New Delhi, Mar 28 (PTI) India on Saturday said it has extended support for the adoption of the WTO’s draft decision on the fisheries subsidies agreement.
Speaking at the ministerial session on fisheries subsidies during the 14th Ministerial Conference (MC) of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in Yaounde, Cameroon, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said the global fishery sector is grappling with the problems of overcapacity and overfishing due to heavy subsidies provided by certain countries to their fishermen, and not by India, where the fishing community remains small and largely traditional.
“Extended India’s support for the adoption of the draft decision, while emphasising that further decisions must deliver an equitable and development-oriented outcome that protects both marine resources and livelihoods,” Goyal said in a social media post.
A draft decision circulated on March 16 stated that the Negotiating Group on Rules shall continue negotiations on additional provisions that would achieve a comprehensive agreement on fisheries subsidies, including through further disciplines on certain forms of fisheries subsidies that contribute to overcapacity and overfishing, recognizing that appropriate and effective special and differential treatment for developing countries and LDCs should be an integral part of these negotiations.
“Members agree to continue to engage constructively in the negotiations, with a view to making recommendations to the Fifteenth WTO Ministerial Conference for provisions that would achieve the comprehensive disciplines on fisheries subsidies,” the draft decision has said.
The four-day MC14 will end on March 29. It is the highest decision-making body of the 166-member Geneva-based multilateral body.
The minister said that fisheries in India are a vital source of livelihood and food security, supporting more than 9 million fishermen, largely comprising small, traditional, and artisanal fishermen practising sustainable methods.
He highlighted India’s proactive and historical conservation efforts, including the annual fishing ban, which demonstrates the country’s long-standing commitment to sustainability well before it became a global priority.
“Underscored that the challenge of overcapacity and overfishing arises from heavily subsidised industrial fleets, and not from small-scale fishermen in India and other developing countries,” he said in a social media post.
Developed members are pushing to eliminate subsidies under the proposed fisheries subsidies agreement, which is under negotiation.
India is not a major fishery subsidy provider unlike countries like China, the European Union (EU) and the US.
On March 26, he stated that India remains committed to negotiating a comprehensive Fisheries Subsidies Agreement that balances current and future fishing needs and protects the livelihoods of poor fishers, with appropriate and effective special and differential treatment.
In 2022, the WTO members agreed on the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies to prohibit subsidies provided for Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing and overfished stocks.
Under the Special and Differential Treatment (S&DT), Developing Countries and Least Developed Countries have been allowed a two-year transition period from the agreement’s entry into force date. It came into force in September last year.
Now the members are negotiating the second part of the pact to discipline subsidies for containing overcapacity and overfishing. PTI RR MR
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.