In November 2001, at the
Fourth Ministerial Conference of the World Trade
Organization in Doha, Qatar, Ministers representing all of the
World Trade Organization's member countries agreed to launch a
new comprehensive round of multilateral trade negotiations in
many areas involving trade in all goods and services. This is
referred to as the Doha Development Agenda.
With respect to non-agricultural market access (or NAMA as it
is called), including for aquaculture and seafood products,
Ministers agreed that the new negotiations would include the
objective of reducing or eliminating tariffs, including the
reduction or elimination of tariff peaks, high tariffs, and
tariff escalation, as well as non-tariff barriers.
Ministers also agreed to include fish subsidies in the
current round of negotiations. This reflects the wide
acceptance that some subsidies offered by some governments
encourage over-capacity in the world’s fishing fleets, and
unsustainable fishing practices.
As negotiations have progressed, the debate over fisheries
subsidies has broadened to include a discussion of how to
discipline trade distorting effects as well as negative
environmental impacts. Negotiators are considering a Red,
Amber, and Green traffic light approach to disciplining
fisheries subsidies. The ‘Red Category’ would apply to
subsidies which promote overcapacity and overfishing, and would
be explicitly prohibited. Subsidies in the ‘Amber Category’
would not be prohibited, but would be actionable if they caused
adverse affects to the interests of another Member. Green
subsidies would be permissible.
An agreement on methods and targets for each member country
to undertake improvements in market access and elimination
commitments was set to be completed by May 31, 2003.
Negotiations were to end approximately one year later, by
January 1, 2005.
Considerable progress has been made including a
“Framework Agreement” on modalities for agricultural and
non-agricultural products in July 2004. More information on
non-agricultural market access negotiations can be found
here.
However, progress on non-agriculture market access is linked
to progress on agriculture trade reform. This has proven
difficult to reach and become the lynch-pin of the entire Doha
Round of negotiations. Successive deadlines for full agreement
have continued to be pushed back and missed.
Following the most recent failure to reach agreement, in
June 2006 in Geneva, on July 24, 2006, the WTO’s Director
General recommended that the negotiations be “suspended” in all
areas to give WTO members time to reflect: “Time out to review
the situation, time out to examine available options and time
out to review positions.”
Negotiations have yet to formally resume.
Canada's position is that non-agriculture market access
negotiations, which include aquaculture and seafood, should be
comprehensive, so as to provide an opportunity for improved
market access on the broadest front possible. In this regard,
Canada's main objectives include:
-
expanding
the scope of tariff bindings by World Trade Organization
members;
-
reducing
high bound rates and re-binding them at lower rates;
-
expanding
the scope of duty-free trade;
-
eliminating nuisance tariffs (e.g. those less than about
2%); and
-
maximizing
the use of ad valorem (percentage) tariffs.
Canada also favours broadening participation in the existing
sectoral tariff agreements, under which tariff rates are bound
at zero for participating (mainly developed) countries.
On non-tariff measures, Canadian objectives include further
efforts to reduce and/or remove existing trade-distorting
non-tariff measures, and to discourage and prevent the
implementation of new ones.
More information on Canada’s market access position for
non-agricultural products can be found
here.
Canada supports the development of further disciplines on
subsidies that exacerbate to over capacity in the world’s
fisheries if it can be demonstrated that current rules are
inadequate. Canada does not support subsidy negotiations that
would set up special rules applying only to the fisheries
sector.
With most of their production destined for export markets,
British Columbia’s aquaculture and seafood industries have
strong export interests at stake in the WTO negotiations.
A significant portion of the British Columbia exports of
aquaculture and seafood products are destined for countries and
regions which still maintain considerable tariffs and subsidies
that limit provincial exports to these markets, such as Asia,
especially Japan, and the European Union.
The province advocates an aggressive approach by Canada to the
WTO negotiations that advances Canada’s trade interests
The province also encourages the protection and sustainable
management of fisheries resources internationally, including the
negotiation of fisheries subsidies disciplines at the WTO as
required.
