exportation of mechanical and electrical products is facing increasing technical barriers such as noise, pollution, safety standards, energy saving, and recycling requirements. Every year,about US$8 billion of export products are affected by foreign green labeling and trademarks and US$24 billion of products are indirectly influenced since packing methods do not satisfy the environmental protection standard of developed countries. Therefore, how to treat and cope with green barriers is imperative for Chinas foreign trade.2. Green BarriersWhile there are no accurate and clear definitions in international treaties or agreements, agreen barrier is a new term to mean the application of strict technical standards and regulations in international trade (Dong, 2003). Besides a green environmental label, green barriers also include environmental surtaxes, market access requirements, green technology standards, green packaging, green sanitary measures and green subsidiaries (Leng, 2005). Normally, a green barrier is regarded as an environmental barrier implemented by developed countries, who, on the grounds of protection of animal or plant life, establish strict and compulsory measures to restrict certain imported products (Gao, 2004). According to some authors, green barriers are a type of protectionism, unfair to developing countries and restricting their economic development (Tang and Tan, 2004).In fact, the evolution and practice of green barriers conforms to sustainable global economic development along the lines of true comparative advantage. Developed countries realized sooner the facts concerning environmental externalities and their damage to humans and the environment.Some developed countries set up technological standards on the environment and natural resources, requiring that both the end products and all the production processes (R&D, producing, packing, transporting, consuming and recycling) conform to environmental protection requirements. Hence, green barriers have appeared on the international trade stage.If green barriers are defined as unfair and discriminatory measures relating to trade as some Chinese scholars think, a resisting and rejecting attitude will persist. This will ignore the positive effects of green barriers on protecting the environment as well as the health of human beings, animals and plants. Unless arbitrary or unjustifiable environmental trade methods hinder international trade, a rational attitude and analysis should be adopted.3. A Rational Analysis of Green BarriersGreen barriers are the outcome of economic development (Feng, 2004). Mass production and development of technology bring about two results. One is the positive effect on economy, increasing income and living standards; the other is the huge, sometimes irreversible negative influence on natural resources and the environment. Many examples can be seen worldwide:desert encroachment, deforestation, water shortages, acid rain, biodiversity reduction; in short, air, land and sea pollution in general. While enjoying the increased welfare caused by high economic growth, the world is suffering serious environmental deterioration (Na, 2000). Our Common Future(WCED, 1987) put forward the idea of sustainable development in 1987, calling for a common endeavor that human beings should protect the environment and the health of people, animals and plants. The WCED defined sustainable development as development which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. In 1994, the IISD proposed the Winnipeg Principles as a means for reconciling international trade and development so as to achieve sustainable development (IISD, 1994). These principles constitute a starting point to integrate trade, the environment and development. The central idea in considering internalizing the environment through international cooperation is regulation in international trade. Economic growth arising from trade liberalization is the necessary condition for sustainable development, but trade liberalization without sufficient environment regulation will induce environmental degradation (Wang, 2005). Therefore, based on sustainable development theory and compatibility with comparative advantage (see theAppendix), green barriers have a positive and rational effect.3.1. An International Environmental Management System Incorporating Rational Green BarriersFirst of all, the WTO/GATT is not against environmental measures related to trade adopted by its member countries. Article XX (b) and (g) allow WTO members to adopt and enforce measures if these are either necessary to protect human, animal or plant life or health, or if the measures relate to the conservation of exhaustible natural resources. However, such measures should not represent a disguised restriction on international trade nor be discriminatory in application. This Article has been regarded as the general principle for dealing with environmental disputes under the WTO. In addition, environmental exceptions can be found in many WTO agreements like the Agreement on Agriculture, the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures, Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) and others . These regulations imply that countries have the right to establish protection of human, animal or plant life or the environment, subject to the requirement that the protection does not constitute arbitrary discrimination or unwarranted restriction on trade. Therefore, a green barrier as an environmental measure related to trade, has been widely accepted, at least in principle, by WTO members.Furthermore, the ISO promulgated ISO 14000 in 1996 in order to maintain global ecological balance and to harmonize environmental protection and economic development. ISO 14000 includes environmental management standards, environmental auditing, environmental labeling, and environmental impact assessments. It aims at establishing an Environmental Management System , promoting its implementation through environment assessment and auditing to improve the global environment. ISO 14000 has an active effect on reducing resource depletion and abating pollution emission. The European Union has applied ISO14000, requesting that all imported goods meet its environment standards covering materials, production, marketing, consumption and disposal. If ISO14000 can be adopted universally, it will diminish arbitrary trade barriers and promote the development of world trade along the lines of true comparative advantage. An international unified system to regulate the environment issue is necessary in order to achieve global sustainable development.3.2. The Positive Externality of Green Barriers The positive externality of green barriers is not only embodied in environmental and technological effects, but also in aligning world production according to true comparative advantage. The existence of green barriers requires the internalization of the environment cost into the process of production. The products must be friendly to the environment and should not damage the environment in production, transit or disposal. These requirements make traded goods comply with environmental regulations and standards so as to protect the ecological environment of importing andexporting countries, as well as to create more resources for environmental investment. Protecting the environment in one country will have a positive impact on its neighbors and the global environment; hence acting as a positive global externality. The emergence of green barriers reflects the demand for the coordinated development of the environment and the direction of development of human society. The implementation of green barriers also accelerates the strength of environmental and green consumption awareness.Stringent environmental standards and market access requirements in developed countries will spur developing countries to learn advanced technologies and improve production levels while providing for environmental protection. These green barriers will bring about a positive externality of technology spillover if their implementation has an active influence on the greening of world production.3.3. The Stimulating Effect of Green Barriers The Porter Hypothesis, proposed by Michael Porter of Harvard University, puts forward the debate on the relationship between environmental regulation and competitiveness. According to the Porter Hypothesis, strict environmental regulations can induce efficiency and encourage innovations that improve competitiveness. This is because strict environmental regulation triggers the discovery and introduction of clean technologies and environmental improvements. In this way, the innovative effect can induce production processes and products to be more efficient and clean. The social cost savings that can be achieved by innovation are sufficient to cover both the compliance costs directly attributed to new regulations and the innovation costs . As a result, appropriate and stringent environmental regulation will lead to improvements in social welfare as well as the private net benefits of firms operating under such regulations .The concept of green barriers integrates principles and theories of environmental science, management, and ecology. Applied to the processes of producing, storage, using, marketing and recycling, rational green barriers are conducive to structuring a complete and environment-friendly management system. Except for those which violate the non-discriminatory principles of the WTO, green barriers have a stimulating effect on environmental R&D, technology innovation, clean production and green marketing. In the case of frivolous barriers, they only protect environmentally unfriendly production in the home country.4. The Circular Economy and Green Barriers Green barriers can restrict some trade activities which negatively affect natural resources, the environment, human health or life. Developed countries have established a green fence to imported goods. For China, the fundamental way to surmount green barriers is to transform traditional production and development modes; that is to say to carry out a circular production process (CP) which is based on the principle of efficient utilization of resources and protecting the environment. Since industrialization, economic development has been characterized by high exploitation of resources and high emissions. The traditional producing and economic method, from production, consumption to waste disposal, is the process of from cradle to grave. The circular economy, on the other hand, is a nearly closed-loop system , provided that residual waste not recycled is disposed of in a green manner. The theme of a circular economy is the exchange of materials where one facilitys waste, including energy, water and materials as well as information is another facilitys input . CE promotes reducing and reusing of waste from cradle to cradle. In terms of reconciling economic development and environmental improvement, CP is a green production mode.The basic principle of implementing CE is reducing, reusing and recycling. Reducing refers to reducing the materials entering production and consumption. Reusing means prolonging the durability of products and services,while recycling can reduce disposal needs. Based on ecological rules, the CP mode reasonably utilizes natural and environmental resources in an industry chain among various enterprises and industries similar to a natural ecology chain. It promotes the optimum use of resources, recycling of material and eliminating environment deterioration.Second, CP production is especially helpful for Chinese enterprises attempting to surmount green barriers. Technology spillover encourages enterprises to improve green production and optimize the social exporting pattern. The social benefit of CP will reduce environmental damage. At the same time, it will narrow the gap of environmental technology standards, upgrading the ability to cope with green barriers . Third, CE implementation can rebound to increasing eco-efficiency, forming sustainable comparative advantage and casting off comparative cost traps. Due to the increasing scarcity of resources and decreasing environment quality, developing countries are not environmentally factor abundant. The export advantages of these countries, including China, are based on cheap natural resources and lax environmental policies and standards. However, this advantage is unsustainable and will finally lose out with the integration of the environment into the international trade regime. The internalization of environmental cost contributes to reducing the excessive depletion of resources for export. It will protect Chinese export enterprises from the censure of eco-dumping. The sooner the implementation of CP, the larger areexport benefits to be gained.Sustainable comparative advantage based on environmental costs being internalized can eliminate the negative environment externality of production and reflect the social value of ecological production.5. ConclusionUnder the current circumstances of globalization, world trade and the economy are tending towards green production and environmental protection.The green barriers faced by Chinas exports are a signal to Chinas foreign trade development. It is desirable to realize that environmental standards and green barriers are not intentionally aimed at undermining Chinas exports due to Most-Favored Nation