Fisheries agreement fails at WTO conference
Published: Saturday, Mar 2nd 2024, 00:50
Updated At: Saturday, Mar 2nd 2024, 00:50
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A planned global agreement to better protect fish stocks has failed for the time being. The trade ministers of the 166 member countries of the World Trade Organization (WTO) were unable to agree on joint measures in Abu Dhabi.
However, the demand of many countries to extend an agreement in order to continue to prevent customs duties on electronic transmissions was accepted at the last minute. It has been in force since 1998 and will expire this year without being extended.
India in particular stood in the way of an agreement on an extension for a long time. Switzerland and the WTO made no secret of the fact that the scenario of abandoning the moratorium would have meant a major setback for all countries. "That would be very bad", said Swiss WTO ambassador Erwin Bollinger to the Keystone-SDA news agency in the afternoon.
The countries have now agreed not to impose such tariffs for the time being, but only until March 31, 2026 at the latest. German industry would have liked to see the standard practice of no tariffs, which has been in place since 1998, established once and for all. The next WTO Ministerial Conference will take place in Cameroon, Africa, in 2026. A new decision would then have to be made.
Against overfishing
The fisheries agreement should have curbed all subsidies that lead to overfishing or overcapacity. On the one hand, this should protect fish stocks and, on the other, prevent more and more boats from being built and used. It would have supplemented an agreement concluded in 2022 that only dealt with the worst forms of subsidies.
Two years ago, there was the "miracle of Geneva" because the WTO managed to reach a fisheries agreement despite international tensions. However, this only addresses part of the problem.
"Unfortunately, there was no happy ending to the poker game between industrialized and developing countries," said Anna Holl-Buhl, fisheries expert at the environmental foundation WWF. "The outcome of the negotiations is de facto a clean bill of health to continue the overexploitation of the oceans."
Extended several times
In the hope of reaching an agreement, the conference, which was actually only scheduled until Thursday, was extended several times, but ultimately in vain. The difficulty is that the now 166 countries of the WTO always decide unanimously. This means that each country effectively has a veto.
"In the long hours of negotiations, we have seen difficult but also profitable cooperation," said WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala at the end. However, it was not enough. The negotiations will now continue at the organization's headquarters in Geneva.
No majority for reforms
Even before the conference began, it was clear that no progress would be made on another issue: the restoration of the dispute resolution system. It has been blocked in parts for four years because the USA is preventing the appointment of appeal judges. They are demanding extensive WTO reforms, for which there is no majority so far.
The reform of the WTO, which is the most important task for Switzerland under the leadership of State Secretary Helene Budliger Artieda, should be completed by the end of the year. In Abu Dhabi, Budliger Artieda campaigned to prevent an "erosion" of the institution, as she told Keystone-SDA.
On the margins of the meeting, an agreement between more than 70 countries, including Switzerland, on trade in services came into force. In addition, Switzerland, together with around 120 countries, advocated the facilitation of investments in poorer countries. India and South Africa were opposed to this. The talks on this will also continue in Geneva.
©Keystone/SDA
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