The Chairman of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Negotiating Group on Rules, Santiago Wills of Colombia, presented a revised draft text on fisheries subsidies on 30 June. With this latest version, he hopes to bring the positions of the various Member States closer together on this thorny issue at the next ministerial meeting at the WTO on 15 July.
The group’s negotiators are tasked with reaching an agreement to eliminate subsidies for illegal, unreported, and unregulated fisheries, as well as those that contribute to overcapacity and overfishing.
The revised text proposes definitions for these activities and introduces a prohibition on States subsidising the vessels and operators covered by them. It also provides for a transition period for the least developed countries.
However, there are still disagreements on many issues. Mr Wills will therefore consult with the various delegations by 15 July. He called on them to “help the ministers to familiarise themselves with the text between now and the meeting”.
For WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, “[the] revision can be a good basis for the more detailed work members have ahead of them to conclude negotiations”. Since the beginning of her mandate, she has reiterated several times her desire to reach an agreement before the 12th Ministerial Conference at the end of 2021.
See the revised text: https://bit.ly/2V0KDxz (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)