WTO members will discuss fisheries subsidies from May 16

Before the 12th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO) next month, member states will hold intensive talks in Geneva from 16 to 20 May to reach an agreement on preventing harmful fish subsidies.

This ‘fish week’, Colombian Ambassador Santiago Wills, who is chairing the talks, will be an opportunity for members to work to finalize the draft agreement, the multilateral trade body said in a statement. The agreement is necessary to ensure sustainable fishing and to eliminate IUU (illegal, unreported and unregulated) fishing dowel-outs that have contributed to overcapacity and overfishing.

“… Now is the time to end decades of negotiations and end WTO fisheries subsidy negotiations so that the ministers can accept the results,” Chair said in a video message.

“Ultimately, we should not argue against each other, but against the continued depletion of global fish stocks vital to livelihoods, food security and a healthy planet,” he said.

According to the FE, India favors a 25-year waiver from additional fishing subsidy bans for developing countries that are not involved in remote fishing. At the same time, it suggests that major subsidiaries are canceling their dole-outs over the next 25 years, setting the stage for most developing countries to follow suit.

New Delhi believes that large subsidiaries (developed fishing countries) must take greater responsibility for canceling their dowry-outs and reducing their fishing capacity, in line with the principles of “polluting wages” and “common but separate responsibilities”.

Extensive subsidies, extended by large fishing nations, have contributed to the over-exploitation of the world’s fish stocks. An independent study by a group of authors led by U Rashid Sumaila of the University of British Columbia found that fisheries subsidies in India stood at just 7 227 million in 2018, চী 7.26 billion in China, $ 3.80 billion in the EU, 43 3.43 billion in the United States, and 19 3.19 billion in South Korea.

The 12th WTO Ministerial Conference will be held in Geneva on June 12-15.