WTO fish pact to eliminate illegal fishing sops

The Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies (Agreement) agreed at the recently concluded World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial meeting will prohibit subsidies from being provided for Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing and overfished stocks, Parliament was informed.

“Developing Countries and Least Developed Countries have been allowed S&DT with no obligation to implement disciplines for a period of two years from the date of entry into force of the Agreement,” said Minister of state for commerce and industry Anupriya Patel in a written reply.

The agreement also prohibits providing subsidies for fishing on high seas, which are outside the jurisdiction of coastal countries and Regional Fisheries Management Organizations/ Arrangements.

“As per the agreement, no prohibition has been imposed on a WTO member regarding granting or maintaining subsidy to its vessel or operator as long as it is not carrying out IUU. Similarly, no prohibition on providing subsidies has been imposed for fishing regarding overfished stocks as long as such subsidies are implemented to rebuild the stock to a biologically sustainable level,” Patel said.

The minister said that India’s stand is that we are one of the lowest fisheries subsidisers despite such a large population and one of the disciplined nations in sustainably harnessing the fisheries resources and the country does not exploit the resources indiscriminately like other advanced fishing nations and India's fisheries sector primarily depends on several millions of small-scale and traditional fishers.

Therefore, those WTO members who have provided huge subsidies in the past, and engaged in large-scale industrial fishing, which is responsible for the depletion of fish stocks, should take more obligations to prohibit subsidies based on the ‘polluter pay principle’ and ‘common but differentiated responsibilities’.

Patel explained that the agreement will eliminate the subsidies granted to fishing vessels or fishing operators engaged in IUU fishing and such disciplining will check large-scale IUU fishing which deprives coastal countries like India of fisheries resources, thereby significantly impacting the livelihoods of our fishing communities.

This agreement also provides flexibility to extend subsidies concerning overfished stocks if measures are taken to rebuild fish stocks to a biologically sustainable level, which supports our fishing communities, she said.

Environment & FTA

Environment is one of the policy areas proposed by some of India’s trading partners, such as the UK, Canada and the EU in free trade agreements under negotiation, Parliament was informed on Friday. India is constructively engaged with these countries keeping in mind its national interests and domestic sensitivities, the commerce and industry ministry told the Rajya Sabha.

Russia trade

The government told Rajya Sabha that bilateral trade with Russia has increased after the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the trade in automobile components is not significant historically. The Department of Commerce is resolving all issues faced by traders including payment concerns to ensure the availability of sensitive supplies, the government said.

Trade deficit

Minister of state for commerce and industry Anupriya Patel told the Upper House that the trade deficit depends upon relative fluctuations in the import and export of different commodities and services due to global and domestic factors such as demand and supply in domestic and international markets, currency fluctuations and international prices.

“The government keeps a watch on the overall deficit and takes measures periodically to address it,” she said.
On a decline in exports of cotton yarn, fabrics, madeups and handloom products in June, she said the fall is on account of domestic and international demand-supply situation of textiles sector and price fluctuations. Similarly, plastic and linoleum exports decreased in June and India reported lower export of plastics raw materials like Polyethylene, Polypropylene, and Polyethylene terephthalate as such material were diverted to meet the domestic demand of plastic processors.

“Further, price of polymers in the international market have declined, which further impacted the export value of shipments,” Patel said.

Startups

More than 4,500 Startups have been recognized in sectors relating to emerging technologies such as Internet of Things, robotics, artificial intelligence and analytics, the government informed Parliament. As on June 30, under the Startup India Seed Fund Scheme 428 startups have been approved funding.

Tea exports

The commerce and industry ministry told the Rajya Sabha that there was a decline in export of tea in last financial years.

“Reportedly, this was due to non- availability of containers, dislocation in shipping schedules, lock-down and uncertainty in market due to Covid-19 and disruptions in overall global trade,” the ministry said, adding that the export of tea during January-May, 2022 was Rs 2116.75 crore as compared to Rs 2036.37 crore.

It also said that Indian Tea Exporters’ Association has confirmed to the Tea Board that return of any tea consignment has not been reported.

Source: The Economic Times