II 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3518 

To make it a principal negotiating objective of the United States in trade 

negotiations to eliminate government fisheries subsidies, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 2, 2012 

Mr. WYDEN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To make it a principal negotiating objective of the United 

States in trade negotiations to eliminate government fisheries subsidies, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fair Trade in Seafood 

5 Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 

8 (1) According to the Food and Agriculture Or9 ganization of the United Nations, 85 percent of the 


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1 world’s fisheries are overexploited, fully exploited, 

2 significantly depleted, or recovering from overexploi3 tation, the highest percentage ever on record. 

4 (2) A primary reason for the global fisheries 

5 crisis is government subsidies that create perverse 

6 incentives for continued fishing in the face of declin7 ing catches. 

8 (3) Despite the dire conditions of the world’s 

9 marine resources, some of the countries that engage 

10 in the most fishing continue to provide significant 

11 subsidies to their fishing fleets. 

12 (4) Fisheries subsidies are estimated to be ap13 proximately 20 percent of the value of the world 

14 catch and have helped create a global fishing fleet 

15 that is up to 250 percent larger than that needed to 

16 fish sustainably. 

17 (5) Many long-range foreign fleets are sup18 ported by government subsidies for fuel, other oper19 ational expenses, and vessel construction that allow 

20 their fleets to fish longer, at greater distances, and 

21 more intensively than is commercially or environ22 mentally warranted. Those fleets would not be viable 

23 without the support of government subsidies. 

24 (6) Many developing countries are particularly 

25 affected by fisheries subsidies provided by other govVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:21 Aug 11, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3518.IS S3518

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1 ernments because the developing countries are un2 able to compete against subsidized industrial fleets. 

3 (7) Fisheries subsidies offered by the govern4 ments of other countries give the fleets of those 

5 countries an unfair advantage over United States 

6 fishermen by reducing the costs of operations and 

7 increasing the number, size, and power of vessels 

8 competing for fish. Foreign fisheries subsidies also 

9 undermine opportunities for United States fishermen 

10 in potential export markets. 

11 (8) Without committed global leadership to re12 duce ‘‘overfishing subsidies’’, there is a significant 

13 risk that the oceans will become too depleted to fish, 

14 resulting in a catastrophic blow to the world econ15 omy and environment. 

16 (9) As one of the world’s largest importers of 

17 seafood and one of the top five exporters of seafood, 

18 the United States has a particular responsibility to 

19 lead trade negotiations to address fisheries subsidies 

20 and make the establishment of strong new rules on 

21 fisheries subsidies a core priority in United States 

22 trade negotiations. 

23 (10) Paragraphs 28 and 31 of the Ministerial 

24 Declaration of the World Trade Organization adopt25 ed at Doha November 14, 2001, which launched the 


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1 Doha Development Agenda, called for negotiations 

2 to clarify and improve disciplines on trade-distorting 

3 government fisheries subsidies. 

4 (11) Paragraphs 9 through 11 of Annex D of 

5 the Ministerial Declaration of the World Trade Or6 ganization adopted at Hong Kong December 18, 

7 2005, reinforced the Doha fisheries subsidies man8 date, noting that ‘‘there is broad agreement that the 

9 Group should strengthen disciplines on subsidies in 

10 the fisheries sector, including through the prohibi11 tion of certain forms of fisheries subsidies that con12 tribute to overcapacity and over-fishing’’ and calling 

13 on ‘‘Participants promptly to undertake further de14 tailed work to, inter alia, establish the nature and 

15 extent of those disciplines, including transparency 

16 and enforceability’’. 

17 (12) The negotiations on fisheries subsidies in 

18 the World Trade Organization and negotiations for 

19 the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement are two of 

20 the most important, and promising, international ef21 forts to stop global overfishing and represent mean22 ingful efforts to directly address a key environmental 

23 issue that directly impacts international trade. 

24 (13) On November 12, 2011, the leaders of the 

25 9 countries in negotiations for the Trans-Pacific 


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1 Partnership Agreement—Australia, Brunei 

2 Darussalam, Chile, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, 

3 Singapore, Vietnam, and the United States—an4 nounced the achievement of the broad outlines of an 

5 ambitious, 21st-century agreement. According to a 

6 statement released by those leaders, the agreed out7 line calls for ‘‘[a] meaningful outcome on environ8 ment [that] will ensure that the agreement appro9 priately addresses important trade and environment 

10 challenges and enhances the mutual supportiveness 

11 of trade and environment. The TPP countries share 

12 the view that the environment text should include ef13 fective provisions on trade-related issues that would 

14 help to reinforce environmental protection and are 

15 discussing an effective institutional arrangement to 

16 oversee implementation and a specific cooperation 

17 framework for addressing capacity building needs.’’. 

18 Various proposals, including a proposal by the 

19 United States, to bring disciplines to government20 subsidized fishing are under active discussion as 

21 part of the negotiations on the environment chapter 

22 of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement. 

23 (14) The United States continues to make 

24 achievement of an agreement on disciplines on gov25 ernment fisheries subsidies a priority in negotiations 


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1 in the World Trade Organization and for the Trans2 Pacific Partnership Agreement. On December 16, 

3 2011, at the Eighth Ministerial Conference of the 

4 World Trade Organization in Geneva, the United 

5 States Trade Representative issued a statement urg6 ing ‘‘continued work toward an ambitious outcome 

7 on fisheries subsidies under the WTO’’. Noting the 

8 acute impact of declining catches on developing 

9 countries, the Trade Representative further stated, 

10 ‘‘We stand ready to explore new negotiating ap11 proaches that can move us towards the elimination 

12 of harmful subsidies that contribute to overcapacity 

13 and overfishing. . . . WTO Members have a duty to 

14 address one of the root causes of overfishing and 

15 overcapacity—the fisheries subsidies that encourage 

16 fishing enterprises to fish longer, harder, and farther 

17 than would otherwise be sustainable without subsidy 

18 aid. . . . The United States is ready to continue this 

19 work in the WTO and in other appropriate fora— 

20 including free trade agreements such as the Trans21 Pacific Partnership and other bilateral, regional and 

22 multilateral initiatives.’’. 

23 (15) A strong fisheries subsidies agreement by 

24 the World Trade Organization and in the Trans-Pa25 cific Partnership Agreement would set an historic 


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1 precedent by showing that international trade can 

2 directly benefit the environment while promoting ex3 ports and open markets. 

4 SEC. 3. TRADE NEGOTIATING OBJECTIVES OF THE UNITED 

5 STATES WITH RESPECT TO GOVERNMENT 

6 FISHERIES SUBSIDIES. 

7 It shall be a principal negotiating objective of the 

8 United States in negotiations for a trade agreement— 

9 (1) to eliminate fisheries subsidies provided by 

10 governments that unfairly distort markets to the 

11 detriment of United States commercial fishing inter12 ests and that perpetuate unsustainable fishing prac13 tices; and 

14 (2) to ensure that any commitments with re15 spect to such subsidies are enforceable under appro16 priate trade laws. 

17 SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

18 This Act takes effect on the date of the enactment 

19 of this Act and applies with respect to negotiations for 

20 a trade agreement that— 

21 (1) include any negotiations relating to the 

22 elimination or reduction of government fisheries sub23 sidies; and 

24 (2) are entered into— 

25 (A) on or after such date of enactment; or 


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1 (B) before such date of enactment if the 

2 negotiations continue on or after such date of 

3 enactment. 

Æ 


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