The treatment of fisheries subsidies is a major issue for international trade, the negotiations of which are expected to conclude a regulatory agreement that determines a disciplinary, efficient and sustainable regulatory policy.
The World Trade Organization (WTO) is the body responsible for conducting this debate, bearing in mind that discussions are primarily focused on achieving the eradication of illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU fishing).
The elimination of fisheries subsidies involves resolving key aspects of species preservation, and therefore debates must clarify core and technical aspects of overcapacity, overfishing and overexploitation and analyse the scope of the financing schemes of the fishing industry, while also considering differentiated treatment for developing and least developed countries.
The multilateral nature of these negotiations and the debate on the criteria for the applicability of rules for subsidies is one of the biggest and major challenges of WTO members, including those in Latin America and the Caribbean, given the relevance of the fisheries sector in the economies of the region.
The issue has been discussed since 2001 in view of the mandate emanating from the Doha Ministerial Conference, but the urgency of concluding negotiations arose following the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015, with one of the specific goals for the preservation of maritime life establishes the elimination of fisheries subsidies.
The deadline for reaching the agreement is set for the year 2020.