WTO ON FISHERIES SUBSIDIES

WTO on Fisheries Subsidies

“Members need to bring focus and flexibility to strike meaningful agreements for fisheries subsidies” says WTO Director General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala

By Amod Ashok Salgaonkar

At a meeting of all WTO delegation heads on 23 July, Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala called on members to bring focus and flexibility to intensive negotiations scheduled for the autumn so they can strike meaningful agreements in areas such as fisheries subsidies, agriculture and pandemic response ahead of the 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12).

Referring to the 15 July meeting where ministers instructed members to conclude a fisheries subsidies agreement as soon as possible before MC12, which will start at the end of November, the Director-General acknowledged that “a lot of gaps remain to be bridged” on the draft negotiating text. She asked all delegations to engage actively in the upcoming text-based negotiations and to contribute to finding the necessary compromises. “The time to read statements is over,” she said, calling on them to operate “with the E.N.D. in mind – Engage, Negotiate and Deliver,” and show that they can deliver multilateral agreements.

The Chair of the Negotiating Group on Rules, Ambassador Santiago Wills (Colombia), outlined his plans for a two-stage negotiating process for the “final lap” negotiations on fisheries subsidies. The first stage would focus on the main differences among members to collectively improve the text, followed by line-by-line, text-based negotiations. A detailed work plan would be sent to all delegations next week. He also said members should aim to arrive at a complete agreement text no later than early November. “A positive conclusion of the fisheries subsidies negotiations is within reach,” he emphasised.

The Director-General reminded members that despite the continuing differences of opinion, their hard work had advanced the fisheries subsidies more than ever before, placed the WTO and trade firmly in the middle of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic and advanced discussions on micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, gender, e-commerce, trade and environment issues, services domestic regulation, and investment facilitation. “Together, we can deliver meaningful, quality outcomes for the people we serve,” she said. “It is clear that this noble objective is one that everyone shares.”

The WTO’s revised draft on Fisheries Subsidies updated in June 2021 can be read here