UN: "safe (fisheries?) subsidies" at Rio +20

There is defintiely something going on with fisheries subsidies in realtion to the preparations for the Rio +20 conference.

The "Global Campaign for Climate Action" organised a side event on 30 April 2012, at the UN Headquarters in New York, titled "From harmful subsidies to safe subsidies". 

One of the speakers was Dr. Rashid Sumaila, Director of the University of British Columbia Fisheries Centre and the Fisheries Economics Research Unit. He discussed fisheries subsidies.

So, we have now, in addition to "the bad, the good and the ugly" (this is how Dr. Sumaila has categorised fish sibsidies), a new category: the "safe"!

Here are a number of links on this event:

http://feru.sites.olt.ubc.ca/2012/04/27/rashid-sumaila-presents-at-rio20-second-round-side-event-from-harmful-subsidies-to-safe-subsidies-april-30-2012/

http://tcktcktck.org/2012/04/special-event-from-harmful-subsidies-to-safe-subsidies/

http://ictsd.org/i/events/132308/

http://www.unmultimedia.org/radio/library/2012/04/60405.html

INDIA: government criticism of University of Bristish Columbia study on fisheries subsidies

India seems to disagree with the data and the findings of a study carried out by UBC on fisheries subsidies.

The Government is aware of a study done by University of British Colombia which primarily raises the issues of high fisheries subsidies. India has expressed strong reservations in the World Trade Organisation about the inaccuracies of data and findings of the said study.

The above comes from a press release by the Press Information Bureau of the Government of India, which was issued as a reaction of the Union Minister of Shipping, Shri G.K. Vasan in a written reply to a question by Shri Manish Tewari in Lok Sabha on 7 May 2012.  

I found interesting that the text mentions that India's reservations where expressed "in the World Trade Organisation". Was this study discussed at the WTO negotiations on fisheries subsidies?

Here is the link to the press release:

http://pib.nic.in/newsite/erelease.aspx?relid=83206 
 

UN: fisheries subsidies at Rio +20

Fisheries subsidies negotiations might seem "dead" or, if you are more optimistic, in deep coma at the WTO (I will come back on this) but they seem to be "alive" in the framework of the UN's Rio +20 conference.

In a BBC website I found the following text:

"Japan and the US have tried to delete language on ending agricultural and fisheries subsidies. Canada wants fossil fuel subsidies to end only when they are inefficient and cause "wasteful" consumption." 

Here is the link to the BBC's Science and Environment news page with the text.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17898323