Battle lines are being drawn in the World Trade Organization’s Doha fisheries subsidies negotiations as members take sides over the draft text on subsidies contributing to overcapacity and overfishing prepared by the negotiations chair, according to people familiar with the developments.
At the Doha trade negotiations committee meeting last week, Chair Ambassador Einar Gunnarsson of Iceland made it known that the draft disciplines, including the alleged “free pass” given to big subsidizers engaged in distant water fishing with easily circumvented notification requirements, will remain unchanged, said people familiar with the discussions.
The big subsidizers, including the United States and China, along with the Friends of the Fish led by New Zealand, as well as a group of Latin American countries and Brazil, threw their weight behind the chair’s draft text on OCOF disciplines at the TNC meeting.
Ambassador Gunnarsson apparently stated that he is not going to reconcile the objections raised by India, several least-developed countries from Africa, Russia and Indonesia with his draft proposals, said people familiar with the discussions.
The Friends of the Fish hailed the draft agreement as a lifetime opportunity. The United States appears to have said the text contained maximum flexibility in terms of special and differential treatment, insisting that it will not agree to any additional S&DT flexibilities, said people familiar with the discussions.
Brazil, which had opposed the draft FSA text earlier this year at the WTO’s 13th ministerial conference while linking it with the failed Agriculture, is understood to have said that it is ready to accept a fisheries deal on its own standing without any linkage with agriculture, said people familiar with the discussions.
China is the largest OCOF subsidizer and along with the European Union, is engaged in distant water fishing. The chair appears to have chosen to dilute the distant water fishing provisions and the notification requirements, said several fisheries subsidies experts, who asked not to be identified.
“On Fisheries,” China’s trade envoy Ambassador LI Changgang, appreciated “Chair’s efforts and is ready to explore consensus to conclude the negotiations on the basis of the last week version.”
“In spite of paramount challenges,” the Chinese trade envoy said, “we still believe further efforts should be made for its conclusion at the upcoming GC meeting.”
Ambassador LI extended “support the chair to continue his consultation with those who have concerns on the latest text in the next few days, with engagement of the GC chair and the DG.” China said, “it is our sincere hope that consensus can be reached with efforts and compromises by all.”
“In the meantime, we believe that no member should feel compelled to join consensus and that is one of the essences of the inclusiveness of the negotiations,” the Chinese envoy argued.
“Therefore,” the Chinese envoy suggested, “in the next week GC, if a very few members are not yet in a position to join consensus, a creative way should be explored, i.e., to provide such members with possibilities to join in the future and at this moment to remain outside the agreement, and to allow at least the vast majority of members to collectively, responsibly and actively take measures to tackle issues of fisheries sustainability with a binding agreement.”
Colombia, one of the leading South American countries known for its bioresources and protection of environment, echoed that the chair’s draft text is part of the UN sustainability initiatives, said people familiar with the discussions.
Ambassador Dandy Iswara of Indonesia said “While there are some elements that are heading in the right direction, but we view the balance is still tipped to the other side -the side which continue to favor biggest subsidizers and practices, that have been well known for contributing the most to overfishing and overcapacity.”
Ambassador Iswara said “achieving sustainability will also require us to protect the small scale
and artisanal fishers who fish for livelihood, and not for profit,” adding that he is waiting for “our capital assessment on the text, and we will put forward suggestions to further improve the text.”
India, which submitted three detailed papers against the Chair’s draft text last week, made its opposition known to the draft additional provisions on OCOF disciplines, while seeking substantial negotiations on the overall architecture of the seemingly questionable two-tiered sustainability criteria, said people familiar with the developments.
Several African least-developed countries raised red flags on asymmetrical special and differential treatment, particularly for graduating LDCs into developing country status, said people who asked not to be quoted.
Without opposing the draft text on OCOF disciplines, Russia apparently said it would need at least one more month to evaluate all the OCOF disciplines, said people familiar with the negotiations.
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