JAPAN PROPOSES 'BOTTOM-UP' APPROACH TO FISHERIES SUBSIDIES, INSTEAD OF BLANKET BAN

Japan on 1 June tabled a proposal calling for a 'bottom-up approach to fisheries subsidies disciplines under the Doha Round WTO negotiations. Unlike the blanket bans on most types of fisheries subsidies proposed by the US and Brazil, Japan wants to ban only specific types of payments, leaving the rest permissible.

The Japanese proposal sets out draft treaty language that would ban a range of subsidies. These would include payments supporting the acquisition, modification, or construction of fishing vessels, except in cases where expenditures actually lead to a reduction in fishing capacity, or are intended to improve safety or replace a vessel following a natural disaster. Subsidies for shipyards are also prohibited, as is the permanent transfer of vessels to countries that do not belong to regional fisheries management organisations. The proposal also stresses that payments to vessels engaging in illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing would be banned.

The push for prohibitions on specific forms of financial assistance, rather than a sweeping ban, is strongly backed by other large fishing Member states, including Korea and Norway. The EU, too, has expressed support for such an approach. The 'bottom-up' method, they claim, will make the fisheries regulations clearer, workable, and more effective.

As for subsidies that would be protected from challenge, Japan would include government-to-government payments for allowing one country's fishing fleet to access another state's waters, so long as the payments are published and the fisheries are adequately managed. It would also exempt assistance for vessel decommissioning programmes. The proposal includes an additional carve-out for support to small-scale fisheries, provided that they are authorised, managed, and do not exceed a to-be-determined size. The paper also puts forward regulations intended to increase transparency and more effectively monitor global fish stocks.

In its text, Japan also defines possible disciplines for special and differential treatment, stating that its main objective is to strike a balance between prohibiting overcapacity while still accounting for the significance of the sector for developing economies.

Delegates are studying the Japanese proposal, but said that they would prefer to comment only after the next meeting of the Negotiating Group on Rules, which is scheduled for 11 June.

ICTSD reporting.