Meeting for the first time in Latin America, the World Trade Organization\u2019s\u00a011th Ministerial Conference will take place in Buenos Aires from 10-13 December.<\/p>\n
As usual, it will bring together trade ministers, negotiators and thousands of business and civil society leaders. Central to this year\u2019s talks will be an international deal to curb harmful fishing subsidies. These are government payments or tax breaks that contribute to overcapacity, overfishing and illegal fishing (IUU) globally.<\/p>\n
The 164 member countries of the World Trade Organization (WTO) will aim for a binding agreement to eliminate these subsidies, an issue that has been under discussion for more than two decades. This year, a strong, renewed commitment from all actors could help to achieve an urgently-needed deal.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is time to come to a resolution. If not, the credibility of the WTO regarding its commitment to sustainable development will be questioned. There are too many vessels competing for an increasingly exploited stock of fish,\u201d Remi Parmentier, director of environmental consultancy The Varda Group<\/a>, told chinadialogue<\/em>.<\/p>\n Without a resolution, the credibility of the WTO regarding its commitment to sustainable development will be questioned<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Subsidies paid to the fishing industry amount to around US$35 billion per year (232 billion yuan). Of this, US$20 billion (132 billion yuan) are given in forms that\u00a0enhance the capacity of large fishing fleets, such as fuel subsidies and tax exemption programmes, according to the European Parliament’s Committee on Fisheries<\/a>.<\/p>\n Proper management of fisheries can go some way to curb the impact of fleet expansion on dwindling resources, but measures are rarely enforced effectively, meaning fisheries are overexploited.<\/p>\n Around 60% of the world\u2019s assessed fish stocks are fully exploited and 30% are already overexploited, according to the 2016\u00a0SOFIA <\/a>report<\/a>, published by\u00a0theUnited Nation\u2019s Food and Agriculture Organization.<\/p>\n Experts claim, along with many developing countries, that fisheries subsidies significantly distort global fish markets and are a major contributing factor to the depletion of resources.<\/p>\n However, developing countries want to protect subsidies, which they say support the livelihoods of low-income, resource-poor fishermen.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are a lot of boats that would not be working now if it they hadn\u2019t received subsidies. The oceans can\u2019t keep up with the pressure they are now facing, most of the resources are being fully exploited,\u201d Guillermo Ca\u00f1ete, marine programme coordinator at Vida Silvestre<\/a>, an Argentine non-governmental organisation (NGO), told China Dialogue Ocean<\/em>.<\/p>\n The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) established in 2015 by the United Nations agreed to eliminate fishing subsidies by 2020 as part of the SDG 14, which aims to conserve and sustainably use the oceans and marine resources.<\/p>\n The role of the WTO in achieving this was reiterated in June 2017 at the UN Ocean Conference held in New York. WTO deputy general director Alan Wolff said eliminating fishing subsidies would be the \u201cpriority in Buenos Aires\u201d, although preferential treatment may be given to lower income countries.<\/p>\n \u201cFishing subsidies have been in the agenda of the WTO since its last meeting in Nairobi [in 2016]. For Argentina, it\u2019s an important issue and since it\u2019s chairing the summit it\u2019s possible to have some kind of agreement,\u201d said Marcelo Elizondo, trade expert and head of business consultancy DNI<\/a>.<\/p>\n The European Union, Japan, China, the United States and Russia spend the most on fishing subsidies, according to Permentier, who emphasised the role of Asia as the largest regional contributor of subsidies.<\/p>\nTipping point<\/h2>\n
National interests<\/h2>\n