Saving Seafood

July moment of truth for WTO fishery subsidy talks

April 28, 2021 — The head of the World Trade Organisation is hoping to present a final text of a deal on ending harmful fishery subsidies to a virtual meeting of trade ministers in July.

A series of meetings in April between heads of delegations focused on several key issues which remain to be resolved, including potential exemptions for subsidies to subsistence or small-scale fishing; due process for determining illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing; and the approach to the prohibition of subsidies contributing to overcapacity and overfishing.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

New WTO chief pushes for vaccine access, fisheries deal

March 2, 2021 — The new head of the World Trade Organization called Monday for a “technology transfer” when it comes to COVID-19 vaccines and urged member nations to reach a deal to reduce overfishing after years of fruitless talks as she laid out her top priorities after taking office.

Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, a Nigerian economist and former government minister, donned a mask and doled out welcoming elbow bumps as she took up her job at WTO headquarters on the banks of Lake Geneva. Still, she immediately set about trying to change the organization’s culture.

“It cannot be business as usual. We have to change our approach from debate and rounds of questions to delivering results,” she told ambassadors and other top government envoys that make up the 164-member body’s General Council.

“The world is leaving the WTO behind. Leaders and decision-makers are impatient for change,” she said, noting several trade ministers had told her that “if things don’t change,” they would not attend the WTO’s biggest event — a ministerial meeting — “because it is a waste of their time.”

Okonjo-Iweala, 66, is both the first woman and the first African to serve as the WTO’s director-general. Her brisk comments were a departure from the more cautious approach of her predecessor, Roberto Azevedo, who resigned on Aug. 31 — a year before the end of his term.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at The Boston Globe

WTO fishing subsidies negotiations resume, with exemptions for developing nations a key issue

January 25, 2021 — World Trade Organization members have restarted negotiations on ending harmful fisheries subsidies, with the key issue of exemptions for artisanal fisheries and developing nations under debate.

WTO members reopened formal negotiations on fisheries subsidies as the heads of delegations met on 22 January in Geneva, Switzerland. The organization had hoped for a deal in 2020, but talks repeatedly stalled over the issue of special treatment for developing countries. Some developing countries involved in the negotiations have called for an exemption from any ban on harmful subsidies, after China’s claim to be classed as a developing nation created tension in earlier phases of the talks.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

NGOs, WTO delegates label EU fisheries funding as harmful subsidy

December 16, 2020 — A EUR 6.1 billion (USD 7.4 billion) budget of the next European Maritime, Fisheries, and Aquaculture Fund (EMFAF) for 2021 to 2027 is drawing criticism from NGOs and a WTO delegate, who say it represents a harmful subsidy encouraging unsustainable fishing.

The package was agreed to in principle last week in Brussels by the European Union’s parliament, and the European Council, composed of member-state governments.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

OECD criticizes subsidies, calls for better global fisheries management

December 11, 2020 — The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development has published its annual report on global fisheries, outlining how governments are addressing the key challenges faced by their fishing sectors and suggesting priorities for action at the national and international level.

The OECD Review of Fisheries 2020, published 10 December, is based on an in-depth analysis of the latest data reported by OECD countries and partner economies. A major finding of the review is that some current fisheries policies are continuing to contribute towards the overexploitation of stocks. As a result, progress towards achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development has slipped. The goal’s objective of restoring all fish stocks “at least to levels that can produce maximum sustainable yield as determined by their biological characteristics” by the end of 2020, has not been reached at a global level, largely due to lack of progress on policy reforms.

Read the full story at Seafood Source