WTO urges countries to strike deal to stop over-fishing by July

*Stakeholders have agreed that action is needed against over-fishing, which is stripping the seas of a hugely important resource that millions of people depend on for their livelihoods

Isola Moses | ConsumerConnect

The World Trade Organisation (WTO) has urged countries of the world to wrap up 20 years of talks banning subsidies that contribute to over-fishing and net a deal by July 2021.

Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director-General of the transnational trade body who took the WTO reins March this year, urged member states to intensify efforts at drafting a text that is “complete and clean enough” to be presented to Ministers for consideration by July, agency report said.

Okonjo-Iweala said: “We must have closure by July. We must also prioritise these negotiations over these few months, including late nights and weekends if needed.”

It was gathered that diplomats have already dramatically increased their meeting schedules in recent months, but the draft text, which remains confidential, still contains far too many areas where the wording has yet to be agreed.

Report noted that reaching any kind of an agreement at the WTO is in any case a struggle, since all decisions at the body need to be reached by consensus among its 164 member states.

Hitherto, the new WTO Chief was said to have made clinching the long-awaited fisheries deal one of her top priorities when she resumed office in Geneva, Switzerland.

The move is widely agreed that action is needed against over-fishing, which is stripping the seas of a hugely important resource that millions of people depend on for their livelihoods, but two decades of discussions have yet to resolve how to proceed.

It was also learnt that prior to Okonjo-Iweala’s assumption of duty in Geneva, the United Nations (UN) had already set a goal of securing a fisheries deal by the end of 2020.

However, that deadline came and went with little progress towards an agreement, according to report.

Going forward, the Director-General voiced optimism Wednesday that a deal was in sight after all.

She stated: “To me, our job is to protect the fish and to protect the many millions of fisher men and women who directly depend on the fish.

“These two are not mutually exclusive. Protecting one does not necessarily compete with protecting the other.”

Nevertheless, despite the years of discussion, multiple fault lines still exist, including over whether there are good subsidies and bad subsidies.

European countries and others, such as Japan and South Korea, reportedly want a ban on subsidies, except where it has a positive impact and any potential negative effects can be cancelled out.

However, others held that any subsidy is inherently bad and should be removed, while there are also voices calling for subsidy caps.

One of the main stumbling blocks appears to be how developing countries and the poorest nations will be treated in this regard, report noted.

The demand from some countries to be virtually exempt from any subsidy constraints is difficult for everyone to accept, especially since the WTO system allows its members to self-identify as developing countries.

Several major fishing countries are considered developing nations, including China, which has one of the world’s biggest fishing fleets.

Colombian Ambassador Santiago Wills, Chairman of the fisheries subsidies negotiations, Wednesday told reporters that “higher-level attention” was needed to make progress in addressing several key issues.

Those revolved in particular around possible exemptions for subsidies for subsistence, artisanal or small-scale fishing enterprises.

Yet, another striking point, he said, was the process for determining whether fishing activities should be considered illegal, unreported or unregulated.

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