WTO Ministers Back Ban on Fishing Subsidies in Trade Pact

Strategic Insights -

Environmental organizations and rich and poor countries are joining together to call for rules to be used to ban government subsidies to fishing operations that contribute to overfishing at the World Trade Organization's ministerial conference. Trade and agriculture ministers from the United States, the European Union, Brazil, Senegal, New Zealand, and the Philippines have joined 11 environmental organizations in calling for WTO rules to be used to ban government subsidies to fishing operations that contribute to overfishing. This collective stance is important because it represents the first time that an initiative begun by nongovernmental organizations has been adopted by the WTO as part of trade rule negotiations.

Key Takeaways:

  • The World Trade Organization's (WTO) director general, Pascal Lamy, has circulated draft language banning overfishing subsidies, although many technical details remain to be worked out.
  • The collective stance of environmental organizations and rich and poor countries in calling for WTO rules to ban government subsidies to fishing operations that contribute to overfishing represents the first time that an initiative begun by nongovernmental organizations has been adopted by the WTO as part of trade rule negotiations.
  • The United States plans to increase its annual aid to poor countries that may struggle to adjust to new trade rules, with aid rising to $2.7 billion in 2010 from $1.3 billion now, subject to congressional approval.
  • Oxfam has concluded that because WTO gives each of its 149 member nations and customs territories a veto over policy changes, poor countries have much more influence in the institution than they would in negotiating bilateral or regional trade pacts with rich countries.
  • The United Nations classifies 75 percent of the world's fish stocks as unable to sustain any additional fishing because they are already depleted or fished to the maximum sustainable extent; the planned WTO ban would limit subsidies for any boats that would try to catch these fish.
  • Jim Sutton, the New Zealand trade minister, said that governments around the world together spend over $15 billion a year to subsidize the world's $90 billion fishing industry.
  • Between 150 million and 200 million people around the world depend on fishing, including many subsistence-level families in very poor coastal countries who fish more when drought kills their crops.

Statistics:

  • $2.7 billion: The amount of aid the United States plans to increase to poor countries that may struggle to adjust to new trade rules in 2010.
  • $1.3 billion: The current amount of aid the United States provides to poor countries.
  • $90 billion: The value of the world's fishing industry.
  • $15 billion: The amount of money governments around the world spend annually to subsidize the fishing industry.
  • 75 percent: The percentage of the world's fish stocks that are unable to sustain any additional fishing because they are already depleted or fished to the maximum sustainable extent.
  • 149: The number of member nations and customs territories in the WTO.
  • 150 million-200 million: The estimated number of people around the world who depend on fishing.

Sources:

  • Byline: Keith Bradsher, HONG KONG:
  • Pascal Lamy, the WTO's director general, has circulated draft language banning overfishing subsidies.
  • The New York Times
  • World Trade Organization's ministerial conference
  • WWF International
  • Friends of the Earth
  • Greenpeace
  • Oxfam
  • The United Nations