WTO Members Consider New Draft Texts in Second Cluster of Fisheries
Subsidies Meetings
WTO members in the
Negotiating Group on Rules discussed two new draft texts covering certain
prohibitions on fisheries subsidies and exchanged views on other areas of the
negotiations at a cluster of meetings held on 25 February to 1 March. The Chair
and a range of members remarked on the increased level of engagement but also
called for further intensification of efforts to meet the December target for a
successful conclusion to the negotiations.
Members discussed Australia’s draft text on
prohibiting subsidies for fishing of overfished stocks and New Zealand and
Iceland’s draft text on prohibiting subsidies that contribute to overfishing
and overcapacity of fleets. These drafts cover two of the three areas of
disciplines WTO members have committed to delivering by end-2019, the third
being the elimination of subsidies to illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU)
fishing.
The Negotiating Group held consultation
sessions open to all members on these three areas as well as on “cross-cutting”
issues, such as the scope of new fisheries subsidies rules and how dispute
settlement, transparency commitments and procedures to monitor implementation
as well as special and differential treatment provisions for developing members
would operate under such rules.
Members also conducted their own discussions
in bilateral and other formats during the week to examine new approaches and
better understand each other's positions. More draft texts
are forthcoming, members heard, as delegations continue to firm up, in their
meetings with others, new ideas on prohibiting IUU fishing subsidies, whether
and how capping subsidies might form part of the final package, and how the
dispute settlement process would work, including the remedies it would impose,
in view of the sustainability objectives of fishery subsidy disciplines.
At the close of the week-long
meetings, the Chair and numerous members noted the high level of activity and
the rich engagement, both in the interval since the January cluster of
meetings, and during the February meeting week. While this was found
heartening, it also was noted that intensified efforts
and further text-based discussions to bridge gaps in positions were needed for
an outcome to be delivered by the end of the year.
The next cluster of fisheries subsidies
meetings will be on 25-29 March.