- Despite switching to online meetings and written consultations to continue negotiations, WTO members were unable to finish negotiations at the 14 December informal meeting of the Trade Negotiations Committee.
- During the final “cluster” of discussions in the 2020 work programme, heads of delegations provided drafting suggestions on IUU fishing, overcapacity and overfishing, and special and differential treatment for developing countries.
- WTO Deputy Director-General Karl Brauner said greater political will, pressure from civil society, and renewed engagement will help members finalize an agreement.
World Trade Organization (WTO) members did not conclude negotiations on an agreement on curbing harmful fisheries subsidies by the 2020 deadline. A new schedule for meetings in 2021 is being developed, with the aim of bringing “this negotiation to the finish line.”
The WTO’s 11th Ministerial Conference (MC11) and SDG target 14.6 give negotiators the task of securing an agreement on eliminating subsidies for illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing and to prohibit certain forms of fisheries subsidies that contribute to overcapacity and overfishing by the end of 2020. In March 2020, the COVID-19 crisis resulted in the suspension of in-person meetings, and members used online meetings and written exchanges to continue negotiations. Despite their efforts and “almost daily” meetings in late November, WTO members were unable to finish negotiations at the 14 December informal meeting of the Trade Negotiations Committee.
Throughout 2020, members have negotiated on the basis of a draft consolidated text first introduced in June 2020 and then on a revised version introduced in early November 2020. The draft text addresses all the main pillars of the negotiations, including prohibitions on subsidies, a placeholder for a capping mechanism and a list of non-harmful subsidies, provisions for special and differential treatment for developing and least developed countries (LDCs), technical assistance and capacity building, notification and transparency, institutional arrangements, and dispute settlement. During the final “cluster” of discussions in the 2020 work programme, heads of delegations provided drafting suggestions on IUU fishing, overcapacity and overfishing, and special and differential treatment for developing countries.
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