Revised fisheries draft: WTO draft snubs India's transition period proposal

WTO member nations from Tuesday will kick start a clause-by-clause discussion of the entire text of the revised draft

The revised draft text of the fisheries subsidies at the World Trade Organization (WTO) does not specify the transition period of 25 years for exempting some developing countries from subsidy cuts as proposed by India.

The transition period is likely to be decided after further discussion by member nations over the next few days. The global trade body looks forward to a consensus on the deal that aims to cap subsidies to promote sustainable fishing.

According to India’s recent proposal to the WTO, developing countries not engaged in distant water fishing should be exempt from overfishing subsidy prohibitions for 25 years. “No specific duration of this transition period is suggested in the revised text – rather this question is represented in the text by a negotiable X number of years. This is to reflect the fact that some developing country members are seeking transition periods of up to 25 years, while some other members consider any transition period to last for only a few years,” head of fisheries subsidies negotiations at the WTO, Ambassador Santiago Wills of Colombia, told reporters.

“The text takes a big step in a direction sought by these members by including an exemption from the main discipline on subsidies contributing to overcapacity and overfishing,” he said. India had also suggested that only those countries, which are engaged in distant water fishing and beyond their natural geographic area, should stop giving subsidies for 25 years in fishing areas beyond their exclusive economic zones, that is, 200 nautical miles.

Wills is hopeful of a ‘balanced’ outcome on fisheries subsidies at the 12th WTO Ministerial Conference (MC12) that is expected to kick-start from November 30.

The revised draft also suggested a threshold of 0.7 per cent for a country's share of global fishing up to which it would be exempted from subsidy cuts. The draft also took away the time period which was specified in the earlier draft for exemptions from these subsidy cuts for these countries.

“This is a change from the previous text because it removes the time limit on the exception as long as the member falls under the de minimis criteria,” Wills said. This is in line with India’s proposal.

However, the threshold is subject to negotiations, Wills said.

India accounts for higher than the suggested threshold at about 4 per cent of global fishing at 3.8 million tonnes annually, according to industry estimates. That is why it sought the transition of 25 years for exemption from subsidy cuts.

WTO member nations, from Tuesday, will start a clause-by-clause discussion of the entire text of the revised draft. “The objective of this final phase is to collectively evolve this draft text ideally into a completely clean text. Or, at least as clean as possible with only one or two issues left for ministers to decide,” Wills said.

According to the latest data from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), fish stocks are at risk of collapsing in many parts of the world due to overexploitation, which is set to worsen poverty.

It is estimated that 34 per cent of global stocks are overfished as compared with 10 per cent in 1974. This is an indication that they are being exploited at a pace where the fish population cannot replenish itself.

India has been keen on finalising the fisheries subsidies agreement at the WTO. However, with irrational subsidies and overfishing by many countries hurting Indian fishermen, India argued that, in its current form, the agreement is not balanced.