WTO negotiation session on Fisheries Subsidies

Subject: IR

Section: International organisation

Context:

The WTO negotiation session on Fisheries Subsidies took place on 27 February in the ongoing Abu Dhabi Ministerial Conference-13.

More on news:

In these negotiations, India reiterated its long-held positions that responsible and sustainable fisheries is a practice ingrained in the ethos and practices of India’s large and varied fishing community.

India’s Opinion:

India stressed that historically, while subsidies to the fisheries sector has led to over exploitation, subsidies are also vital for developing countries and small economies to develop and diversify their fisheries sector as well as to protect the food security and livelihood security of their fishermen.
This negotiation is linked to the concept of sustainability and as such, any comprehensive agreement on fisheries subsidies should be built on the principles of Common But Differentiated Responsibilities and Respective Capabilities (CBDR- RC).
It should also incorporate the provisions of Special and Differential Treatment (S&DT) appropriately, as is the case for all WTO agreements.
There is an urgent case for capturing non-specific fuel subsidies and transfer of fishing rights to corporate fishing under Government to Government (G2G) payments within the ambit of the disciplines.
Equally important is the need to discipline subsidies given by the Distant Water Fishing Nations as proposed by India.
India explained that the current approaches for addressing Over Capacity and Over Fishing (OCOF) is deeply flawed.

Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies

The WTO Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies was adopted at the 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12) on 17 June 2022.
It marks a major step forward for ocean sustainability by prohibiting harmful fisheries subsidies, which are a key factor in the widespread depletion of the world’s fish stocks.
The Agreement represents a historic achievement for the membership as the
- the first Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target to be fully met through a multilateral agreement,
- the first WTO agreement to focus on the environment,
- the first broad, binding, multilateral agreement on ocean sustainability, and
- only the second agreement reached at the WTO since its inception.