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TN/RL/32  
 
11 December 2019  
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Negotiating Group on Rules    
 
NEGOTIATING GROUP ON  RULES  
FISHERIES SUBSIDIES  
REPORT BY THE CHAIR , H.E. MR SANTIAGO WILLS  TO 
THE TRADE NEGOTIATIO NS COMMITTEE  
6 December 2019  
At the beginning of the informal meeting of the Trade Negotiations Committee on Friday morning, 
6 December, I made a short oral report on work in the Negotiating Group on Rules. This written 
report is slightly longer than the oral one as it provides some more details and takes into account 
the work undertaken by the NGR on 6 December after I had comple ted my oral report to the TNC.  
As you know, immediately upon taking up the Chair of the N egotiating Group on Rules on 
8 November 2019, I started bilateral consultations with interested Members , and also called an 
informal open -ended meeting at the Head of Delegation level for 15 November. The purpose of that 
meeting was:  to report back on the bilateral consultations  I had held ; to seek the views of the Heads 
of Delegation on the current state -of-play in the negotiations on fisheries subsidies; and to ask fo r 
guidance on how best to move the negotiations forward.  
After the meeting of 15 November, I continued with my consultations and then convened a nother  
informal open -ended HoD-level meeting  on 28 November . At that meeting  I posed five substantive 
questions  in the areas of scope, possible exclusions, special and differential treatment, and how the 
fisheries subsidies disciplines could be incorporated into the WTO system.  
From the interventions in the two H oD-level meetings,  it was clear that we are not going to meet 
the December deadline to conclude the negotiations. That is a serious setback. But, on a positive 
note, Members strongly expressed their commitment to conclude the fisheries subsid ies negotiations 
by the 12th Ministerial Conference. Furthermore, they commit ted to an intensive work programme  
next year , including intersessional work, and supported the facilitators continu ing their work, 
including engag ing with delegations in a variety of formats, and coming up with suggestions for text 
in areas where the  facilitators  think this would help to build convergence.  
The December cluster of meetings of the Negotiating Group on Rules was held during the week 
beginning 2 December , with all day Monday, all day Tuesday , and Wednesday morning available for 
bilateral and other meetings organized by delegations . The rest of the week was used for open-ended 
meetings . 
In the latter  context , having finished  the last meeting cluster  of the year without keeping to the 
deadline adopted by Trade Ministers  at MC11 , and based on what I had gathered from the 
consultations and meetings  that I had held, I felt that it would be useful for the NGR  to receiv e some 
ideas regarding  where the negotiations  are and what remain s to be done, and to have some 
orientation for the next steps. For that reason, I instructed the facilitators to prepare working papers , 
including texts where possible, for review by the N egotiating Group at the December cluster , and 
for thorough consideration in capitals over the holiday  period . Earlier this week, the facilitators 
circulated the first drafts of their  working papers.  
It should be noted that e ach of these papers was prepared on each facilitator's responsibility ; some 
of them have a greater level of maturity than others ; and they differ in style and approach. Although 
these documents  do not replace proposals, delegates engaged in a constructive discussion on their 
contents. It was also encouraging to hear that in two area s, subsidies to IUU fishing and to fishing TN/RL/32  
 
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  on overfished stocks, delegates stated that they were ready to engage with the facilitators using the 
working papers, including textual elements, as a starting point for more focused discussions in the 
new year.  
By the end of Friday  6 December , the facilitators had presented the revised versions of their working 
papers in the meeting room. The facilitators' revised reports , which were circulated after the meeting 
cluster,  can be found in room documents RD/TN/RL/113 /Rev.1 , RD/TN/RL/114 /Rev.1 , 
RD/TN/RL/115 /Rev.1 , RD/TN/RL/116 /Rev.1 , RD/TN/RL/117 /Rev.1 , RD/TN/RL/118 /Rev.1 , and 
RD/TN/RL/ 119/Rev.1 . 
On Friday afternoon, I also provided additional details about the work programme for January to 
June 2020 , based on the support I received during the most recent  HoD-level meeting  where I had  
outline d the basic elements of the programme. In particular, t he programme includes clusters of 
meetings in the weeks beginning 13 January, 3 February, 2 March, 30 March, 20 April and 
11 May 2020. The meeting clusters will continue to be structured as a mixture of about half of the 
time during each cluster reserved for bilateral and Member -organized small group meetings, and 
the rest for plenary sessions. In addition, inter sessional work will be more important and intense 
than to date, and the facilitators will continue to work in their areas of responsibility . I and the 
facilitators will continue our consultations in a variety of formats while ensuring full transparency as 
this is critical to the negotiations , and I will be calling on Heads of Delegation to take part in these 
activities  in different configurations as appropriate , based on how the negotiations are progressing . 
And a s I indicated during the discussion on Frida y afternoon, I will coordinate closely with the 
facilitators to ensure that the process is coordinated and that all issues receive adequate time and 
attention, and also will bear in mind the constraints faced by small delegations when scheduling 
meetings.  
The process moving forward sounds promising , given the endorsement of the work programme and 
the strong commitment expressed by all delegations to achieving a meaningful outcome by MC12 . 
Of course,  the promise of the process depends on the progress on the substance. I have to say, for 
someone entering these negotiations this late, it is quite worrying to note that the advances in the 
facilitators' working papers since July when the first set was circulated are quite modest. The se 
papers are still not the "clean consolidated" texts that the Negotiating Group had been instructed to 
develop before the summer break.  
What is evident is that Members are still holding on to their well -known positions, even at this late 
stage . It might be a cliché , and it may have  been said many times in the past, but it is now more 
true than ever that everyone needs to get out of their comfort zones. Compromise in negotiations 
does not mean defeat – indeed everyone is going to have to move away from their existing position s 
becaus e that is the only way to find common ground.  
In my opening statement at  the December  cluster, I said that in order to get to a text -based 
negotiation, each delegation will need to become very uncomfortable. In the context of negotiations, 
uncomfortable is  good. We had a taste of that in the discussions on disciplines for subsidies to IUU 
fishing and fishing of overfished stocks , when several Members expressed their discomfort with the 
need to separate themselves from their strict and rigid positions. But t hat is negotiation, and that is 
the only way to move forward – Members can no longer hold onto positions that remain dear to 
them, even if they have held on to them for several years.  
Some Heads of Delegation have suggested holding a senior officials' meet ing by next Easter, which 
would give us four clusters to get ready for such a meeting. Without a significant level of progress, 
however, there would be no point in bringing senior officials together , and I will have to make a 
judgement call as work progres ses. 
Also, if we want to meet both the mandate in SDG target 14.6, which is a clear instruction from our 
Heads of State , and the Decision taken by our Ministers  at MC11 , then we are all demandeurs  in 
these negotiations , meaning that we all need to work col lective ly toward our shared goal of a 
meaningful outcome. This means that w ork will have to intensify during the next coming months , 
and all delegations  will have to do what we are supposed to do – be flexible and negotiate.  TN/RL/32  
 
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  Finally, I would recall that at the  28 November  HoD-level meeting, I was given the flexibility to 
convene  further meetings at that level, in such configurations and at such times as I deem useful 
for the process . So, I would kindly request Heads of Delegation to be ready , as I ma y be calling on  
you at short notice . 
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