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Comments on S&DT (special and differential treatment) as proposed by the text on the regulation of fisheries subsidies at the WTO

By Papa Gora NDIAYE, Coordinator, REPAO/ENDA[1]

In this contribution, I will mainly comment on Article III concerning S&DT for developing country Members, as it is this article which primarily concerns the countries of West Africa.

First, Article III.1 stipulates that the prohibition(s) of Article 3.1(c) shall not apply to least-developed country (LDC) Members. This concerns subsidies which enable fishing vessel production costs to be reduced, for example licence fees or similar charges, fuel, etc.

This article is problematic because it is as if the LDCs are being authorized to engage in overfishing and create overcapacity, even though the regulations on fisheries subsidies are aimed at prohibiting any form of subsidy which can lead tooverfishing or overcapacity in both the developed and the under-developed countries.

So the important question is:should subsidies be encouraged in the capture (catch) segment, knowing that it is these incentives which encourage overfishing today in LDCs such as Senegal?

Today, it is clear that the LDCs need S&DT to enable them to be properly integrated in the global trade system. But theirneeds are especially in the post-capture rather than the capture segment (apart from the issue of the safety at sea of artisanal fishers, of course, which needs to be reinforced). The main needs are as follows:

  • Enormousinvestmentto create fish landing infrastructuresthat meet hygiene and product quality standards, and in relation to product traceability, conservation and promotion;
  • Subsidies and aids to enable sustainable management of fishery resources on the basis of measures to conserve and restore fish stocks, such as protected marine areas, and the use of sustainable fishing equipment and techniques;
  • Aid for retrainingfishers (fishworkers) in a saturated sector given the depletion of fish stocks;
  • Aid for improving access to markets with the Everything But Arms(EBA) initiative, which is already under way, but also, in the specific case of fisheries, aid in applying concepts such as ecolabelling, which combines sustainable management of fishery resourceswithan increase in export revenues.

With regard to Article III.2, which concerns developing country Members other than LDC Members, the subsidies referred to in Article I.1 are not prohibited for small-scale fishing. The only ambivalent aspect which needs addressing here is that small-scale fishing as defined in this article is different from artisanalfishing as practised in West Africa. In practice, artisanal fishing in West Africa ranges from solo fishing on board a pirogue(sea-going canoe) to the use of pirogues glacières (pirogues equipped with ice boxes), seiners or longliners up to 20 metres in length, it can entail subsistence or commercial fishing or it can even be for export. Artisanal fishing in West Africa may also take place outside national territory, as in the case of pirogues glacières which undertake 21-day voyages in the countries of the sub-region. For artisanal fishing in West Africa, there is a need to define categories of fishing in order to establish what constitutes small-scale fishing and what does not.

Article III.2(b)(2) is concerned, in the context of S&DT for developing countries, with decked vessels not greater than 10 metres or 34 feet in length overall, or undecked vessels of any length. A decked vessel is simply a vessel having a deckthroughout its length equipped with watertight hatches in accordance with the applicable Free On Board (FOB) regulations, whereas an undecked vessel does not have these features. Whether the vessel is decked or not is irrelevant in determining fishing capacity. Article III.2(b)(2) may be problematicinasmuch as all vessels engaged in small-scale fishing in West Africa, regardless of their size, are undecked. Furthermore, these pirogues are mostly over 10 metres in length. Measuring the fishing effort varies especially according to the equipment used and the frequency and length of voyages. Account must be taken of other criteria apart from the size of the vessel and whether or not it is decked. The criteria to be taken into account in establishing S&DT for artisanal fisheries are: fishing capacity, territoriality, target species and target consumers.

  • Fishing capacity:it is important to take account of vessel fishing capacity, which is a key element in the fishing effort, as, apart from the type and size of the vessel, the fishing equipment used is crucial in measuring fishing capacity. A pirogue without an engine cannot be considered equivalent to a pirogue having a 40 or 60 h.p. outboard motor. A pirogue engaged in line fishing cannot be compared with a pirogue which uses seine nets. Taking account of fishing capacity in establishing the categories of fishing vessels would make for better targeting of support for this segment so that it continues to play a key role in the security of the food supply and in the provision of sustainable means of subsistence for base communities.
  • Territoriality: It is also important to take intoconsideration the territoriality of fishing activity since, even though artisanal fishing is no longer a coastal activity involving short voyages, the vessels which are considered in S&DT for the developing countries should operate in community or national waters and not beyond. Pirogues involved in artisanal fishing which have a fishing capacity allowing them to leave national territory and operate in the countries of the sub-region must be excluded from this WTO clause.
  • Target consumers or markets: The same applies to artisanal fishing vessels which do not limit themselves to supplying local markets and which target species for export and thus for foreign consumers. Even though artisanal fishing is commercial now and no longer a subsistence activity, it should not be forgotten that the support mechanisms put in place by the States are designed to modernize itwith a view to supplying local, not international, markets;otherwise it defeats the object of the exercise, with foreign, not local, consumers,benefiting from this subsidy.
  • Target species: On no account must artisanal fishers who target species which are overfished or fully exploited be eligible for financial support or subsidies from the State. The principle of precaution must also apply where artisanal fishing is concerned. For this reason, in West Africa, where there is overfishing of coastal demersal stocks, no tax or customs incentive must be granted in the capture segment for such stocks. However, since artisanal fishing is concerned with a variety of species in West Africa, it is difficult to make a distinction in the capture segment between units which fish for demersal species and those which fish for pelagic species.

By way of conclusion, this text constitutes real progress with regard to the regulationof fisheries subsidies at the WTO. However, as far as S&DT is concerned, improvements are needed on the basis of shared acceptance of the real needs of the developing countries in the area of subsidies combined with the need to combat overcapacity and overfishing. The developing countries cannot derive sustainable benefits from the international trade in fishery products in a situation involving overexploitation ofresources. Hence the stakeholders in artisanal fishing, especially in West Africa, must become involved with this text so that they can contribute towards improving it. It is also necessary to build channels of communication between the African negotiators in Geneva, the ministers responsible for fisheries and trade, and the stakeholders in fishing in West Africa, by establishing frameworks of cooperation between them in the form of regional dialogue.

[1]REPAO = Network on Fisheries Policy in West Africa, ENDA = Environmental

Development Action.