The ‘2030 Trade in Fish Agenda’ was jointly proposed by the Commonwealth and UNCTAD and agreed at fisheries conference in Geneva, Switzerland, 1 October 2015.
Government representatives and policy experts have backed a roadmap of policy recommendations aimed at conserving fish stocks while helping small and developing countries whose economies rely on trade in fisheries.
The ‘2030 Trade in Fish Agenda’ was jointly proposed by the Commonwealth and UNCTAD and agreed at major conference in Geneva, Switzerland, on 1 October 2015.
The policy roadmap aims to help countries deliver on Goal 14 of the Sustainable Development Goals - agreed by world leaders at the United Nations in New York last week - which promises to “conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources” by 2030.
The five-pillar agenda sets out measures to address and remove harmful incentives and tackle illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, reform trade rules, strengthen governance and enforcement, and boost conservation efforts.
In a joint statement, the experts and government representatives warned of the “parlous state” of global fisheries, with 87 per cent of marine fish stocks fully exploited, overexploited or depleted according to the Food and Agriculture Organization. “SDG 14 provides a wake-up call and a new opportunity to take urgent action to reverse the situation from conserving and harvesting to processing to trading and final consumption of fish and fish products,” they stated.
Speakers at the three-day Ad Hoc Expert Meeting on Trade in Sustainable Fisheries included representatives of Cook Islands, Mauritius, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea, among other countries, as well as the Commonwealth Secretariat, UNCTAD, the Global Ocean Commission, and WWF International.
Commonwealth Deputy Secretary-General Deodat Maharaj stated: “There must be a collective effort globally to ensure more sustainable and responsible fisheries management. While Sustainable Development Goal 14 provides a necessary spur for action, the policy framework we have jointly put forward today offers a roadmap to ensure countries can make good on their commitment.”
The expert group recommended that countries use trade negotiations at the World Trade Organization to prioritise market access while recognising the need for special and differential treatment for developing countries. They also called for a framework to monitor Sustainable Development Goal 14 and for a harmonised coding system for certified seafood products.
One of the delegates, First Secretary for New Zealand’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations, James Brown, said the meeting was especially well-timed, coming ahead of the Tenth World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference in Nairobi, Kenya, in December.
He said: “There are now fresh proposals on the table with both the Africa, Caribbean and Pacific group and six members including New Zealand calling for the prohibition of subsidies to fishing on overfished stocks and illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. While very modest, such rules would see the WTO make a tangible contribution to improving the state of global fisheries - something the UNCTAD-Commonwealth conference reminded us is so urgently needed.”
The 2030 Trade in Fish Agenda:
1. Strengthen effective governance of the fisheries sector:
a. Support a triennial Conference to coordinate action on the advancement of SDG 14 and other related goals.
b. Establish a monitoring mechanism on the implementation of SDG 14 and the role of trade and other implementation needs.
c. Promote the participation and ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the UN Fish Stocks Agreement.
d. Promote coherence among the myriad of international laws and frameworks regulating the sector and their effective implementation in a mutually supportive manner by regional fisheries management organizations and national fisheries authorities.
e. Regulation of fisheries in the high seas still requires improvement.
2. Harness the potential of international trade to meet an increasing demand for fish as population continues to grow:
a. Map and promote convergence and harmonization of non-tariff measures (NTMs).
b. Promote mutual recognition of documentation, certification, testing and evaluation needed to fulfill technical regulations and public and private standards.
c. Make rules of origin relevant to Preferential Trade Agreements more flexible for developing countries to facilitate value addition.
3. Address and remove harmful incentives and tackle IUU:
a. Achieve full transparency and disclosure of subsidies.
b. Identify and differentiate harmful and beneficial subsidies and prohibit harmful fishing subsidies in the next 5 years or by 2020.
c. Quantify evidence on illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU), its market effects and the cost of inaction.
d. Provide options on fisheries' traceability.
e. The Food and Agriculture Organization's Port State Measures Agreement should be ratified and adopted to promote implementation and practical application on IUU measures.
f. Focus on incentives to fulfill and address IUU and not on sanctioning schemes.
4. Design complementary measures for fish stock resilience and conservation of marine ecosystems:
a. Countries should green their export baskets to diversify exports. UNCTAD was requested to continue expanding its support on National Green Export Reviews to other countries, by adapting it to the marine environment.
b. Promote regional cooperation and common regulatory and fish stock management systems that build climate and economic resilience.
5. Meet cost and capability constraints for value addition in developing countries:
a. Promote regional cooperation schemes emulating, for instance, the organic cooperation in Africa and in the Pacific.
b. Recommend financial institutions to introduce schemes for green financing and for the valuation of ecosystem services and the development of marine ecosystem value chains.
Notes to Editors:
Visit the UNCTAD website for meeting documents and the event programme.
A study by the WWF and the Zoological Society of London published in September concluded that commercial fish stocks fell by 50 per cent between 1970 and 2010.
More than 3.2 billion people worldwide live close to coastlines which rely on the seas for their livelihoods and about 350 million jobs are linked to fisheries, port management and related activities.
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