New Zealand lobbies WTO to prohibit $20bn in fisheries subsidies
April 30, 2004
Wellington - New Zealand had made a proposal to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to prohibit an estimated $20 billion (R136 billion) in fisheries subsidies paid out worldwide, trade negotiations minister Jim Sutton said yesterday.
Sutton said world fisheries were in crisis and subsidies were a part of the problem.
"Key stocks are being run down, some to the point of collapse," he said in a statement. "Large parts of the industry are suffering. This is having acute social and commercial impacts."
At the world trade body in Geneva the proposed prohibition was immediately criticised by the EU as "brutal and over the top", a trade source said. Japan, South Korea and Taiwan also opposed the move, the source said.
The proposal came to "extreme conclusions" and could lead to the elimination of "good subsidies" aimed at preserving some fish species, said the Japanese delegate in the meeting.
Argentina, Australia, Chile, Iceland, Norway, Pakistan, Peru, the Philippines and Thailand supported the proposals, but many Asian countries also called for special treatment for developing countries.
The US said the proposal contained "simple and enforceable rules" and urged countries to "take advantage of this negotiation to make trade liberalisation beneficial to the environment".
But countries have been struggling to find a way of controlling fisheries subsidies at a global level, despite growing concern about overfishing and some regional restrictions on support for fishing fleets.
Sutton said New Zealand, which has the fifth-largest fishery industry, called for a broad prohibition on commercial subsidies.
New Zealand is arguing that a broad ban and a list of defined exceptions and transitional arrangements would be more effective than a bottom-up negotiation on a list of prohibited subsidies.
The EU wants to preserve subsidies aimed at preventing overfishing, such as recently introduced decommissioning payments for boats and other support aimed at shifting fishing away from endangered species.
Recently officials on both sides of the subsidy debate said the divide on fisheries support had diminished.
WTO member states agreed at the ministerial meeting in Doha in 2001 to "clarify" global trade rules on fisheries subsidies primarily to help developing nations.
|
|
