During the Ministerial Meeting on 15 July 2021, members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) set out to conclude negotiations on fisheries subsidies as soon as possible, "ahead of the WTO Ministerial Conference in early December«The 104 ministers and heads of delegations who spoke generally confirmed that the current negotiating text can be used as a basis for reaching an agreement, although many pointed to issues that, from their perspective, still need to be resolved.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) It is estimated that one third of the world's fish stocks are overexploited., with an increase of 10% in 1970 and 27% in 2000.
These overexploited fish stocks threaten the food security and livelihoods of low-income coastal villages; vulnerable fishers must increasingly move farther from shore to bring back smaller quantities of fish. Governments are estimated to spend approximately US$35 billion a year on fisheries subsidies. Two-thirds of these subsidies go to commercial fishers. Many subsidies allow boats to stay at sea and fish in situations that would otherwise not be economically viable.
In this context, World leaders decided to conclude a fisheries subsidy agreement by 2020 as part of the SDGs, a commitment reconfirmed by trade ministers in 2017.
In the opening report of the Ministerial Meeting, the Chairman of Negotiations, Santiago Wills, Ambassador of Colombia, reminded the delegates that The process of negotiations on fisheries subsidies began in 2001 He stressed that since then, “many deadlines have been missed,” including the 2020 deadline set in the SDGs. He stressed that the negotiations “were urgent when they began 20 years ago” and have only continued to become more urgent each year as fish stocks continue to decline. Ambassador Wills concluded his statement by urging WTO ministers to “demonstrate their individual and collective commitment to finally deliver on the mandate.”
Unresolved issues include how to achieve the overall goals of greater ocean sustainability, while allowing flexibilities for some subsidies, including under the rubric of special and differential treatment (SDT) for developing and least developed country (LDC) member countries. During the meeting on 15 July, ministers underlined the importance of food security and livelihoods for poor and vulnerable artisanal fisheries, and also affirmed the sustainability objective of the negotiation.
In her closing remarks, WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala told participants that there was “new hope” that a high-quality outcome was being achieved that would contribute to building a sustainable blue economy. He welcomed the “firm commitment of ministers and heads of delegation to move forward” and bring the negotiations to the finish line, stressing that “this is the closest we have come to reaching a result.”
Ambassador Wills said the meeting sought “political guidance to help close these negotiations early” and had received support from ministers. He welcomed the commitment to conclude a text “well ahead of our Ministerial Conference” scheduled for late 2021.
Delegations will now engage in intensive text negotiations to try to close the remaining gaps between positions.WTO Press Release)
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