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Fisheries subsidies draft published for WTO Ministerial Conference

But with many issues unresolved, the chair says officials will continue to work on it before and during the Abu Dhabi conference

UPDATE: On April 12, 2024, chair Einar Gunnarsson circulated a copy of an “advance draft” as emailed to ministers in the early hours of March 1, 2024, close to the end of the Abu Dhabi Ministerial Conference. His accompanying explanation includes a detailed account of what happened at the conference.

Paragraphs 56 to 59 of the chair’s explanation describe further convergence after that draft was circulated, although some issues remained unsettled. It was the further revisions that Fiji and Vanuatu wanted discussed in the final plenary sessions at the conference, sparking a furious outburst of objections from India’s Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal. As Gunnarsson says, work will continue.

By Peter Ungphakorn
POSTED FEBRUARY 19, 2024 | UPDATED APRIL 13, 2024

The fisheries subsidies draft for the World Trade Organization’s February 26–29, 2024 Ministerial Conference in Abu Dhabi was published on February 16 along with a detailed explanation by the chair, Ambassador Einar Gunnarsson of Iceland.

“All members are very aware that next week, the eyes of the world will be on us,” Gunnarsson told journalists on February 19. (His full statement is here.)

“I believe that we have every possibility to deliver a meaningful outcome and bring these very long-running fisheries subsidies negotiations to a close at last. I will do everything in my power to help that chance become a reality.”

Achieving that is not guaranteed, and work continues in the final days before the conference to resolve at least some of the remaining differences.

(The draft and the explanation are presented side by side here.)

Chair issues new draft before final fisheries subsidies month

Agreement by February 29 depends on four weeks of intensive talks. Can members settle their many differences?

See also:
Updates, timeline and links | all articles tagged “fisheries subsidies”
Technical note on subsidies for fisheries

By Peter Ungphakorn
POSTED JANUARY 2, 2024 | UPDATED JANUARY 13, 2024

A new draft and explanatory note on the Fisheries Subsidies Agreement’s “missing piece” was circulated to members on December 21, 2023, the World Trade Organization’s final working day of the year.

The chair, Ambassador Einar Gunnarsson of Iceland, has given WTO members four weeks from January 15 to February 9, 2024 to try to agree on a final version, which they would submit to the February 26–29 Ministerial Conference in Abu Dhabi.

SUMMARY

Too long, don’t want to read? If you just want the essence, stick with this SUMMARY section, which is about 15 short paragraphs. Continue beyond that if you want the DETAILS. Right at the end are the full texts. This article is long because a lot remains to be sorted out. The chair’s explanation is a seven-page document.

UPCOMING KEY FISH DATES
Over the New Year — Some consultations possible, but generally a break
January 15–February 9 — “fish month” of intensive talks
February 14 — final General Council meeting before the Ministerial Conference
February 15–25 — delegations’ preparations: coordinating with capitals and ministers, travelling to Abu Dhabi
February 26–29 — Ministerial Conference

For the first time since he floated a trial text in September, Gunnarsson released this version publicly.

The chair’s draft and his accompanying explanation are reproduced side by side below. An explanation of the details is also below. (The original pdf format of the draft is here and the accompanying explanation is here).

The chair’s detailed explanation shows that differences still have to be bridged throughout the text, although it remains to be seen where countries’ real red lines are, and whether they can compromise at the last minute. In 2022 they still couldn’t, 21 years after the talks were launched.

What’s left to resolve in WTO fisheries subsidies talks after deadline missed

The fate of the talks now rests on intensive negotiations in four weeks from mid-January with some consultations before then. Are the differences still too numerous to settle in that time?

By Peter Ungphakorn
POSTED DECEMBER 12, 2023 | UPDATED DECEMBER 13, 2023

The chair of the World Trade Organization’s fisheries subsidies negotiations and Iceland’s ambassador, Einar Gunnarsson, admitted on on December 8, 2023, that there would not be an agreed text by the end of the year, despite a commitment from senior officials six weeks earlier that there would.

He and WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala told ambassadors at the end of the final “fish week” of the year that they still hoped that the differences could be settled by the Ministerial Conference in February next year — although the next talks are now not scheduled until mid-January.

They noted that delegates showed they were determined to reach agreement, and were encouraged by various proposed amendments to the chair’s September 4 draft designed to bridge the differences.

Texts on the table (details below) show that members diverge on a wide range of topics, particularly whether the biggest players should face extra scrutiny and if so how they would be identified, and the details of exemptions for developing countries.

Chair’s draft accepted, haggling over WTO fisheries subsidies text begins

Can negotiators strike a deal this winter?

By Peter Ungphakorn
POSTED SEPTEMBER 22, 2023 | UPDATED SEPTEMBER 23, 2023

World Trade Organization (WTO) members have agreed to proceed with the text drafted by the fisheries subsidies talks’ chair as a basis for their negotiations as they strive to reach agreement on it by February 2024.

This final phase of the negotiations aims to break the deadlock that left the 2022 Fisheries Subsidies Agreement incomplete. WTO members still have to agree on provisions to discipline — and in some cases outlaw — subsidies that contribute to overcapacity and overfishing.

Their target for reaching agreement is the next (13th) WTO Ministerial Conference (MC13) in Abu Dhabi next February.

Whether a breakthrough can be achieved after decades of deadlock remains to be seen. Disciplining subsidies contributing to overcapacity and overfishing is a key part of the UN Sustainable Development Goal 14, target 6, whose 2020 deadline for the WTO talks is fading into the distant past.

New draft starts text-based rush for WTO fish subsidies’ ‘missing piece’

The text is on subsidies contributing to overcapacity and overfishing, with an accompanying explanation from the chair. Members want to complete the deal by February 2024

By Peter Ungphakorn
POSTED SEPTEMBER 8, 2023 | UPDATED DECEMBER 10, 2023

The chair of the World Trade Organization’s fisheries subsidies negotiations and Iceland’s ambassador, Einar Gunnarsson, circulated a new draft text on September 4, 2023, on disciplines for subsidies contributing to overcapacity and overfishing — the “missing piece” in the June 2022 agreement.

Those disciplines are a key part of the UN Sustainable Development Goal 14, target 6, whose 2020 deadline for the WTO talks had already been missed.

The new draft allows this phase of the negotiations to focus on a text rather than more general principles. Gunnarsson introduced it to WTO ambassadors at the start of his fifth “fish week” on September 18, 2023.

Draft chair’s text November 2021 for the WTO agriculture negotiations

Circulated by Ambassador Gloria Abraham Peralta on November 19, 2021

New dates
On February 23, 2022, WTO members meeting as the General Council
agreed to reschedule the Ministerial Conference for the week of June 13

See also
Pre-ministerial draft shows little to harvest in WTO farm talks

By Peter Ungphakorn
POSTED DECEMBER 9, 2021 | UPDATED FEBRUARY 24, 2022

Note: the official draft text is available as a public document here. It was circulated on November 23, 2021 by Ambassador Gloria Abraham Peralta of Costa Rica, the present chair of the negotiations. See the WTO news story of November 25 on the release and discussion.

As with the version from July, the new docusment starts with an assessment by the chair, with an introduction, eight subject headings, and a conclusion. Then come annexes, the main one with a draft text covering all the eight headings — originally eight separate draft decisions — followed by a draft decision on exempting the World Food Programme from export restrictions.

In these pages, the text has been reorganised so the assessment and draft text for each subject are brought together under a single subject heading on a single page:

Introduction and draft preamble (on this page)
Domestic support and draft
Market access and draft
Export competition [where export subsidies might be hidden] and draft
Export restrictions and draft (including decision on World Food Programme)
Cotton and draft
Special safeguard mechanism (SSM) and draft
Public stockholding for food security purposes (PSH) [where purchases at government-set prices are trade-distorting domestic support] and draft
Transparency and draft
Conclusion (on this page)

Draft chair’s text July 2021 for the WTO agriculture negotiations

Circulated by Ambassador Gloria Abraham Peralta on July 29, 2021

By Peter Ungphakorn
POSTED AUGUST 3, 2021 | UPDATED AUGUST 3, 2021

Note: the official draft text is here with a small correction here. It was circulated on July 29 by Ambassador Gloria Abraham Peralta of Costa Rica, the present chair of the negotiations.

A revised version was circulated on November 23, 2021

The original starts with an assessment by the chair, with a long introduction, eight subject headings, and a conclusion. Then comes an annex with draft texts for decisions or agreements on each of those subjects.

Here, the text has been reorganised so the assessment and draft text for each subject are brought together under a single subject heading:

Introduction (on this page)
Domestic support and draft
Market access and draft
Export competition [where export subsidies might be hidden] and draft
Export restrictions and draft
Cotton and draft
Special safeguard mechanism (SSM) and draft
Public stockholding for food security purposes (PSH) [where purchases at government-set prices are trade-distorting domestic support] and dr aft
Transparency and draft
Conclusion (on this page)