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TWN
Info Service on WTO and Trade Issues (Nov21/17) Geneva, 16 Nov (D. Ravi Kanth) – China and Russia on 15 November rejected the inclusion of the issue of forced labour, as proposed by the United States, in the proposed disciplines on fisheries subsidies in the chair’s second revised draft text. In a hard-hitting statement delivered at a meeting of the Doha negotiating group on Rules on 15 November, where the negotiations on fisheries subsidies are taking place, China said it is “firmly opposed to involving the issue of forced labour in the negotiations on fisheries subsidies.” China said that it had already stated its position on forced labour at a meeting of the Doha Trade Negotiations Committee (TNC), where it had said unambiguously that the “WTO does not have a negotiating mandate on forced labour.” It argued that the issue of forced labour relates to Target 8.7 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (“take immediate and effective measures to eradicate forced labour”), adding again that the “WTO does not have a negotiating mandate on forced labour.” The issue of fisheries subsidies, said China, relates to SDG 14.6. SDG 14.6 mandates WTO members to, 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.” China further stated that the “WTO negotiating mandate on fisheries subsidies derives from the Doha ministerial declaration of 2001,” emphasizing that “it was beyond the negotiating mandate to discuss forced labour in the negotiations on fisheries subsidies.” China said the competent forum to discuss the issue of forced labour is the International Labour Organization as per the first WTO ministerial meeting decision in Singapore in 1996. Also, “the introduction of forced labour into WTO will lead to a series of systemic problems,” China said. With regard to the concept and the determination of forced labour, China said “there are different views on the definition and rules of forced labour, and the introduction of forced labour will lead to serious systemic problems.” China sought clarity on “the relationship with existing international treaties, how to avoid issues that give rise to conflicts of international law, what due process requirements and rules are used to determine the existence of forced labour, what trade policy is used to deal with forced labour and so on.” Commenting on Article 8.2(b) in the second revised draft text on fisheries subsidies issued on 8 November by the chair, Ambassador Santiago Wills from Colombia, China said “in addition to the vagueness of the term “Forced Labour” per se,”, the Article is replete with problems. According to China, these problems include: 1. The vagueness of the term “reasonably indicates”. Considering that “forced labour” is a criminal offence in many countries, the threshold of evidence and burden of proof as “reasonably indicates” is obviously too low, which is prone to abuse and disputes. 2. It is unclear who is entitled to make the notification that there is information reasonably indicating the use of forced labour on fishing vessels. Coastal states, Flag states or any WTO member? Should the notification be limited to vessels and operators over which the member concerned may exercise jurisdiction? 3. If any WTO member can make a notification, and the notification is not limited to vessels or operators under the jurisdiction of the member concerned, but then the Article does not require the full disclosure of the relevant information at the time of notification, it would obviously raise more controversy than this agreement can handle. Amid considerable differences among members on several issues such as the balance in the text, special and differential treatment, subsidies for distant-water fishing and fuel subsidies, “Paragraph (b) of Article 8.2 should, therefore, not be included, to further complicate the negotiating process at the last minute of the negotiations,” China cautioned. Ambassador Wills has included the US demand on forced labour in Article 8.2 (b). It states: “[any vessels and operators for which the Member has information that reasonably indicates the use of forced labour, along with relevant information to the extent possible;]” Meanwhile, the appointment of Ambassador Stephen Cornelius De Boer of Canada as the facilitator to oversee the discussion on fuel subsidies has raised eyebrows, as Canada had opposed the proposal on fuel subsidies during the discussions, said a person, who asked not to be quoted.
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