Bridges Weekly Trade News Digest • Volume 6 • Number 9 • 12th March 2002

Fisheries Subsidies Remain Within General Context Of Subsidies Talks At WTO

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FISHERIES SUBSIDIES REMAIN WITHIN GENERAL CONTEXT OF SUBSIDIES TALKS AT WTO

In the first formal meeting of the WTO Negotiation Group on Rules, on 11 March, Chair Timothy Groser of New Zealand announced that for "practical considerations" and without implying any political views whatsoever, he would be grouping topics together into three headings: subsidies, anti-dumping and regional trade agreements. He said that the issue of fisheries subsidies would be discussed under the topic "subsidies". An ‘early harvest’ on implementation issues was also emphasised by key developing countries.

Fisheries subsidies

Iceland, which had been advocating for negotiating fisheries subsidies under a separate agenda (see BRIDGES Weekly, 5 March 2002), expressed its disappointment with the decision, particularly as it views the Doha Ministerial Declaration as calling for a separate heading for this item (paragraphs 28 and 31). However, "in the spirit of compromise," Iceland said it was willing to accept this arrangement based on the understanding that the fisheries subsidies topic would, nevertheless, be treated as a distinct issue with its own particularities. Korea repeated its call for discussing fisheries subsidies in the context of general subsidies, with Argentina disagreeing with Korea on this issue. Argentina, together with Australia, Brazil, Peru, New Zealand, Malaysia and the US, supported Iceland’s proposal.

In terms of the Group’s work progress, the Chairman made clear that the negotiation process would be driven by proposals tabled by Members. In this context, he appealed to Members to provide clear as well as detailed information and argumentation, and to avoid so-called "Geneva- speak" so as to enable the wider range of officials to better participate in the new WTO negotiations.

Brazil, together with India and Pakistan, emphasised the importance of implementation issues in the work of the Group as many implementation items were related to the Anti-Dumping as well as the Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (SCM) Agreement. They also advocated for an "early harvest" on these issues. Colombia, supported by Norway, the US, New Zealand, Switzerland and Canada, suggested that Members should update their previous implementation proposals with additional information and explanations, and then present them back to the Group.

The Negotiating Group on Rules agreed to request that Members table their respective proposals on subsidies, anti-dumping and other WTO rules by 12 April this year.

The Group will meet this year on 6-8 May (back-to-back with the Subsidies Committee), 8-10 July, 16-18 October (back-to-back with the Anti-Dumping Committee) and 25-27 November.

"WTO Sets April 12 As Deadline For Trade Rule Proposals," KYODO NEWS, 11 March 2002; ICTSD Internal Files