WTO: the WTO beaten by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC)... when protecting fish stocks

In a recent article in the December issue of "Ocean and Coastal Management", Dr. Peter Oosterveer (Environmental Policy group at Wageningen University) concludes that the MSC has done more to protect fish stocks from overfishing than the WTO.

On the WTO Dr. Oosterveer mentions the following problems:

1. sustainability requirments do not play a role in the WTO;
2. the slow pace of the Doha Development Agenda negotiations;
3. negotiators have not yet agreed how to deal with the "smaller fishermen";
4. the uncertainty on the shape of the new disciplines to be agreed; and
5. fisheries subsidies being part of the "single undertaking", thus being a bargaining chip that can be traded against other negotiating subjects.

Dr. Oosterveer concludes that a private initiative, such as the MSC, when compared to the WTO, is much more promosing because more dynamic.

Here underunder is the reference to an article in ScienceDaily about Dr Oosteveer's article in "Ocean and Coastal Management".

Wageningen University and Research Centre. "Quality Mark Provides Better Protection For Fish Stocks Than Does The World Trade Organization." ScienceDaily 10 December 2008. 12 December 2008

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/12/081210091033.htm.