ARGENTINA : fisheries agreement with China?

From time to time I have a look at fisheries websites around the world.

Recently I found a number of websites in Argentina that are commenting on the effective implementation by Argentina and China of a “Acuerdo de Cooperación sobre Pesca”.

I was struck by the fact that China would be offering cuts in import duties for products from Argentina. I wonder how China will be able to grant such duty cuts only to Argentina (because of the fisheries agreement) without going against the non-discrimination principles of the WTO.

Here are a few links to articles (in Spanish) about this issue.  

http://www.nuestromar.org/noticias/destacados/18_11_2010/34005_a_favor_de_los_que_estan_en_contra

http://www.nuestromar.org/noticias/destacados/14_04_2010/29972_preocupante_propuesta_de_convenio_pesquero_con_china

http://www.pescare.com.ar/n2406.htm

http://www.pescare.com.ar/n2504.htm

http://www.youtube.com/pescare2#

ARGENTINA: prohibition to transport unprocessed fish outside the Chubut Province

The Province of Chubut in Argentina adopted a new fisheries law in July 2007, the "Ley unificada de Pesca".

This legislation includes a number of interesting provisions. The most salient, in my view, is that it prohibits the transport, outside the Province, of unprocessed fish. Indeed, Article 37 bars the holders of a Provincial fishing license from shipping raw material to operators outside the Province, unless provided for in inter-Provincial agreements.

One of the main objectives of such provisions is make sure that there is a processing industry in the coastal areas adjacent to the fishing grounds. Because fishermen are obliged to deliver the raw material in these areas processing companies might benefit from more abundant fish and therefore pay lower prices for their raw material.

Is this a subsidy?

This brings to my mind two cases, one in the context of the GATT, the other at the WTO, involving Canada and the US in relation to restrictions on exports. In the first one, the US complained because Canada introduced export prohibitions of unprocessed herring, herring roe, and pink and sockeye salmon. The second case concerned a complaint by Canada about certain US measures that treat a restraint on exports of a product as a subsidy to other products made using or incorporating the restricted product if the domestic price of the restricted product is affected by the restraint.

Here in the link to the webpage of the official website of the Chubut Province displaying the contents of the legislation (in Spanish):

http://www.legischubut.gov.ar/LEY5639.htm

Argentina: tax refunds for exports of fish products

Recently, an Argentinean website specialised in commercial fishing published a series of news items related to the reinstatement, by the Argentinean governement, of a system whereby taxes are refunded for those fisheries goods being exported.

Here is the link to one of these news items.

http://www.pescaypuertos.com.ar/a08/20080714_reintegros.html