TWN Info Service on WTO and Trade Issues (Sept24/07)
12 September 2024
Third World Network

WTO: Fisheries chair asks members to conclude OCOF deal by year-end
Published in SUNS #10075 dated 12 September 2024

Geneva, 11 Sep (D. Ravi Kanth) — The chair of the World Trade Organization’s Doha fisheries subsidies negotiations on 9 September claimed that members are “almost there” for concluding a deal to address subsidies that contribute to overcapacity and overfishing (OCOF) “before the end of the year.”

In a five-page report sent to Heads of Delegation on 9 September, seen by the SUNS, the chair, Ambassador Einar Gunnarsson of Iceland, acknowledged that “one member is calling for a fundamentally different approach”.

It is common knowledge that the “one member” in question, namely India, has severely criticized the chair’s revised draft text (TN/RL/W/279) that provided several carve-outs to the big subsidizers to continue with their OCOF subsidies based on a rather weak and manageable sustainability criteria, particularly for the distant-water fishing members, said people familiar with the development.

India has also criticized the revised draft text for restricting special and differential treatment (S&DT) to the developing and least-developed countries, as well as allegedly failing to adhere to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14.6.

UN SDG 14.6 states, “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.”

The chair mentioned SDG 14.6 in his email to the members, saying that it “tasked us with tackling subsidies contributing to overcapacity and overfishing”.

“We need to complete this task given the sense of urgency attached to safeguarding the sustainability of our oceans,” he said, suggesting that the “status quo cannot be the answer.”

However, India and several other countries repeatedly argued that the chair’s revised draft text has apparently failed to address the core issues concerning prohibiting the OCOF subsidies, said people familiar with the draft text.

As previously reported in the SUNS, the three proposals (WT/GC/W/945, WT/GC/W/946, and WT/GC/W/947) circulated by India days before the General Council (GC) meeting in July pointed out several imbalances in the chair’s draft text and how they appear to have tilted the balance in favour of the big subsidizers.

The Indian statement made at the GC meeting on 23 July exposed the asymmetries in the chair’s revised draft text, including the apparent “free pass” given to the big subsidizers to continue with their billions of dollars in OCOF subsidies under seemingly weak and circumventable notification requirements based on a two-tier sustainability criteria, said people familiar with the discussions.

Given India’s tough stand on the chair’s revised draft text, Iceland’s proposed “decision” (TN/RL/W/279/Add.1) to agree on the draft text was moved to the “discussion” section of the GC agenda, said people familiar with the development.

In fact, on the morning of 23 July, the GC chair, Ambassador Petter Olberg from Norway, was understood to have moved the Icelandic proposal from “decision” to “discussion” after a telephone conversation with one member, said people familiar with the development.

Against this backdrop, the fisheries chair wants to “resume NGR (Doha Negotiating Group on Rules) activities” after six weeks due to his “other work.”

CHAIR’S SUMMARY

In his report, the chair said on 10 July “under my responsibility as Chair of the Negotiating Group on Rules, I circulated a revised draft of the Additional Provisions on Fisheries Subsidies in document 279 and two draft General Council decisions in documents TN/RL/W/280 (document 280) and TN/RL/W/281 (document 281).”

He said that the texts were circulated “in response to the widespread call of the vast majority of Members since MC13 to conclude the fisheries subsidies negotiations by the July General Council based on the draft text that I had circulated in TN/RL/W/278 (document 278) in April. Circulating document 279 at that time also preserved the opportunity to inscribe it on the agenda of the 22-23 July General Council so that Members could further engage in the negotiating process with a view to building consensus on the text, with potentially some adjustments that enjoyed an increased level of convergence before the General Council.”

According to the chair’s report, “most of the amendments in document 279 compared to document 278 were inspired by the so-called “floating text”, which a diverse and sizeable group of Members had developed on their own during the final hours in Abu Dhabi.”

In addition, Ambassador Gunnarsson said “document 279 contained proposals from me, as Chair, concerning the length of the transition periods for developing country Members and LDC Members.”

“These proposals were based on my reflections following the two small group consultations held on 9 July on the two transition periods, recognizing that negotiations on the specifics would continue,” he said, suggesting that “Document 279 also included a handful of technical adjustments, both for greater clarity and to avoid causing unintended consequences for some developing country Members.”

Later, he issued another draft containing further additions in document TN/RL/W/279/Add.1.

Subsequently, the chair said that “given that items on the General Council’s agenda may be requested only by Members, on 11 July, I requested, through the delegation of Iceland, that the Additional Provisions on Fisheries Subsidies be included on the agenda of the July General Council for decision.”

Accordingly, on 11 July, the above documents were circulated as draft General Council decisions (on Additional Provisions on Fisheries Subsidies), the chair noted.

He pointed to “subsidies in WT/GC/W/943 and on Notification of Annual Aggregate Level of Fisheries Subsidies in WT/GC/W/944, and placed on the agenda of the July General Council.”

He said the early inclusion of the additional provisions in Iceland’s submission to the GC “was done with the aim of providing Members with the necessary space and time to conduct a substantive assessment – including through engagement in the Negotiating Group on Rules (NGR) and the Trade Negotiations Committee (TNC) – to endeavour to seek convergence in the time remaining before the July General Council.”

The chair said that he organised four in-person small group meetings on Friday, 12 July to ensure transparency and inclusiveness.

“The objective of these small group meetings was for me to introduce document 279 along with the details of the specific changes it contained compared to the previous version of the Additional Provisions on Fisheries Subsidies circulated in document 278.”

At the TNC meeting on 15 July, the chair said that he “noted that the overwhelming majority of Members generally considered that the text, potentially with some adjustments, could serve as the basis for reaching a final agreement by the July General Council.”

He acknowledged that “a few Members raised some fundamental issues and concerns and that it seemed questionable that the text offered a path to consensus for them.”

At the TNC meeting, according to the chair’s report, “members shared their assessment of the situation and their suggestions on the way forward” and “members’ interventions reinforced the broad support for concluding the negotiations before the July General Council and provided valuable insights into the remaining gaps and areas needing further work.”

In light of those interventions, he said, “I identified the following topics warranting further discussion in small groups before the July General Council: (a) issues related to LDC graduation; (b) characteristics of artisanal and small-scale fishing; and ( c) concerns regarding the strength of the disciplines.”

To address these three topics, the chair said that he “organised four small group meetings from 16 to 18 July.”

At the small-group meeting to discuss the overall strength of the disciplines, the chair said that “few, if any, of the Members present noted that they consider that the current formulation of the disciplines represents the optimal way of addressing subsidies that contribute to overcapacity and overfishing.”

According to Ambassador Gunnarsson, “many Members present at the meeting noted that the current text constitutes a difficult compromise for them after years of exploring different alternatives.”

Further, “most Members expressed their willingness to conclude the negotiations at the July General Council meeting based on the disciplines as presented in document 279, or those disciplines with very limited tweaks,” the chair said, adding that “many of these Members see the draft Additional Provisions to be a significant improvement over the status quo.”

“However, some Members present had more concerns about the overall balance of the disciplines and the SDT provisions and sought more material adjustments, including a call for a fundamentally different approach to the disciplines,” the chair noted.

In short, the chair’s report suggests that there is a fundamental divide between the big subsidizers, supported by several countries, to reach an agreement on the one side, and several other members, particularly India, who want a fundamental change in the approach that delivers on UN SDG 14.6, on the other, said people who asked not to be quoted.

Against these two conflicting approaches, an agreement to tackle OCOF subsidies by the end of the year seems highly unlikely, said people familiar with the development. +