Fisheries Subsidies Text Released for Intensified Talks Before WTO Ministerial

The World Trade Organization chair of fisheries subsidies negotiations introduced new text Nov. 8 to be used for "clause-by-clause" discussions to hammer out the remaining differences on a fisheries agreement ahead of the 12th Ministerial Conference, the WTO said. The conference will run Nov. 30 to Dec. 3. WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said the text "represents a good balance that addresses development issues and maintains ambition." The text was released at a meeting of the Negotiating Group on Rules at the Head of Delegation level.

WTO members will hold daily meetings on the latest text, with the goal of locking in a clean draft before the ministerial, the WTO said. "The revisions I am putting forward are based on all our latest collective work, with all proposals, textual suggestions and discussions informing my thinking," said Santiago Wills of Colombia, the the fisheries negotiations chair. "The members' call for me to produce this kind of a revision was to put us in as good a position as possible for the clause-by-clause discussion, such that we can have a very focused discussion during the short time left before MC12."