The E15 engages key stakeholders – trade and investment policy makers, business and thought leaders – in policy dialogues in Geneva and around the world to explore and help validate ideas, align interests and strengthen the impetus for change.
Dialogues with WTO Delegates
E15 Ambassadors’ Working Lunch on Fisheries Subsidies
On 30 November, ICTSD organised a working lunch on options for an outcome on fisheries subsidies at the Eleventh WTO Ministerial Conference (MC11) under the E15 Initiative.
WTO negotiations on rules for fisheries subsidies have been given renewed impetus by the commitments made in the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Recent proposals have prioritised disciplines on subsidies to illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing and subsidies for fishing of overfished stocks, as well as priorities of the original mandate: subsidies contributing to overcapacity and over-fishing and improved transparency.
Despite intensive technical negotiations underway and a high degree of political expectation, it remains unclear what form an outcome on fisheries subsidies at MC11 might take. This working lunch aimed to provide Heads of Delegation with an opportunity for an informal and off-the-record discussion of possible options for the shape of an outcome on fisheries subsidies at MC11. The discussion was informed by a succinct overview of the issues in play in the fisheries subsidies negotiations in the lead-up to Buenos Aires, and input from experts on specific questions.
