Workers process tra fish for export (Photo: VNA)Addressing a meeting on January 22 as part ofthe session, Ambassador Le Thi Tuyet Mai, head of the Vietnamese mission to theWTO, the UN, and other international organisations, appreciated efforts by thegroup’s chair, Ambassador Santiago Wills of Colombia, in promoting negotiationsand introducing a draft revised consolidated text serving as the basis fortalks on an agreement on fisheries subsidies.
She affirmed Vietnam’s commitment to activelypromoting the talks on fisheries subsidies and consensus building so as to helpattain progress in negotiations, helping to realise the Sustainable DevelopmentGoals.
During this session, WTO members discussed someimportant issues that need to be resolved to achieve an agreement on fisheriessubsidies, including non-violation complaints. Others under considerationincluded criteria for identifying the catch level that is biologicallysustainable and the exemption of some rules for manual fishing.
At the January 22 event, the chair of thenegotiating group informed delegation heads about outcomes of meetings onfisheries subsidies, noting that members are aware of the urgency to concludethe talks.
Ambassadors and delegation heads also repeatedthis viewpoint, stressing the need to remove the protracted bottlenecks in thecore factors in negotiations on fisheries subsidies. Many of them urged WTOmembers to issue an agreement as soon as possible this year.
On the basis of decisions made at the 11th WTOMinisterial Conference and Target 14.6 in the UN’s Sustainable DevelopmentGoals, negotiators were assigned to secure an agreement on principles toeliminate subsidies for illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing andto prohibit certain forms of fisheries subsidies that contribute toovercapacity and overfishing, and to devise regulations on special anddifferential treatment for developing and underdeveloped members of the WTO.
Vietnam’s active engagement in the WTO’snegotiations on fisheries subsidies also reflects the country’s commitment andsense of responsibility towards sustainable fisheries development and IUU fishingcombat, thereby helping to preserve and sustainably use the seas and maritimeresources for the sake of sustainable development./.
VNA
