WTO Members Prepare for Intensified Fisheries Subsidies Negotiations in September

At the 8-12 July meetings on fisheries subsidies of the Negotiating Group on Rules, WTO members endorsed working papers and the schedule of meetings for September to December in preparation for intensifying work for the rest of the year. Heads of WTO member delegations commented positively on fresh efforts to forge compromises at a later meeting on 17 July but also noted that a lot still needs to be done if members are to meet the end-2019 target for a successful outcome.

The four working papers endorsed by members reflect various positions members have on key issues. In some areas, the papers put forward draft legal text for disciplines or provide two or three alternatives in legal text, but in other areas they indicate that more work is needed before any legal drafting can be done. Nevertheless, the working papers give a snapshot of where the negotiations are and will serve as platforms for a more intensified phase of negotiations due to start in early September.

The papers, drafted by four facilitators tasked by WTO members, cover the elimination of subsidies contributing to illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, disciplines on subsidies for fishing of overfished stocks, disciplines on subsidies that contribute to overfishing and overcapacity, and a compendium of material relating to cross-cutting issues such as definitions of key terms, the scope of the legal instrument, special and differential treatment and dispute settlement.

Members also endorsed a schedule of meetings which are planned for the weeks starting 9 September, 7 October, 4 November and 2 December, with agreement that a lot of work will have to take place between these weeks as well.

A number of members remarked positively on the improved negotiating dynamic at the latest meetings. However, they were also of the view that much remains to be done to narrow divergences in members' positions across all issues in time for the end-2019 target for a successful outcome.

In closing the meeting on 17 July, the chair of the Negotiating Group, Ambassador Roberto Zapata Barradas (Mexico), said the keywords for progress will be pragmatism and simplicity as negotiators should be ready to negotiate compromises and focus on real differences rather than their preferences for particular words or phrases.