WTO Fisheries Talk Leader Releases Draft Text for 2nd Wave of Negotiations
Iceland's Einar Gunnarsson, chair of the fisheries subsides negotiations at the World Trade Organization, released a revised draft text on the second wave of the fisheries talks on Nov. 29, the WTO announced. The text was circulated with a goal of wrapping up negotiations by the next General Council meeting, which is set for Dec. 16-17.
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Gunnarsson released the text along with an explanatory note that details all the changes from the July draft text, which includes updates to the provision on "subsidies for fishing in areas beyond the subsidizing member's jurisdiction, extension periods for graduating least-developed countries (LDCs), and guiding points for characterizing small scale and artisanal fishing," the WTO said.
In the explanatory note, the chair outlined two sets of changes, the first of which concerns the provision requiring members from refraining from granting or maintaining subsidies tied to "actual or anticipated fishing or fishing related activities in areas beyond the subsidizing Member's jurisdiction." The second set of changes "are of technical and linguistic nature."