. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  TN/RL/GEN/156/Rev.1 
18 January 2011 
 (11-0285) 
Negotiating Group on Rules Original:   English 
  
 
FISHERIES SUBSIDIES ARTICLE II DE MINIMIS  EXEMPTION 
 
Communication from Canada
 
 
Revision  
 
  The following communication, dated 17 January 2 011, is being circulated at the request of the 
Delegation of Canada.  
_______________ 
 
 
Introduction 
 
 In spring 2008, Canada proposed the add ition of a new provision (TN/RL/GEN/156), in 
Article II of the Chairman's proposed Annex V III of the SCM Agreement (TN/RL/W/213).  This 
proposal would add a provision to the fisheries annex, and allow Members to provide a certain amount of support (X%) to fishing activities within wa ters subject to a Member's national jurisdiction, 
provided the value of programs did not exceed a set percentage of the landed value of fish harvested 
in these waters. 
 
 Since that time, Canada has listened carefully to Members' comments and concerns and would like to present a revision to its paper, to be tter incorporate Special and Differential Treatment 
(S&DT).  
De Minimis  Proposal 
 
1. During the course of the fisheries subsidi es negotiations, various Members have suggested 
that any eventual prohibition of subsidies to the fisheries sector should also include an exemption for programs in support of small-sc ale fishing activities/programs.  However, 
while several alternatives have been raised and discussed in the negotiating group in this 
regard, the terms "small programs", "small-scale fishing" and "artisanal fishing activities" 
have proven very difficult to define. 
 2. The discussions on this issue have generally b een in the context of developing countries.  The 
Chairman's first draft text provided S&DT that  was directed at this issue for developing 
countries, but it was silent with respect to other Members.  However, during plurilateral 
discussions in late 2010 there seemed to be a degree of convergence around the fact that small-scale or artisanal fishing activities are a reality for many Members, regardless of their 
level of development. 
 3. In line with the view that disciplines should be transparent, workable, enforceable, and build 
on existing ASCM and WTO principles, in spri ng 2008, Canada  presented for Members' 
consideration, TN/RL/GEN/156, an additional provision in Article II of the Chairman's TN/RL/GEN/156/Rev.1 
Page 2  
 
  proposed Annex VIII of the SCM Agreement.  This would add a provision to the fisheries 
annex, proposed as paragraph "f" under Article  II:  General Exceptions, and would allow 
Members to provide a certain amount of suppor t (X%) to fishing activities within waters 
subject to a Member's national jurisdiction, as long as the value of programs did not exceed a 
set percentage of the landed value of fish harvested in these waters.  As part of Article II, this 
new provision would be subject to Article V. 
 4. It may be argued that on a de facto  basis TN/RL/GEN/156 did provide S&DT for developing 
countries with large scale fisheries given thei r dominance of the global catch, e.g., the 
de minimis  threshold for India would have been near five times that of Canada, and China 
near three times that of the United States.  However, since that submission, Canada has 
recognized that its de minimis  proposal did not recognize all developing country needs, 
particularly those of LDCs, SVEs and other small-scale fishing countries. 
 5. To better address development needs, Canada  is now proposing to include a new component 
for developing countries accounting for less than 0. 5% of the global fishery.  We propose that 
these countries would have access to a larger de minimis  exemption than available to 
developed and larger-scale fish ing developing countries, reflec ting unique development needs 
(X% + Y%).  An absolute de minimis  component has also been included to include those 
situations where the fishing is at such  a small scale that even the enhanced de minimis  
exemption (X% + Y%) would not exempt a smal l subsidy.  For example, where the total 
catch of a country is $150,000 and a fuel subs idy of $15,000 is provided, the subsidy is 10% 
of the value of the catch and would exceed any de minimis  level, but would be exempted by 
the fixed amount threshold. 
 
New Text Provision for Annex VIII, Article II(f)  
 
Article II 
 
General Exceptions  
 
 Notwithstanding the provisions of Article I, a nd subject to the provisions of Article V: 
 
  (a) … 
 
 (f) A Member may provide subsidies that  are used exclusively in support of 
fisheries conducted within waters subject to its jurisdiction, if 
 
(i)  the annual amount of subsidi es does not exceed X% of the average 
annual landed value of fish harvested in these waters for the 
three preceding years for which data is available, or 
 
 (ii)  for developing country Member s accounting for less than 0.5% of 
the average annual global fish ca tch over the three preceding years 
for which data is available, th e annual amount of subsidies does 
not exceed  X% + Y%, or $US xxx xxx, whichever is greater.  
 
__________