Bridges Weekly Trade News Digest • Volume 8 • Number 44 • 22nd December 2004
Rules Group Discusses Fisheries Subsidies, Anti-Dumping
The WTO Negotiating Group on Rules held a formal meeting on 16 December to talk about fisheries subsidies and anti-dumping measures. This was preceded by three days of informal meetings during which Members discussed issues including regional trade agreements in addition to anti-dumping.
Disagreement on approach to fisheries subsidies disciplines
At the 16 December meeting, the US put forward a submission (TN/RL/W/169) expressing its support for a November 2004 proposal (TN/RL/W/166) by Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, New Zealand, the Philippines, and Peru which would have Members first broadly prohibit fisheries subsidies and subsequently negotiate appropriate exceptions to the ban. (see BRIDGES Weekly, http://www.ictsd.org/weekly/04-11-10/story2.htm) According to the US submission, the "primary focus of the negotiations should be to strengthen disciplines on fisheries subsidies that contribute directly to overcapacity and overfishing," and the November proposal’s ‘top-down’ approach "offers a simple, administrable, enforceable and realistic structure" for doing so. In addition to the six sponsors of that proposal, Australia, Brazil, Pakistan, and Venezuela expressed support for the US submission.
Japan opposed the proposal for a general prohibition on fisheries subsidies, and once again argued for a ‘bottom up’ approach (TN/RL/W/164) that would require Members to evaluate each type of subsidy and slate it for preservation or elimination depending on its effect. (see BRIDGES Weekly, 6 October 2004) The American submission countered that the Japanese approach would "contemplate a very small number of prohibited subsidies and a large number of permitted subsidies," and that it "could potentially lead to a set of disciplines weaker than the current rules."
Korea, which supports the Japanese approach, said that the fisheries subsidies talks were proceeding far too quickly. It pointed out that though such subsidies only became the subject of negotiations at the November 2001 Doha Ministerial Conference, Members were already contemplating their general prohibition. Korea urged other Members to make concessions on the issue, arguing that it had already given enough ground itself.
Meanwhile, the EC said that the simple fact that Members’ generally agree that harmful subsidies must stop already represented significant progress. It also urged participants not to take hardline positions in favour of the top-down approach on the grounds that the alternative approach might also yield results. India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, and China emphasised developing countries’ need for special and differential treatment.
US proposal on Anti-dumping Agreement
At the same meeting, the US submitted a paper (TN/RL/W/168) that proposed modifying the Anti-Dumping Agreement to ensure that importing Member governments are required to pay interest when refunding excess anti-dumping duties to importers. It argued that failing to compel Members to pay interest on such duties would in effect force importers to make interest-free loans to their governments.
The Negotiating Group held informal meetings on 14-15 December where Members discussed a proposal by Canada on ‘like products’ as well as others by the ‘Friends of Anti-Dumping Negotiations’ group on the definition of ‘domestic industry’ and on the determination of injury. The Friends of Anti-Dumping Negotiations include Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Japan, Korea, Switzerland, Chinese Taipei, and Hong Kong.
At the 13 December informal session to discuss the Chair’s draft text on transparency in the WTO review of regional trade agreements, Members broadly supported the creation of a mechanism similar to the trade policy review to look at such agreements.
ICTSD reporting.