India and Brazil accused of blocking progress at WTO talks with radical positions

Published Mar 4, 2024

Tridge summary

Daniel Voces, managing director of Europêche, has accused India and Brazil of jeopardizing a World Trade Organization deal aimed at reducing subsidies that contribute to overfishing. Voces alleges that India has previously hindered negotiations and opposed crucial resolutions at the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission. He also criticized India's call for a 25-year ban on subsidies given by distant-water fishing nations for activities beyond their exclusive economic zones. Voces defended the E.U.'s sustainable fisheries partnership agreements, arguing they are not subsidies but mutual agreements for sustainable fishing.

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Original content

“Radical positions” taken by a number of countries, including India and Brazil, are endangering the prospects of a World Trade Organization deal on curbing subsidies that lead to overfishing and overcapacity in national fleets, according to Daniel Voces, the managing director of E.U. fishing representative body Europêche.“Already in 2017, India sabotaged WTO negotiations,” Voces told SeafoodSource, referencing India’s opposition to an agreement put forth at the 11th Ministerial Conference in December 2017. “Back then, India blocked everything, even a possible agreement on the elimination of subsidies that drive illegal fishing.”According to Voces, as a member of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC), India also objected to “fundamental resolutions” at the IOTC’s most recent meeting, namely resolutions 13/02 on maintaining vessel records, 13/03 on recording catch and effort data, 13/06 on shark conservation, 13/07 on licensed foreign vessels record-keeping, and resolutions 19/01 ...

Source: Seafoodsource