WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  TN/RL/W/235 
21 July 2008 
 (08-3510) 
Negotiating Group on Rules Original:   English 
  
 
FISHERIES SUBSIDIES 
 
Communication from Australia, New Zealand 
 
and the United States  
 
 
 The following communication, dated 18 July 2008, is being circulated at the request of the Delegations of Australia, New Zealand and the United States.    
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Introduction
 
 
1. The fisheries subsidies negotiations in  the Negotiating Group on Rules offer an 
unprecedented opportunity for the global community to take an important step towards reducing 
government support for overcapacity and overfishing in  world fisheries.  In these negotiations, the 
WTO is addressing a problem that has not only commercial significance but also enormous implications for the world's marine environment a nd sustainable development.  A strong agreement on 
fisheries subsidies is a major potential "win-win -win" for the Doha Development Agenda, and one 
area where the WTO can deliver a strong environmental outcome.  While significant differences on 
many issues remain, an agreement is within reach that can make a real difference for the world's 
fisheries resources and the hundreds of millions of  people who depend on them for their food and 
livelihood.  It is therefore useful to review  progress in the negotiations since the Hong Kong 
Ministerial Declaration in December 2005 and identify  the next steps needed to bring the negotiations 
to a successful conclusion.    
2. A strong fisheries subsidies agreement is mo re important than ever.  The underlying trends 
remain bleak.  According to the UN Food and Agri culture Organization (FAO), three quarters of the 
world's fisheries have been fished at or beyond su stainable levels and cannot sustain further expansion 
of the harvest.  This is particularly true for high value commercial stocks such as tunas and related 
species.  At the same time, subsidy levels remain  high, and it is now widely accepted that they 
undermine sustainable management and contribute to the poor state of many fisheries.  Recent 
developments such as the June 2008 closure of th e Mediterranean bluefin tuna purse seine fishery 
underscore that even developed countries with s ophisticated management systems can find themselves 
caught in a spiral of subsidization, overcapaci ty, overfishing and stock collapse.  Meanwhile, 
significant strains caused by rising fuel costs in the past year are triggering demands for even more 
subsidies.  A strong system of multilateral rules on fisheries subsidies is now imperative to prevent a 
race to subsidize and ensure that short-term political responses do not undermine the long-term goal 
of putting fisheries on a sustainable path.    3. While the issues in the negotiations are novel an d challenging, we have one great advantage:  
substantial common ground regardin g our ultimate objective.  Virtually all Members agree that the 
current situation cannot continue and that we must  develop fisheries in ways that are economically 
sustainable and conserve the resource for future gene rations.  The importance of fisheries as a source TN/RL/W/235 
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  of both food and livelihoods has ne ver been higher, particularly in developing countries, and these 
concerns have a new urgency given the current surg e in food prices.  Six of the ten largest fish 
producers in the world are now developing countri es, and developing countries account for nearly 
50 per cent of fish exports.  Developing countries have seen first hand how  uncontrolled fishing in 
their coastal waters can lead to stock depletion and threats to livelihoods, and how subsidies have 
distorted production and trade patterns.  Thus, th ere is general consensus that there should be no 
"blank check" to develop fisheries in a way that  undermines their long-term sustainability.   
 4. The expertise of other specialized bodies is directly relevant to the fisheries subsidies 
negotiations, particularly work regarding fisheries management.  Almost all Members agree that the 
WTO's actions to improve subsidy disciplines ar e no substitute for work in the FAO, regional 
fisheries management organizations and other bodies with expertise in marine fisheries.  Since the 
Hong Kong Declaration, Members'  understanding of the complement ary relationship between our 
work and work in these other organizations has gr own substantially.  FAO observers have attended 
many of our meetings;  the United Nations Envi ronmental Programme (UNEP), the World Wildlife 
Fund and the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD) have sponsored 
numerous useful workshops and significant papers .  Environmental organizations such as Oceana 
have also worked tirelessly to raise the internationa l visibility of the negotiations.  We will need to 
build on these efforts as the negotiations move forwar d.  We welcome further FAO involvement in the 
WTO negotiations and would encourage further WTO awareness of and interaction with the work of 
the FAO.   
 
Progress to Date
 
 
5. Following the Hong Kong Ministerial, the negotiations moved into a text-based phase, 
including comprehensive proposals and other contri butions from many Members – some based on a 
"top down" approach (broad prohibition with appr opriate exceptions) and others based on a "bottom 
up" approach (specific list of pr ohibited subsidies).  These contribu tions helped identify key issues 
and convergences/divergences of approaches.    6. The Chair's draft text of a new fisheries subs idies agreement represents a substantial advance 
in the negotiations and a landmark in the efforts of the world community to ge t global fisheries back 
on a sustainable path.  The text addresses all th e key issues in innovative and thoughtful ways, 
drawing on virtually all contributions made by Memb ers.  It sets out a broad range of prohibited 
subsidies that contribute to overcapacity and overfishing as well as a prohibition of subsidies that affect fishing on "unequivocally overfished" stocks.  Specific types of subsidies are excluded from the 
prohibition if they meet appropriate conditions ( e.g., for programs to reduce fishing capacity, adoption 
of selective fishing gear, vessel and crew safety).  Developing countries may use otherwise prohibited 
subsidies under certain conditions (with additional flexibilities for deve loping country subsistence and 
small scale fishing).  Most non-prohibited subsidi es are subject to requirements that a fisheries 
management system based on internationally-recognized  best practices be in place, and that subsidies 
must not create overcapacity or cause harm to stocks for which another Member has an identifiable interest.  The text also provides for improved transp arency and a role for the FAO and other fisheries 
experts in reviewing measures taken to comply with  the management criteria and other sustainability 
conditions.    TN/RL/W/235 
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  General Principles for Moving Forward  
 
7.  As negotiations resume, Members should have in  mind certain core principles that need to be 
reflected in a new agreement in order to realize the commitment of the WTO to address some of the 
problems facing world fisheries.  These core elements are:   
 
• a strong prohibition as the backbone of new discip lines – an agreement must secure new rules 
disciplining harmful subsidies;   
 
• complementary disciplines such as provided for in the Chair's current text (Articles I.2 
and IV), which are needed to guard against circumvention and take account of the future 
evolution of fisheries subsidies policy and practice;   
 
• appropriate special and differential treatment (SDT) that gives developing countries flexibility 
to meet their development needs but that does not undermine the objectives of the agreement;   
 
• inclusion of measures for sustainability such as fisheries management for both developed and 
developing countries;   
 
• clarification that all specific fisheries subsidies remain actionable under the current 
Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures;   
 
• a significantly greater level of transparency con cerning fisheries subsidies than in the current 
rules, and effective measures for surveillance and enforcement;  and 
 
• appropriate technical assistance for developing countries as envisioned by the Chair's text, 
including possible roles for the FAO and other organizations.   
 
8. The co-sponsors believe that the Chair's text  reflects the above elements appropriately and 
establishes a reasonable balance among them.  Work toward further clarifications and improvements 
should be on the basis of the Chair's text.    Next Steps
 
 
9. As we move forward, Members should intens ify technical work in areas where there appears 
to be emerging consensus.  These include areas such as:  a general discipline not to cause 
overcapacity or harm to the interests of other Members;  provisions on fisheries management;  
improved transparency provisions, including enhanced notification and meaningful surveillance;  and 
treatment of arrangements related to access to fisheries of developing countries.   
 10. We must also work to narrow differences on core  issues, particularly with respect to the scope 
of the prohibition and related general exceptions.  In  this regard, there needs to be a more candid 
dialogue on Members' concrete problems with the cu rrent text and their specific needs.  Such a 
dialogue has started through the bilateral process, but it should be intensified.  There also needs to be 
more work on the conditions for providing SDT to developing countries.  Discussion focused on specifics would lessen misunderstandings and facilit ate carefully crafted solutions, thereby ensuring 
an agreement that secures real disciplines on harm ful subsidies and ensures that subsidies do not 
threaten sustainability in the future.    
11. Finally, we should retain the focus of  the negotiations on disciplines on subsidies
 – not have it 
devolve into a discussion focused on fisheries manageme nt in which subsidies are incidental.  To have 
an agreement that imposes only some fisheries ma nagement requirements but does little or nothing to TN/RL/W/235 
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  address subsidies would not address the focus of our negotiations.  While management is a necessary 
element for sustainability, the record is painfully clear:  even sophisticated management systems in 
developed countries have failed in many cases to pres erve stock sustainability, and management does 
not address the market and trade-distorting effects of subsidies.  A WTO agreement must be premised on what the WTO does best:  impose mean ingful disciplines on subsidies.   
 
Conclusion
 
 
12. We are committed to achieving an ambitious  and effective result on fisheries subsidies 
disciplines in this Round.  Expectations are high given that the WTO has a one-time opportunity to 
make a real, effective contribution to resolving an environmental problem of global significance and 
putting the world's fisheries back on the track toward sustainability fo r present and future generations.  
We are at a crossroads where the sustainability of many  fisheries is in the balance.  We must act now;  
we cannot afford to wait until the race for the last fish  is over.  Given the importance of this sector for 
developing countries, both as an export earner and as a significant domestic industry, effective and 
strong disciplines on fisheries subsidies will make a ma jor contribution to ensuring that this truly is a 
"development" Round.    
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