UNEP: Regional Symposium on “Sustainability Criteria for Fisheries Subsidies: The Latin American Context” Guayaquil, Ecuador, 29-30 July 2009

UNEP is one of the most, if not the most, active organisations when it comes to provide information to negotiators, and to the general public, on the ongoing WTO negotiations on fisheries subsidies.

I notice that in most of the events organised by UNEP environmental NGOs were being associated. This was the case of the above mentioned regional symposium were WWF co hosted the meeting.

The webpage of UNEP on this particular event includes links to the presentations given by the different speakers and to the symposium's report.

I found the presentation by Clarisse Morgan, from the WTO Secretariat, Rules Division, very interesting as it provides useful insights on the positions of the key players in the negotiation, not only in terms of groupings (e.g. the so called "Friends of Fish"), but also in terms of individual WTO Members (US, EU, Japan, Canada, Norway, etc).

I was also struck by one the paragraphs of the Symposium's report, i.e. paragraph 43, which I copy hereunder, on the issue of fishing in the high seas:

42. In discussing both the high seas issue and the need for effective sustainability criteria generally, several participants referred to the reality of “south-south” competition for fisheries resources and markets. Some of the most aggressively expanding distant water fleets today come from developing countries. Latin American fleets are generally not among the most expansionists. Several participants explicitly noted that meaningful sustainability criteria could be important in helping limit the distortions subsidies could introduce into major South South competitive relationships.

Clearly developing countries are playing an ever more important role in fisheries, including by the expansion of their distant water fleets.

Here is the link to UNEP's web page on the symposium:

http://www.unep.ch/etb/events/Presentations_Symposium%20Ecuador29-30July.php

WTO: UNEP video on fisheries subsidies

Some of you may have already seen the short documentary that UNEP has posted on YOUTUBE on fisheries subsidies and the WTO. The title of the video is "Caught Out - The way forward inf fisheries subsidies negotiations"

I will quote some of the statements made by two individuals representing two key actors in the ongoing discussions on fisheries subsidies at the WTO. Here are their names and the sentences that I found were important:

Pascal LAMY, Director General of the WTO:

"Fisheries subsidies is one area where the connexion between sustainability, environmental protection and trade opening can support each other. A sort of win-win-win relationship which is what we are trying to do between UNEP and WTO."

"What was achieved in Doha and then in Hong Kong is an agreement, a mandate, that WTO Members should negotiate strict disciplines on fisheries subsidies."

Achim STEINER Executive Director UNEP:

"The negotiations on fisheries where unusual from start since, unlike in any other trade negotiations, there was an environmental outcome set as an objective from the beginning."

Both speakers point to the environmental dimension of the negotiations. Mr Steiner goes even further and asserts that "...an environmental outcome [was] set as an objective from the beginning".

This statement is somewhat debatable. In my view there is nothing in the main Doha Ministerial Declaration, and more specifically in Paragraph 28, which would point to an explicit environmental outcome with the rang of objective, in relation to fisheries subsidies.

It is true that there is a cross-reference to Article 31 "Trade and Environment", but this article refers mainly to relationships between WTO and Multilateral Environmental Agreement (MEAs), exchange of information between WTO and MEA's Secretariats and tariff reductions in environmental goods. Though I miss a clear reference to an objective, as it is the case in the three aforementioned items, for the fisheries subsidies negotiations.

In my view, the setting of environmental objectives came only with the Hong Kong declaration. The language of this declaration (Paragraph I.9. in Annex D) is clear in terms of setting environmental objectives "[...] the Group should strengthen disciplines on subsidies in the fisheries sector, including through the prohibition of certain forms of fisheries subsidies that contribute to overcapacity and over-fishing, [...]"

This was not the case in what Mr Steiner calls "the beginning", i.e. the Doha Declaration. I copy here Paragraph 28:

"In the context of these negotiations, participants shall also aim to clarify and improve WTO disciplines on fisheries subsidies, taking into account the importance of this sector to developing countries. We note that fisheries subsidies are also referred to in paragraph 31."

Here is the link to the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ol6XR3S_-UI

WTO - UNEP - WWF: "artisanal" versus "industrial" fisheries?

The debate on whether different rules should apply to the artisanal and to the so called « industrial » fisheries respectively is one of the major topics at the ongoing WTO negotiations on fisheries subsidies.

Here is the link to an article (titled "Who’s Harming Fish Stocks? Trawlers or Artisanal Fishers?" by Isolda Agazzi) with the views of some of the actors involved, directly or indirectly, in these negotiations.

http://www.ipsnews.net/africa/nota.asp?idnews=47500

My conclusion is that views still differ very much.

WTO, UNEP: different figures on fisheries subsidies

When reading the statements by the Director of the WTO, Pascal Lamy and by UNEP I noticed that they got different figures:

Mr Lamy says: "Governments have contributed to this problem by providing nearly (USD) 16 billion annually in subsidies to the fisheries sector."

UNEP says: “perverse and wasteful subsidies totaling up to USD 35 billion a year”.


Where did they get their figures from? Who is right?

UNEP: fisheries subsidies and Oceans Day

UNEP, the United Nations Environment Programme joined its voice to those coming from trade quarters (WTO, US Trade Representative) on the need to eliminate “perverse and wasteful subsidies totaling up to USD 35 billion a year” that fuel the over exploitation of the fisheries resources.


Here is the link to the UNEP statement:


http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?DocumentID=585&ArticleID=6162&l=en&t=long