WTO Chair of the fisheries subsidies negotiations, Ambassador Santiago Wills of Colombia says at the upcoming 12th Ministerial Conference in Geneva, WTO members will have the opportunity to conclude the fisheries subsidies negotiations, which began over two decades ago and seal the deal.
Wills said the negotiations will be concluded this weekend in a Message on World Oceans Day held on June 8.
Sustainable Development Goal SDG 14.6, part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development adopted by all United Nations member states in 2015, affirms the WTO’s role in the global fisheries subsidies agenda.
SDG 14.6 targets to “by 2020, prohibit certain forms of fisheries subsidies which contribute to overcapacity and overfishing, and eliminate subsidies that contribute to IUU fishing, and refrain from introducing new such subsidies, recognizing that appropriate and effective special and differential treatment for developing and least developed countries should be an integral part of the WTO fisheries subsidies negotiation.”
Draft agreement on fisheries subsidies
The chair of the fisheries subsidies negotiations, Ambassador Santiago Wills of Colombia, on 24 November 2021 submitted a draft agreement on fisheries subsidies for the consideration of ministers. The draft is based on the collective efforts of WTO members and represents for the chair the most likely way to build consensus after more than 20 years of negotiations, without undermining the sustainability objective.
Based on the current draft text of the WTO negotiations, the outcome is likely to be a legal instrument anchored in three prohibition pillars addressing fisheries subsidies that support IUU fishing, fishing overfished stocks and overcapacity that leads to overfishing.
Any future WTO rule covering fisheries subsidies would integrate part of a broader UN legal framework addressing the Law of the Sea, sustainability, illegal fishing operations and the management of migratory stocks.
According to the organisation, 34% of global marine fish stocks have fallen to levels that are biologically unsustainable. Subsidies and overfishing generate losses of about $88.9 billion due to forgone net benefits.
Ending harmful practices, including overfishing and illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, plus rebuilding depleted marine resources could increase global catches by up to 20%.
However, fisheries support has been on an upward trend since 2016. WTO says this has become a worrisome trend that will worsen if a stalemate in the fisheries subsidies negotiations persists.
The three pillars would be complemented by definitions, provisions on special and differential treatment (S&DT), notification and transparency. But such an instrument cannot be implemented in isolation and must be accompanied by implementation roadmaps and capacity-building programmes.
Necessary implementation roadmap would include actions to:
Set and adjust national regulatory and relevant ex-ante and ex-post administrative procedures considering the limitation set by the three prohibitions pillars.
Prepare assessments on country-specific needs.
Provide an open online inventory of country requests versus assistance effectively given.
Enable S&DT and technical cooperation as an integral part of the implementation effort.
Support multi-stakeholder participation mechanisms to promote consultation and engagement for successful in-country implementation.
Support the preparation of extended WTO country notifications on fisheries subsidies.
Expand and increase Overseas Development Assistance for sustainable use of ocean resources.
Provide linkages to complementary initiatives on the ocean economy and trade, the blue transformation and sustainable food systems.
In addition to this roadmap, further support by intergovernmental agencies, countries and other partners would be instrumental in enabling coherent implementation.
This would include improving public support mechanisms, implementing the Port State Measures Agreement and having more effective monitoring, control and surveillance systems to combat IUU operations.
It would also entail implementing more efficient and effective fisheries and climate resilience management systems and improved data collection.
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