WTO Rolls Out Draft Text on 2nd Wave of Fisheries Subsidies Rules
Iceland's Einar Gunnarsson, the chair of the fisheries subsidies negotiations at the World Trade Organization, sent a draft text on the second wave of fisheries subsidies talks to get negotiations "over the finish line" at the 13th Ministerial Conference to be held in February 2024, the WTO announced. Gunnarsson said work will resume after the holidays "with a 'fish month' of continuous negotiations" that will last until mid-February, when texts for MC13 must be completed.
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The five-page draft text includes four articles, covering subsidies contributing to overcapacity and overfishing, special and differential treatment, notification and transparency, and a placeholder for other overcapacity and overfishing provisions. The lead chapter says no WTO member shall "grant or maintain subsidies" that lead to overcapacity or overfishing, including subsidies to construct or upgrade vessels and equipment for vessels, among others.
The provision on special and differential treatment would put members into three groups: 20 of the largest subsidy providers subject to the "strictest scrutiny," members to be excluded form the core prohibition, and members not in either group.