Friday May 16, 09:48 PM
Proposed WTO subsidy waiver "threatens fish stocks" |
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By Jonathan Lynn
GENEVA (Reuters) - Major developing countries have proposed exemptions to a planned trade deal on fishing subsidies but a leading environmental group said on Friday the waiver would undermine efforts to restrain overfishing.
The joint proposal this week by China, India and Indonesia aims to give special treatment to poor countries, in line with the development mandate of the World Trade Organisation's (WTO) Doha round to open up global commerce.
But it highlights the tension between development and environment needs, with the United States saying that by effectively allowing subsidies to commercial fleets it could destroy fish stocks in all members, rich and poor.
"How we decide this will have an impact on fish as a food source in the future," said Courtney Sakai, senior campaign director of advocacy group Oceana, which advises the U.S. government.
There is broad agreement in the Doha round that fishing subsidies should be limited, and that developing countries should have special treatment, especially for many small-scale fishermen who live in poverty.
BLANK CHEQUE
But critics of the new proposal say it gives a "blank cheque" to developing countries, some of whom are already big producers of fish, to subsidise commercial operations on the high seas far from home.
Sakai said the proposal undermined the spirit of the WTO negotiations, where the chapter on trade rules includes fisheries subsidies.
"The fisheries subsidies proposal... would likely result in detrimental harm to the millions of people who depend on fish and fishing for their livelihood and sustenance," she said.
Under the new joint proposal, developing countries would be able to subsidise fishing vessels up to 24 metres in length instead of up to 10 meters as proposed in the current negotiating draft.
It would allow developing countries to use indigenous methods to control overfishing instead of a formal fisheries management system, as currently proposed.
India has argued that developing countries may not have the capacity to operate a formal fisheries management system.
"It seems to be unfair to restrict the very subsidies that developed countries have historically given to their fishermen," the joint proposal said.
Developing countries are not the only ones to seek changes to the current proposals. Banning operating subsidies on materials such as fuel, bait and ice would make many fishing fleets uneconomic.
Last month Canada proposed letting all countries, developed and developing, continue subsidising small-scale fishing by allowing subsidies for fleets in territorial waters up to a yet to be negotiated share of the value of the previous catch.
The Canadian proposal particularly aims to protect the fishing rights of indigenous peoples but Oceana said it could be used by other countries to continue industrial-scale fishing.
The Canadian proposal won support from the European Union, Japan and South Korea, but came under fire from many developing countries as well as Australia and New Zealand, who also criticised this week's joint proposal.
Japanese fishing firms such as Maruha Nichiro Holdings and Nippon Suisan Kasha will be following the talks closely.
Uruguay's WTO ambassador Guillermo Valles Galmes, who chairs the talks on trade rules, has said he plans to issue a new document in the coming weeks to summarise the state of negotiations and serve as a blueprint for a deal in that area.
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