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TWN
Info Service on Sustainable Agriculture
WTO: DG hosts costly Evian retreat merely to brainstorm on
fisheries subsidies Geneva, 11 Oct (D. Ravi Kanth) -- Many developing countries have apparently called for robust special and differential treatment (S&DT) provisions in the overcapacity and overfishing pillar, at a costly retreat hosted by the World Trade Organization's Director-General, Ms Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, at the Evian Hilton Hotel in France on 10 October, said people familiar with the event. More importantly, the developing and least developed countries have also emphasized that the second phase of the unfinished Doha fisheries subsidies negotiations must be conducted in an open, transparent, and inclusive manner, suggesting that there should not be sudden surprises in the negotiations, said a trade envoy, who asked not to be quoted. The "brainstorming" retreat was conducted in five different groups in which around 100 members were clubbed into these groups, and at the end of the meeting, the DG presented some broad conclusions. The five facilitators of the group discussions were: Ambassador Ms Nadia Theodore of Canada; Ambassador Ms Claire Kelly of New Zealand; Ambassador Adamu Mohammed Abdulhamid of Nigeria; Ambassador Petter Olberg of Norway; and Ambassador Hung Seng Tan of Singapore. The WTO's Deputy Director-General Ms Angela Ellard assisted the facilitators. At the beginning of the meeting, the Rome-based Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) provided a comprehensive report on the state of the oceans, particularly in regard to fish stocks. Apparently, the FAO reported that there has been an increase in the overall fish catch in all major oceans, while there is also a considerable increase in fish sustainability measures. "LEGAL SCRUBBING" During the meeting, it appears that there was considerable discussion about whether members should wait for a "legal scrubbing" of what was agreed in the partial Fisheries Subsidies Agreement or to consider it after the final agreement was concluded at the 13th ministerial conference (MC13) in 2024, said people who asked not to be quoted. Initially, the need for "legal scrubbing" was raised by the United States during the General Council (GC) meeting in July. The US had maintained that it wants "legal scrubbing" of the agreement on fisheries subsidies adopted at MC12 on 17 June, which implied that the partial agreement has to be vetted all over again. At that GC meeting in July, the European Union, Australia, and several other countries opposed "legal scrubbing" of the agreement, suggesting that it would amount to re-opening the agreement all over again. (See SUNS #9624 dated 27 July 2022). Australia and the EU had maintained that there is no room for re-opening the agreement once it was agreed and concluded. The former chair of the Doha fisheries subsidies negotiations, Ambassador Santiago Wills of Colombia, had argued that what is being done with the Fisheries Subsidies Agreement is on the lines of what was done with the TRIPS waiver in the past and the Trade Facilitation Agreement. At the Evian retreat, the US appears to have taken a backseat on the issue of "legal scrubbing", as it had echoed sometime back that it is ready to implement the agreement without giving any timeframe, said people familiar with the meeting. Sri Lanka raised the issue, underscoring the need to go through "legal scrubbing". Several other developing countries, including South Africa, Indonesia, and India among others, gave the "green light" to ratify the agreement reached on 17 June. Indonesia apparently suggested that "legal scrubbing" must be conducted after the final agreement is concluded, said people, who asked not to be quoted. In line with her repeated calls, the DG once again reminded members of the "importance and urgency" for countries to deposit their instruments of acceptance of the current agreement, which will only enter into force once two-thirds of the WTO's 164 members have deposited at the WTO their instruments of acceptance. "For the sake of the ocean and of the people whose livelihoods depend on it, it is critically important for members to deposit their instruments of acceptance of that Agreement as soon as possible so that it can begin to deliver concrete results," the DG emphasized. VALUE OF PARTIAL AGREEMENT Several members and analysts questioned whether the partial agreement on fisheries subsidies will deliver any concrete environmental sustainability outcomes at its core. There are also serious questions as to whether the agreement is in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target 14.6, though the DG had said that "the conclusion of the Agreement marks the first Sustainable Development Goal target that has been fulfilled - 14.6." The UN SDG target 14.6 states: "by 2020, prohibit certain forms of fisheries subsidies which contribute to overcapacity and overfishing, eliminate subsidies that contribute to IUU (illegal, unreported and unregulated) 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." According to the UN SDG 14.6 template, the Fisheries Subsidies Agreement ought to have addressed/concluded the disciplines on fisheries subsidies that contribute to overcapacity and overfishing (OC&OF) due to their harmful effects in depleting global fish stocks. However, this whole pillar, which in the chair's text has preserved the harmful subsidies for the biggest subsidizers such as the European Union, the US, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Chinese Taipei and China, has been left out due to sharp differences over the lack of balance and stringent special and differential treatment (S&DT) provisions. So far, no WTO member has ratified the new agreement even though several members indicated that they will ratify the new Protocol (amending the WTO Agreement) soon, said a member, who asked not to be quoted. In short, it is not clear how soon the Protocol will be ratified by the members and when the second phase of the negotiations involving the disciplines in the overcapacity and overfishing pillar and appropriate and effective special and differential treatment provisions will be negotiated, said a trade envoy, who asked not to be quoted. During the meeting, members apparently discussed the texts to follow during the second phase of discussions. It appears that the 17 June agreement (WT/MIN (22)/33, WT/L/1144) and the chair's text issued in early June will form the basis for the second phase of the negotiations, the trade envoy said. Several developing countries seem to have pressed for incorporating the issue of non-specific fuel subsidies, which was omitted by the chair in his June text, the trade envoy said. Apparently, some South East Asian countries called for discussing the issue of forced labour in the fisheries sector, which was one of the major priorities for the US in the fisheries subsidies negotiations, said people, who asked not to be quoted. China had vehemently opposed the inclusion of this issue in the fisheries subsidies negotiations, and consequently, it was left out from the negotiations. MORE FISHERIES WEEKS AND MINISTERIAL At the retreat, the work program for the second phase of the negotiations was discussed. There seems to be broad concurrence among the members for conducting several fisheries weeks and even some ministerial meetings, as was done in 2021. Members apparently agreed to start actual negotiations from next year, said a participant, who asked not to be quoted. Also, the issue of deciding on the new chair of the Doha Rules negotiating body, which oversees the fisheries subsidies negotiations, came up during the meeting, as this position has become vacant after the previous chair, Ambassador Wills of Colombia, was made the Director of the Council Division at the WTO. Currently, there are two candidates vying for the position of chair of the Doha Rules negotiating body. The Asian Group of Developing Countries has nominated Ambassador Gothami Silva of Sri Lanka as their candidate for the chair's post, while the group of developed countries has nominated Norway's trade envoy, Ambassador Petter Olberg, as their candidate. +
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