WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  TN/MA/W/63/Add.11 
22 May 2006 
 
 (06-2463) 
Negotiating Group on Market Access Original:   English 
  
MARKET ACCESS FOR NON-AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS 
 
Trade liberalisation of fish and fish products
 
 
Communication from Canada, Iceland, New Zealand,  
Norway, Panama, Singapore and Thailand 
 
Addendum  
  The following communication, dated 18 May 2006, is being circulated at the request of the delegations of Canada, Iceland, New Zeala nd, Norway, Panama, Singapore and Thailand. 
 
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I. INTRODUCTION 
1. As explained in the previous communica tion of 18 November 2005 (TN/MA/W/63), full 
liberalisation of import tariffs on fish and fish products would have cons iderable benefits for 
developing countries and for WTO members in general.  A sectoral initiative for fish and fish products therefore would respond in a meaningful way to the mandate agreed at Doha for negotiations 
which aim to reduce or as appropriate eliminate tariff s, including the reduction or elimination of tariff 
peaks, high tariffs and tariff escalation, as well as  non-tariff barriers, in particular on products of 
export to developing countries. 
 2.   Fish and fish products are a key export for developing countries.  In 2003, for example, the value of exports of fish and fish products from de veloping countries exceeded the combined total net 
value of exports of coffee, cocoa, bananas, rubber, sugar, tea and rice.   95% of employment in the fish 
sector is located in developing countries.  Fish and fish products are also hi ghly traded product with 
more than 40% of world production entering global tr ade.  While 50% of the world’s fish exports 
originate in developing countries, a handful of deve loped countries account for close to 80% of world 
imports.  Major developed countries will therefore need  to participate in order to bring to fruition a 
sectoral initiative that clearly meets the mandate’s requirement to reduce or eliminate market access 
barriers on products of export interest to developing  countries in particular.  Tariff escalation, high 
tariffs and tariff peaks are all particularly prevalen t for fish and fish products.  In many markets, 
tariffs on processed products remain very high, and are, in practice, prohibitive thereby limiting the 
development of this industrial sector. Discussions on liberalising market access on fish and fish products have consistently attracted wide particip ation, including from a large number of developing 
countries. 
 
3. Taking into consideration:  
• the Doha Declaration’s mandate for the “reducti on or elimination of tariff peaks, high tariffs, 
and tariff escalation…in particular on products of export interest to developing countries”; 
                                                     
 
1 This document was previously circulated as JOB(06)/132 + Add.1 + Add.2. TN/MA/W/63/Add.1 
Page 2  
 
  • the direction from Ministers at Hong Kong to “review proposals with a view to identifying 
those which could garner sufficient participation to be realized”; and 
• the input received from a range of Members in the previous months as outlined in 
TN/MA/W/63; 
 the following proposal is made for the consideration of all Members.  II. MODALITIES 
4. With a view to moving towards the objective of  comprehensive elimina tion of all tariffs and 
unjustified non-tariff barriers affecting fish and fi sh products, modalities could include the following 
aspects.  5. Product coverage
: With a view to addressing tariff escala tion in particular, it is proposed that 
the product coverage for this sectoral should be co mprehensive and should therefore include all fish 
and fish products as follows:  
HS Code HS Description 
HS 0509 sponges 
HS 0511.91 fish unfit for human consumption 
HS 03 fish and fish products 
HS 1504.10 fish oil 
HS 1504.20 fish oil 
ex HS 1603 juices and extracts of meat and fish 
HS 1604 prepared or preserved fish 
HS 1605 prepared or preserved crustaceans and molluscs 
HS 2301.20 fishmeal 
 
6. Participation : Participation will be on a non-mandatory basis.  Participation by Members that 
account for the vast majority of the world’s exports  and imports of fish and fish products will be 
essential to achieving the initiative’s objectives.  To  date, interested members have proposed a 
‘critical mass’ of countries representing [90] percent of world trade.   7. Implementation
: The agreed commitments should be ph ased in as soon as practicable and no 
later than the final implementation date for tariff re ductions resulting from the formula that will affect 
other non-agricultural goods.    8. Special and Differential Treatment
: Interested members have proposed ‘zero for x’ and longer 
implementation periods as possible special and differential treatment for developing country 
participants.  Developing country participants will either adopt the tariff value of x or the post-
formula tariff value, whichever is the lower. Ot her proposals for Special and Differential Treatment 
provisions will be considered if put forward by participants.  9. Non-tariff Barriers
: Fish and fish products also face a number of non-tariff barriers.  The 
complexity and lack of transparency of these NTBs can be an additional burden to trading in fish and 
fish products, in particular for developing countries without the technical capacity to meet the various 
requirements.  Thus far, there ha ve been no proposals regarding specific non-tariff barriers that should 
be addressed as part of this sectoral.   
III. NEXT STEPS 
• It is proposed that modalities for this sectoral  be established by the end of May 2006 or as 
otherwise agreed by participants.  TN/MA/W/63/Add.1 
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• The results of this negotiation will be incorpor ated into each participating Member’s draft 
schedule of commitments no later than 31 July 2006. 
 
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