Bridges Trade BioRes • Volume 5 • Number 4 • 4th March 2005
WTO FISHERIES SUBSIDIES TALKS MOVE FORWARD
WTO FISHERIES SUBSIDIES TALKS MOVE FORWARD
Fisheries subsidies negotiations at the WTO Negotiating Group on Rules on 21-23 February focused on a new submission by Japan — this time officially supported by Korea and Chinese Taipei — outlining further details on its approach to developing subsidies disciplines. Many observers expressed cautious optimism regarding the progress of the talks, but also stressed that much work remained to be done to hammer out the details of possible disciplines, in particular how they will deal with special and differential treatment (S&DT) for developing countries.
In their submission (TN/RL/W/172), Japan, Korea and Chinese Taipei criticised the proposal put forward by the "Friends of Fish" (Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, New Zealand, the Philippines and Peru) in November last year (see Bridges Trade BioRes, 19 November 2004). Specifically, they argued that starting with a broad prohibition on subsidies that benefit the fishing industry, as proposed by the six countries, which would, inter alia, be inconsistent with basic principles of the Agreements on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures, limit flexibility in the use of policy tools in a changing environment, and by eliminating an effect test would differentiate fisheries from other sectors which are disciplined based on their trade impacts.
The submission went on to further elaborate on Japan’s previous proposal (see Bridges Trade BioRes, 11 June 2004). The countries note that all fisheries subsidies deemed to directly cause serious harm to the resources should be prohibited ("red box" subsidies), including subsidies for capacity enhancement of fishing vessels and those relating to illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. Notably, the new proposal does not include Japan’s previous caveat that capacity-related subsidies would only be prohibited for vessels engaged in poorly managed fisheries, instead simply stating that resource management issues should be considered in the negotiations. Regarding "green box" (non-actionable) subsidies, the submission would like to see those included that have positive effects on fish stock recovery, social security, welfare and research & development. The submission also called for some flexibility for all countries to protect their small-scale subsistence fisheries and for developing countries in the application of prohibited subsidies.
Despite the submission’s critical stance on the "Friends of Fish" approach, even those on the other side of the debate saw the new proposal as a "fairly big step forward" and a significant improvement over the previous one with fewer qualifications on "red box" subsidies. The "green box", however, while appearing lighter than before, was still seen as requiring further clarification. Several observers also welcomed Korea’s and Chinese Taipei’s support for the proposal and thus their official recognition of the need for disciplining fisheries subsidies. New Zealand, however, wondered how the countries planned to address the "grey area", i.e. subsidies that did not clearly fall in either of the two categories, and how this approach would help achieve greater transparency of subsidies programmes.
Many felt that the proposal marked sufficient progress to allow countries to put aside continued differences over the broad approach (i.e. bottom-up, as proposed by Japan, Korea and Chinese Taipei, versus top-down, as proposed by the "Friends of Fish") and instead get down to discussions on the actual details and substance of the subsidies programmes. Members generally recognised the need to address the special concerns of developing countries, in particular small and vulnerable states as highlighted in an earlier submission by the small island developing states. However, some developed countries expressed concerns that S&DT provisions could be used by some of the bigger developing countries to create major fleets, thereby undermining the objectives of the disciplines. In this context, Brazil noted that the disciplines should not prohibit the country to build its own fleet to exploit its national waters within sustainable limits. Brazil and India said they would submit proposals on S&DT shortly.
The next meeting of the Negotiating Group is currently scheduled for 11-13 April.
ICTSD reporting.