(Bloomberg) -- Negotiators at the COP29 climate summit in Azerbaijan are close to landing a carbon credits agreement after almost a decade of deliberation. The decision, if adopted, will pave the way for more trading activity under a new market overseen by the United Nations.

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Securing a deal on the latest set of rules for Article 6 was a top priority for the Azeri COP29 Presidency. On day one of the summit, negotiators rushed through a deal advancing rules on how a new UN-backed global crediting mechanism will function. Late Friday, texts were published that revealed further details for Article 6.4, as well as the rules for how countries can trade credits they plan to use to meet their national emissions reductions goals under the Paris climate agreement in Article 6.2.

The rulebook allows for countries to trade carbon credits with each other, as well as companies. Critically, it details an accounting system for how a country selling a credit can deduct that off its national carbon inventory to prevent the same credit from being used twice.

Lambert Schneider, research coordinator for international climate policy at Oeko-Institut, called the latest texts an “important achievement” because negotiators have managed to iron out a number of unaddressed issues.

That includes provisions for a robust accounting of credits that countries can use against their climate targets, so-called internationally transferred mitigation outcomes or ITMOs, as well as for more detailed information from countries on how the credits they trade meet general market standards around environmental integrity.

But there also remains a number of “shortcomings,” Schneider said. This includes a lack of consequences for countries where there’s inconsistencies in reporting. Instead of a requirement to halt trading, the discrepancy will simply be flagged in the system.

A number of countries, including Singapore, Switzerland, Thailand and Japan, have already struck agreements to trade ITMOs before finalization of the rulebook. In practice, the rules will almost certainly evolve in the coming years.

Still, the extra clarity from a decision will provide a “good signal” for further market development, said Andrea Bonzanni, international policy director at the International Emissions Trading Association, an industry body.