India wants WTO fish subsidies pact to be equitable

New Delhi: India will agree to a World Trade Organisation agreement on fisheries subsidies if the deal is equitable and does not lock member countries in any disadvantageous position in perpetuity even as it is short of finding the right balance and fairness in the agreement simultaneously, the country's negotiators have said ahead of a key WTO meeting next month.

New Delhi is keen to finalise the fisheries subsidies agreement in the upcoming Twelfth WTO Ministerial Conference (MC12) because irrational subsidies and overfishing by many countries are hurting Indian fishermen, but is short of finding the right balance and fairness in the pact, people aware of the matter said.

Negotiations are on among WTO members to finalise disciplines to eliminate subsidies for illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, and prohibit certain forms of fisheries subsidies that contribute to overcapacity and overfishing.


The chair of fisheries subsidies negotiations, Ambassador Santiago Wills of Colombia has called a week-long meeting - Fish Decision Week - from May 30 to resolve the issues. MC12 will be held from June 12-15.

"India is committed to concluding the negotiations so long as it provides space for equitable growth and freedom in developing fishing capacities for the future, without locking members into disadvantageous arrangements in perpetuity," a person familiar with the negotiations said.