With less than a month to go before the World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial Conference (MC12), members are moving closer to a final text on fisheries subsidies. The Chairman of the Negotiating Group on Rules, Santiago Wills (Colombia), presented a revised text which members are now considering line by line.
An agreement is expected at the MC12 to try to get out of subsidies that contribute to illegal fishing or overfishing.
The two major elements of debate concern special and differential treatment for certain countries, and the inclusion of non-specific fuel subsidies in the text.
Both of these points remain open for the time being, but on the first one, the positions of the members seem to be getting closer. They are currently working on the transition period needed for least developed and developing countries to exit the subsidies concerned.
There is also still no agreement on the inclusion of non-specific fuel subsidies. This reference is therefore in square brackets in the revised text.
Members must now agree on these elements in order to submit a clean text to the General Council on 22 and 23 November, which will then have to be validated at the MC12. (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)