INDIA: India and WTO negotiations on fisheries subsidies

I went recently on a “trawling” expedition, not at sea but on the Internet.

Here is part of the “catch”.

I found an Indian website called “Fish Global” (fishglabl.org). This website is about “Strategies and Preparedness on Trade and Globalisation in India for Fishery Sector”.

In this website there are a few pages on India and the WTO negotiations on fisheries subsidies. One page relates to the visit that the former Chair of the Negotiating Group on Rules, Mr Guillermo Valles paid to India in early September 2009 “to interact with stakeholders in the field of fisheries to know about the ground realities of the fishing sector in India.”

In the webpage it is stated that:

It is apprehended that new rules on fisheries subsidies, which are being negotiated could seriously jeopardize the future of lakhs of fishermen in India. The new moves would seriously curtail the ability of India and other developing countries to provide support to their artisanal and small fishermen and encourage fishing in their Exclusive Economic Zone.

And further:

It is also feared that final result of some of the proposed condition could lead to the take over of the fishery management function from the member country of the WTO and to hand it over to a third party such as the FAO. This would result in constraining the Government from implementing schemes aimed at supporting fishermen in a sustainable manner as any new subsidy scheme would be permitted only if prior stock assessment has been undertaken which is reviewed by FAO. There is a need for India to retain the flexibility to develop marine infrastructure without being tied to onerous obligations.

Here is the link to the page:

http://www.fishglobal.org/fishglobal_news.asp?id=14

USA: "coastal fishing industry fears rising fuel prices"

The effects of high fuel prices are also being felt in developed countries.

The title of this post is the title of an article published in the "Charlotte Observer" on 8 March 2011.

Here is the link to the article.

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2011/03/08/2120623/coastal-fishing-industry-fears.html

PHILIPPINES: tuna fishermen hit by high fuel prices

The Sunstar, a newspaper from the Philippines, reported on 9 March 2011 that some tuna fishermen in General Santos City, the “Tuna Capital of the Philippines” are, or are considering, halting fishing operations because of the high oil prices.

According to the newspaper, for some fishing operations, such as handline fishing boats:

“For a single large-ticket hand line fishing expedition in the high seas that lasts for 30 to 45 days, the operational cost could run from P500,000 to P1 million, with Lim saying that fuel eats 60 percent to 65 percent of the amount.”

Here is the link to the article in the SunStar.

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/davao/local-news/2011/03/08/oil-price-hikes-take-toll-tuna-players-143747

BLOG NEWS: Oil Price Information

High oil prices are becoming (once again) a big problem for fishermen around the world.

I have added two "gadgets" to my blog with price information on oil.

WTO: the Trade Negotiations Committee "zeroing" on fisheries subsidies negotiations

At the March 8 « informal meeting » of the Trade Negotiations Committee Pascal Lamy, who is chairing this Committee, provided the Committee with “a brief overview of the latest developments across the board in the negotiations”.

When discussing the developments in the “Rules” chapter, under which new rules on fisheries subsidies are negotiated, Mr Lamy’s statement was the following:

“In the Rules area, area, Members are continuing their consideration of the bracketed and un bracketed issues in the 2008 Chair text and of new proposals tabled, including those on fishery subsidies by Argentina and the ACP Group. These processes have been supplemented by the work of Friends of the Chair, and more recently, by the work of small numbers of delegations in Contact Groups. The aim of all of these processes is to try to generate technically viable options which could then be considered by the Negotiating Group as a whole. Meetings in these different configurations will continue throughout the month of March.

On regional trade agreements (RTAs), the Group has started the review of the Transparency Mechanism for RTAs as required by paragraph 23 of the General Council Decision, with a view to making it permanent. Indications are that Members are generally satisfied with the functioning of the Mechanism and would agree to making it permanent based on a few adjustments to the current text. Discussions on systemic issues which remain dependent on the submission of text-based proposals by Members have also taken place based on a proposal from Bolivia; the group has also discussed the possibility of a forward looking work programme. The Chair is planning further consultations on 14 15 March followed by an open-ended meeting on 17 March.”

 

So, Members are considering, among other things, proposals on fisheries subsidies. They also seem working on Regional Trade Agreements.

But, are they working on anti-dumping (including “zeroing”) or on horizontal subsidy disciplines?

Here is the link to the WTO page with the statement by Mr Lamy.

http://www.wto.org/english/news_e/news11_e/tnc_dg_infstat_08mar11_e.htm

CHINA: fuel subsidies for 20 million fishermen

A recent article by the Chinese news agency Xinhua mentioned that the Chinese government will continue providing subsidies to fishermen to purchase fuel for fishing operations.

According to the article “In 2006 alone, the central budget allocated two batches of subsidies at 3.18 billion yuan”.

Converted into USD at current exchange rates this makes around 580 million USD. What it is unclear to me is whether the figure corresponds to one batch only. If this were to be the case then for 2006 the total subsidy amount would be 1160 million USD.

The article goes further indicating that a Ministry of Agriculture official stated that “the ministry will strengthen the implementation of the policy in the country's 12th Five-Year Program period (2011-2015).”

I also wonder whether the Chinese fishermen pay taxes on their fuel.

Here are the links to the article (one to Xinhua and another to the People's Daily online):

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/china/2011-03/07/c_13765575.htm

http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90778/90860/7311555.html

WTO: reporting on informal negotiating meetings on fisheries subsidies (9)

The International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development) has recently reported about another informal meeting of the WTO's Negotiating Group on Rules where fisheries subsidies were discussed.

According to the article (published in Bridges Trade BioRes, Vol.11, nr. 3 of 21.02.2011) the meeting took place from 7 to 14 February 2011.

It seems that "important" subjects have been debated at the meeting, not least fuel subsidies! I was also struck by the approach that the new Chair is taking to move the negotiations forward. Always according to the ICTSD article the Chair has set up four "working groups", on high seas fisheries, on artisanal/small-scale fisheries, on income support and on fuel subsidies. The groups are made up by a number of countries.

The Chair has also two "new friends of the chair", one Delegate from New Zealand and one from the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat to work on "reciprocal and shared access to Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs)." I wonder whether this subject covers fisheries agreements.

Here is the link to the ICTSD article:

http://ictsd.org/i/news/biores/101297/

INDONESIA: video on the WTO, fisheries subsidies, tariffs and access to fisheries resources

I found this interesting video in YOUTUBE.

I recommend you to watch it.

USA: still more subsidies for jobs in Samoa's tuna processing industry

Readers of this blog have surely noticed that I have following developments on the subsidies provided by the US to the tuna canning industry in American Samoa.

Well, the saga continues. According to Samoa News Governor Togiola Tulafono has signed the “tax exemption certificate” for StarKist Samoa. This exemption is from American Samoa’s taxes and it is granted by the Governor of American Samoa on some or all taxes (except for individual income tax) forup to 10 years for the establishment or expansion of qualifying industrial or business enterprises under American Samoa’s “Industrial Incentives Act”.

Also according to the press there were some strings attached to the cerificate, in particular in terms of jobs.

Note that this exemption adds to postponement with for one year, by the U.S. Congress, of federally mandated minimum wage increases, and to extension the “30A” tax benefit for another two years. I will discuss this 30A tax benefit in another post.

Here is the link to the article on this issue in Samoa News.

http://www.samoanews.com/viewstory.php?storyid=22919&edition=1295949600

WTO: new book on fisheries subsidies

Just a quick post before the year 2010 ends.

Here are the references for a publication on the very subject of fisheries subsidies.

Good reading!

"Fisheries Subsidies under International Law" by Chen-Ju Chen.

Edited by Springer Verlag.
Hamburg Studies on Maritime Affairs, Vol. 20 (2010) ISBN: 978-3-642-15692-2

http://www.springer.com/law/book/978-3-642-15692-2

MEDIA: presenting "FST" (FISHERIES SUBSIDIES TELEVISION)

Here is the December 2010 edition FST news program.

USA: fisheries subsidies at the latest WTO Review of US Trade Policy (4)

When reading (once more) the minutes of the Trade Policy Review meeting (WTO doc WT/TPR/M/23/Add.1) I noticed that the word fishermen appears in the answer a question put by Argentina on the Trade Adjustment Assistance programme.

Here is the question:

AGENTINA (page 7) 

Which sectors in agriculture, manufacturing, and services have benefitted and what were the amounts?

RESPONSE:  The reauthorized TAA program has not been in operation long enough to evaluate the impact of expanded eligibility and increased benefits.  The following overview provides basic information on the expanded TAA programs, including a summary of the numbers of workers and industries covered by TAA certifications.

Program Overview

The Trade Adjustment Assistance for Workers, Alternative Trade Adjustment Assistance (ATAA), and Reemployment Trade Adjustment Assistance (RTAA) programs are authorized under the Trade Act of 1974, as amended.  These programs are collectively referred to as TAA, and provide assistance to workers who have been adversely affected by foreign trade.

The ARRA reauthorized and modified the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) for Farmers program.  The TAA for Farmers program helps producers of raw agricultural commodities and fishermen [emphasis added] adjust to a changing economic environment associated with import competition through technical assistance and cash benefits.  The ARRA is administered by the United States Department of Agriculture, and the 2009 appropriation for the TAA for Farmers program was $90 million.  (More information on TAA for Farmers is available at:  http://www.fas.usda.gov/ITP/TAA/taa.asp)

This sounds like "income support" subsidies, somenthing which has been labelled as a prohibited subsidy in the 2007 draft Chair's text for a WTO agreement on fisheries  subsidies (doc TN/RL/GEN/213). 

What could shield these subsidies from such a prohibition is that the US could argue that they are non-specific, i.e. available not only to fishermen but also to workers in other sectors.

USA: fisheries subsidies at the latest WTO Review of US Trade Policy (3)

As part of the Trade Policy Review WTO Delegations can make statements. These statements are recorded in document WT/TPR/M/235 of 1 November 2010.

I found the statement by the representative of the European Union most interesting.

I copy here what he/she said:

EUROPEAN UNION (page 41)

280. We note with some surprise that the Secretariat has not given any coverage to the fisheries sector. We would like to understand the reasons for this omission, which deprives Members of valuable information, the U.S. being one of the world's major fishing nations and traders of fish products. So an explanation would be in order.

This is correct. The fisheries sector was not subject to analysis. This is in stark contrast with what happens for other WTO Members (e.g. the EU!) where the fisheries industry has been subject to a very thourough scrutiny.

USA: fisheries subsidies at the latest WTO Review of US Trade Policy (2)

Here is another question put to the US in the context of the Trade Policy Review that mentions fisheries subsidies. The question was asked by SINGAPORE and it concerned the composition of the Trade and Environment Policy Advisory Committee (TEPAC).

As you can see fish subsidies negotiations are high on the agenda of the work of this Committee.

QUESTIONS BY SINGAPORE (page 340)

Question 7

The U.S. in its Government’s Report (WT/TPR/G/235, Page 16, Para 61), has indicated that “members of the five policy advisory committees are appointed by USTR or in conjunction with other Cabinet officers”. The environment policy advisory committee is called the Trade and Environment Policy Advisory Committee (TEPAC) and is managed by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA).

Singapore would like to enquire on the membership composition of the TEPAC, how regularly meetings are convened and its current priority issues of interest. In addition, we would like to seek the U.S.’ clarification if classified/privileged information about the U.S.’ FTA partners is divulged to these private sector advisors.

RESPONSE: The TEPAC is comprised of senior level representatives from the business sector, environment and consumer non-governmental organizations (NGOs), academia, and think tanks. TEPAC ’s full membership can be found on USTR’s website. The TEPAC meets several times a year at a senior level and more frequently at a staff-level, where TEPAC members’ liaisons participate. TEPAC has broad interests, and most recently some of its priority areas of interest have been the WTO fish subsidies negotiations, trade and climate change, and the TPP negotiations. All TEPAC members are required to have a security clearance so that relevant classified/privileged information can be shared with them under agreed procedures.

USA: fisheries subsidies at the latest WTO Review of US Trade Policy

The tenth Trade Policy Review of the United States was held in Geneva on 29 September and 1 October 2010.

Readers may remember that wrote a post on 21/09/2008 quoting questions and answers related to fisheries issues in the context of the 2008 WTO Review of Trade Policy.

This time again a number of WTO Delegations asked questions to the US on the fisheries sector and on subsidies provided to this industry. The full report of the meeting where the questions/answers is inlcuded in WTO document WT/TPR/M/235/Add.1 of 1 November 2010.

I copy hereunder this year's questions and the answers by the US administration. 

QUESTIONS BY THE EUROPEAN UNION (pages 225-228)

(iv) Subsidies and other government assistance

WTO Secretariat's Report, page 64, Table III.9

Table III.9, concerning federal subsidies programmes notified to the WTO, gives the amounts relating to subsidies in the fisheries sector for fiscal years 2005-2008. The Report does not provide any information on fisheries subsidies beyond 2008.

In the framework the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) an amount of US$50 million has been earmarked to subsidise aquaculture. Baitfish growers and catfish farmers are eligible if their 2008 feed costs were at least 25 percent of their total operating cost. They also are eligible if their feed costs are 25 percent above the average cost of feed from 2003-2007.

59. Can the U.S. confirm the above information?

RESPONSE: Yes.

60. Are the products farmed by the beneficiaries competing with those products covered by anti-dumping proceedings against catfish products from Vietnam?

RESPONSE: The Farm Service Agency’s 2008 Aquaculture Grant Program will provide block grants to state Departments of Agriculture that agree to provide assistance to eligible aquaculture producers for losses associated with high feed costs during the 2008 calendar year. For more information, see http://www.fsa.usda.gov/Internet/FSA_File/fsa_recovactplans_aag052709.pdf.

61. Did the beneficiaries of the above mentioned subsidies receive funds from collected antidumping duty revenues under the Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act of 2000 ("Byrd Amendment")? If so, could the U.S. provide figures on the amounts disbursed?

RESPONSE: The annual report for CDSOA payments, which lists all the disbursements and recipients in 2009, can be found at: http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/trade/priority_trade/add_cvd/cont_ dump/.

62. Could the U.S. confirm the above information? If so, will the above subsidies be notified to the WTO and when?

RESPONSE: We confirm the information cited in the referenced press release. If appropriate, the measures at issue would be notified by the United States in its next WTO subsidies notification, which is due June 30, 2011.

63. Have the U.S. authorities assessed the impact of the above subsidies on existing fishery resources? If not, how will they ensure that the subsidies granted to New England fishermen do not result in overcapacity and overfishing?

RESPONSE: The new management system being implemented in the Northeast groundfish fishery is intended to reduce overcapacity and encourage ecological sustainability.

64. With regard to the amounts of US$546,000 and US$954,000, which percentage of these amount cover operational costs, such as crew, fuel, gear, insurance etc?

RESPONSE: No portion of that funding will be used for the operational costs of fishermen. The funding will be used entirely for sector management and infrastructure development.

65. Does the US$10 million subsidy package relate to a declared "commercial fisheries disaster"?

RESPONSE: The measures described by the EU do not relate to a declared “commercial fisheries disaster”.

66. If not, have the beneficiaries of the above subsidies separately benefited from commercial fisheries disaster assistance under either § 308 of the Interjurisdictional Fisheries Act, or § 312(a) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act? If so, could the U.S. provide information on the amounts disbursed?

RESPONSE: No, the $5 million amount is being provided to the states of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and Maine in order to set up permit banks at the state level; it is not for individuals. Also, the funding for fishing sector managers is going to the Gulf of Maine Research Institute for sector management. The referenced beneficiaries have not separately benefited from commercial fisheries disaster assistance under either § 308 of the Interjurisdictional Fisheries Act, or § 312(a) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act since 1999.

Ms. Jane LUBCHENCO, Undersecretary for Oceans and Atmosphere and NOAA Administrator, in her written statement, when presenting the NOAA 2011 budget request before the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce at a hearing on 3 March 2010, stated the following: "NOAA recently released a draft catch share policy to encourage the consideration and adoption of catch shares wherever appropriate in fishery management and ecosystem plans and amendments, and will support the design, implementation, and monitoring of catch share programs. Catch share programs give fishermen a stake in the benefits of well-managed fisheries, and therefore greater incentive to ensure effective management. To support NOAA’s policy, this budget includes an increase of $36.6 million, for a total request of $54 million, to establish a National Catch Share Program. This program will provide a national framework to develop, manage, and improve catch share programs in fisheries across the Nation. This increase will also continue the transition of the Northeast ground fish (multispecies) fishery to sector management as well as support new voluntary catch share programs in the Mid-Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, and Pacific Coast regions."

67. Could the U.S. provide more information about these "catch share" programmes? Will the beneficiaries of these funds have to purchase their "catch shares" or will they get them at no cost? Can catch shares be traded among participants in the fishery? Could these catch shares be used as collateral when entering into credit arrangements with lenders (e.g. banks)?

RESPONSE: The shares are determined based on the catch history of participants in that fishery. The shares are not free, are not owned by the participants, and cannot be used as collateral.

68. Could the U.S. elaborate on the use of the requested funds (US$54 million) for "…the transition of the Northeast ground fish (multispecies) fishery to sector management…"?

RESPONSE: The $54 million was requested by NOAA for development and implementation of catch share programs on a national scale. A portion of that funding will support the development, implementation and management of the Northeast groundfish fishery. Other fisheries around the nation will use the funding to develop and manage their own catch share programs. These actions will promote ecological sustainability. This is a request to Congress, which has not yet been acted upon.

On 24 May 2010 Commerce Secretary Gary Locke announced a "Fishery Failure Determination" in Gulf of Mexico under Section 312(a) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act. According to the press release, Secretary Locke stated that “Commercial and recreational fishing provides vital jobs to the region and is essential to the Gulf Coast’s unique culture and heritage.” With regard to the assistance requested under this "Fisheries Failure", the press release mentions that "The administration has requested US$15 million of supplemental funding as a backstop to address this disaster, as well as US$5 million of economic development assistance through the Economic Development Administration. In addition, the administration is requesting unemployment coverage for this disaster, and the Small Business Administration is offering economic injury disaster loans, which can help fishermen and other affected businesses."

69. Have the requested US$15 million of supplemental funding as a backstop to address this disaster, as well as US$5 million of economic development assistance through the Economic Development Administration, been granted?

RESPONSE: The requested $15 million and $5 million amounts in supplemental funding was appropriated on July 29, 2010, when President Obama signed H.R. 4899, the “Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2010” into law. On September 23, 2010, the Economic Development Administration published a notice of the Gulf Oil Spill Supplemental Funding Opportunity in the Federal Register (75 FR 57900). The notice describes the general policies and application procedures for the supplemental funding opportunity.

70. With regard to the unemployment coverage specifically requested for this disaster, can the U.S. provide figures about the amounts paid to the beneficiaries?

RESPONSE: The estimated benefit outlays for unemployment insurance claims that were filed due to unemployment caused by the oil spill have been approximately $1.9 million.

71. With regard to the injury disaster loans, could the U.S. provide details about the terms under which such loans are granted?

RESPONSE: Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) are working capital loans to help small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives and most private, non-profit organizations meet necessary financial obligations that cannot be met as a direct result of the oil spill disaster. The loans are limited to entities that cannot provide for their own recovery. An applicant must have an acceptable credit history, show the ability to repay the loan and provide collateral, if available. The interest rate is 4.00% for businesses and agricultural cooperatives without credit available elsewhere. The term of the loan may be up to 30 years, based on the borrower’s ability to repay. The law limits EIDLs to $2 million for alleviating economic injury caused by the disaster.

According to information published by Georgia's state authorities, a grant of US$1 million was awarded in May 2010 to assist with building improvements at the location of a manufacturing and distribution facility for Tri-Union Seafoods, LLC d.b.a. Chicken of the Sea International, under Georgia's Economic Development, Growth and Expansion Fund. The total estimated cost of the project is $21.5 million and the jobs to be created amount to 310 new jobs in four years.

72. Are the U.S. authorities aware of similar subsidies (grants) to the fish processing industry allocated to companies in this sector? If yes, could information about such subsidy programmes be provided?

RESPONSE: It should be noted that the Georgia assistance was provided under a job creation program available to all industries. For the latest information on other programs, please see the U.S. subsidies notification (G/SCM/N/186/USA).

WTO: reporting on informal negotiating meeting on fisheries subsidies (8)

It seems that the Negotiating Group on Rules met recently. This is what the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Develoment (ICTSD) is reporting in "Bridges Weekly Trade News Digest" (Volume 14,  Number 44, 22 December 2010).

According to ICTSD Delegates discussed papers from Korea (TN/RL/GEN/168), Brazil, India, China and Mexico (TN/RL/GEN/163) which I discussed in my post of 13 February 2010, and Australia (TN/RL/GEN/167).

I assume that this was an "informal" meeting as no official record has been published.

Here is the link to the ICTSD article:

http://ictsd.org/i/news/bridgesweekly/98986/

MALAYSIA: fishermen should stop relaying on (fuel) subsidies.

Malaysia's Deputy Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Johari Baharum said a few weeks ago, “All industries in Malaysia have asked for help, and we have given so many subsidies”.

Citing fishermen as an example, he said, “We give each fisherman RM200 (USD 64) a month as well as fuel subsidies and incentives."

He said this in October 2010 in the framework of the Aquafair Malaysia 2010 at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre.

Here is the link to the article.

http://freemalaysiatoday.com/fmt-english/politics/barisan-nasional/11414-agri-sector-must-stop-relying-on-subsidies-says-johari

CENTRAL AMERICA: government-to-government(s) fisheries subsidies?

My previous post was about Argentina, this one is about the Central American Region.

Here is a press release, in Spanish, about a donation by the government of Taiwan to the "Organización del Sector Pesquero y Acuícola del Istmo Centroamericano (OSPESCA)" for the "Proyecto de Apoyo al Proceso de Integración de la Pesca y la Acuicultura Centroamericana (PRIPESCA)".

The donation, USD 641,666, is part of a total of USD 4,400,000 that Taiwan will pay for the financing of the above project.

Here is the link to the webpages (in Spanish) of the OSPESCA project:

http://www.sica.int/ospesca/ospesca_breve.aspx?IdEnt=47

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#

USA: more subsidies, this time to shrimpers

I copy here a new release by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Texas Farm Service Agency on subsidies for U.S. shrimpers in the Gulf og Mexico region.

Deadline to apply for Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) for Shrimp - Dec. 23, 2010

(COLLEGE STATION, TX), December 16, 2010 - Juan M. Garcia, Executive Director of USDA's Texas Farm Service Agency (FSA) reminds producers of the December 23, 2010 deadline to apply for the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program for 2008 shrimp.

Shrimp assistance is approved for Alabama, Alaska, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas.

"TAA provides technical training and financial benefits to eligible producers whose commodity, in this case shrimp, has been adversely impacted by foreign competition," said Garcia. "After the Dec. 23 deadline, no applications will be accepted as there are no late file provisions for TAA."

FSA County Offices will accept applications for 2008 shrimp through December 23, 2010. The application form is available at FSA offices or at: http://www.fas.usda.gov/itp/taa/taaforms.asp.

For eligibility and application details, contact your local FSA office. Information is also available on the Foreign Agricultural Service Web site at www.fas.usda.gov/itp/taa.

 Note that the aid programme mentioned in the news release predates the "Deepwater Horizon" oil spill disaster. Also note that some shrimpres in the Gulf of Mexico could have received subsidies coming from anti-dumping duties imposed on imports of shrimp from a number of developing countries.