WTO: India rejects fish sops document, says it does not provide level playing field

New Delhi: India has rejected the current text on global fisheries subsidy negotiations, saying it does not provide a level playing field to developing nations to address the aspirations of their traditional fishers and protect their livelihood.

Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal reiterated the developing world's demand to put an end to subsidies given by countries engaged in distant water fishing at the World Trade Organisation's 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12) in Geneva on Tuesday, pointing out that they provide significantly higher support measures than what developing countries extend to their traditional fisherfolk.

India barely provides $15 subsidy per fisher family in a year while some developed countries give as much as $42,000, $65,000 and $75,000 to each fisher family, Goyal said.


"That is the extent of disparity that is sought to be institutionalised, through the current fisheries text," he said.

The 164-member WTO is negotiating rules based on a text that has done away with India's proposals to put an end to non-specific fuel subsidies or those that are not targeted at a particular industry.

It also allows only a seven-year transition period for developing countries, as against India's proposal that developing countries not engaged in 'distant water fishing' should be exempt from overfishing subsidy prohibitions for 25 years.

Goyal said that without agreeing to the 25-year transition period, it would be impossible for India to finalise the negotiations, as policy space was essential for the long-term sustainable growth and prosperity of the country's low-income fishermen.

He said the transition period of 25 years sought by India is not intended as a permanent carve-out. "It is a must-have for us and for other similarly placed non-distant water fishing countries."

The minister also pointed out distant water fishing is indiscriminately exploiting global fisheries resources. "To our distress, the present text does not stop such over-exploitation; instead, it indiscreetly allows such practices indefinitely," he said.

It is "necessary to open the eyes of this august assembly to the deep concerns of the low-income countries and the developing world and...to the huge disparity sought to be foisted on us once again like it was done in agriculture 35 years ago", he said.

IMBALANCED TEXT:
Goyal said India cannot agree to an "imbalanced" text which is scrutinising subsidies extended by the developing countries to their millions of small-scale and artisanal fishermen for meeting their genuine needs and enabling their access to fishing for livelihoods in their own exclusive economic zone (EEZ), or 200 nautical miles from the coast.

Besides the issue of setting geographical limits (12 to 200 nautical miles) for providing subsidies to traditional fishermen, the other contentious issue in the current text is about deciding which developing nation or least developed countries will be exempted from prohibiting certain subsidies that lead to overfishing.

WTO members are discussing whether to set the limit at nations with less than 0.7% or 0.8% of the global marine catch.