Revised Fisheries Subsidies Text Kicks Off Intensified Negotiations Ahead of MC12

<Draft Text attached>

At a meeting of the Negotiating Group on Rules at the Head of Delegation level, the chair of the fisheries subsidies negotiations, Ambassador Santiago Wills of Colombia, introduced on 8 November a second revision of the draft negotiating text to be used as the basis for clause-by-clause discussions among members aimed at resolving remaining differences ahead of the 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12) to be held on 30 November to 3 December. Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said the text represents a good balance that addresses development issues and maintains ambition.

The revised draft text and the accompanying explanatory note from the chair will be available on docs.wto.org shortly (TN/RL/W/276/Rev.2 and TN/RL/W/276/Rev.2/Add.1).

The Director-General told members she has been engaging with political leaders, including at the highest levels, to get their support for a successful conclusion to the 21-year-long negotiations.

"The eyes of the world are really on us," she said. "Time is short and I believe that this text reflects a very important step toward a final outcome. I really see a significant rebalancing of the provisions, including those pertaining to special and differential treatment, while, at the same time, maintaining the level of ambition."

Members are scheduled to hold daily meetings on the basis of the latest draft text, with the goal of providing ministers a clean draft before MC12.

Under the mandate from the WTO's 11th Ministerial Conference held in Buenos Aires in 2017 and the UN Sustainable Development Goal Target 14.6, negotiators have been given the task of securing agreement on disciplines to eliminate subsidies for illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing and to prohibit certain forms of fisheries subsidies that contribute to overcapacity and overfishing, with special and differential treatment being an integral part of the negotiations.