The context of fisheries subsidies within the trade agenda – developments to date and the WTO 2017 Ministerial Conference in Buenos Aires

: Since the 1990s, discussions aiming to reduce and to eliminate certain harmful fisheries subsidies have been taking place at multilateral forums. If the trade distorting effects and the environmental threats of these subsidies are no longer questioned, clear rules on definitions and determination of these practices have not been set giving divergences of approaches and interests of member States of the multilateral trade system. With the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals in 2015, within the scope of the United Nations, countries were firstly challenged with a clear target to prohibit and to eliminate types of harmful subsidies. This article covers the main developments on the thematic based on official and public documents since the creation of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and tackle the major proposals tabled in anticipation to the Organization`s 11 th Ministerial Conference, in Buenos Aires in 2017, and its progresses until beginning of 2019. It also concludes that lack of technical cooperation and convergent interest made impossible for the Conference to drawn conclusive line under any sort of definition.


Introduction
The topic of fisheries subsidies has been considered one of the unfinished business form the creation of the World Trade Organization (WTO) as, differently to other fishing topics, it was set under the prerogative of the Organization's technical apparatus in detriment of fishing and food bodies of the United Nations System, such as the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Subsidies that contribute to overcapacity and overfishing shall be prohibited while those linked to illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing eliminated. Furthermore, countries shall refrain themselves from introducing new alike subsidies. Member States expected Buenos Aires (MC11 1 ) to be a "housekeeping" conference where positions and statements are reiterated without the necessity of structural changes. This was the exact pattern followed in almost each and very topic, including fisheries subsides. Talks under the Negotiating Group on Rules delivered a simple commitment to fulfil SDG 14.6 by 2020 passing through an agreement on the MC12 2 , in Jamaica in 2019.
The provisions of SDG 14.6 are consistent with the principle of special and differentiated treatment for developing and Least Developed Countries in the multilateral system of trade 3 , and member States accordingly agreed in observing such treatment in the agreement to come. Such preference is set under the recognition of trade fragilities existent in these countries, and within Small Islands Developing States (SIDS 5 ) and LDCs are especially dependent on marine resources, representing, respectively, 7% and 1,5% of world`s total fish exports. This dependency aggravates the dangers caused by trade distortions. Under general economic theory, subsidies can cause one or more of the following impacts on trade: i) distortions in the local market of member caused by subsidized imports; ii) distortions on the export markets caused by subsided exports from a third country; iii) distortions on partner`s export markets caused by subsidized local supply. Remarkably, the preluded distortions affect markets not just in quantum but also by diminishing prices (supply side effects) lowering income levels. This movement undercuts important portions of income harming more severely artisanal fisheries and local communities in SIDS and LDCs.
Recognizing the prominence of the topic and enjoying the momentum of the 11 th Ministerial Conference of the WTO the next two sections of this paper will elaborate, first, on the negotiations involving fisheries subsidies within the WTO. The following section will tackle recent developments including seven proposals tabled at the Negotiating Group on Rules (NGR) in a failed attempt to pave the road for an agreement in Buenos Aires and my subsidy further talks.

The WTO and fisheries subsidies
Before the creation of the WTO in 1995 the international trade system lacked a body of law enforcement and the Organization`s Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) 6 doted the system with a set of agreed rules augmenting predictability on trade practices and remedies. Therefore, the 4 The category of Least Developed Countries (LDCs) is given by the United Nations to those low-income countries facing high vulnerabilities to economic and environmental shocks. (https://www.un.org/development/desa/dpad/least-developed-country-category.html, accessed on 10 th June 2018) 5 The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), Rio de Janeiro 1992, officially recognize a distinct group of countries as Small Island Developing States (SIDS) who faces specific social, economic and environmental vulnerabilities due to their geographical and economic contexts. Notwithstanding these efforts, the attempt to include these discussions as a vivid theme did not flourish given the frustrated expectations of the Seattle Ministerial Conference in 1999, which followed sound protests referenced as the Battle of Seattle 14 . In the current century, however, the identification of links from fisheries subsidies with the over-exploitation of marine resources and the recognition of the threats posed by them to national economies has made the issue a recurrent 7 https://www.wto.org/english/docs_e/legal_e/19-adp.pdf 8 https://www.wto.org/english/docs_e/legal_e/24-scm.pdf 9 Gareth Porter, "Fisheries Subsidies and Overfishing: Towards a Structured Discussion" (Geneva: UNEP, 2002), at 3-4. 10 Such as the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP) 11 The Uruguay Round (1986)(1987)(1988)(1989)(1990)(1991)(1992)(1993)(1994)  Exceptions were listed for programmes targeting vessels` safety, sustainable practices, aquaculture, natural disasters and accounted for special and differentiated treatment for developing countries. Under the later, LDCs, artisanal and small-scale fisheries were excluded from the prohibitions. In addition, subsidies targeted to vessels' modification for operation within countries` exclusive economic zone (EEZ) were drafted outside of the prohibitions provided the 15  fishing activity is proven to observe sustainable levels 21 . This draft did not flourish to become an agreed text as many of its disciplines diverged countries` opinions and, by 2008, a second revisited version reflected a "bottom-up" approach in some disciplines and a "roadmap for discussions" in others enlisting questions to guide further negotiations.
In 2009 the "Friends of Fish" coalition submitted its view on the common responsibility shared by all countries towards the preservation of global resources pondering that special and differentiated treatments shall not jeopardize the ultimate objectives. Under this light, subsidies that contribute to IUU fishing were urged to be completely prohibited to all countries.
Notwithstanding, the subsidies permitted under a special and differentiated treatment were  Organizations. The joint proposal from New Zealand, Iceland and Pakistan claimed to define a stock as overfished when the necessity of reduction of mortality levels is needed to rebuild sustainable yields. This parameter was also found in the joint proposal by Argentina, Colombia, Peru, Costa Rica, Panama and Uruguay.

Conclusion
The long dated discussions over the environmental and developmental aspects of fisheries subsidies is still a center of divergences. The scope, the definitions and the determination of subsidies resulting in a diversity of practices affecting the fishing industry have been questioned since the 1990s in WTO fora. The necessity of technical cooperation and special and differentiated treatments to developing and least developed countries is acknowledged without a consensual line. A task that would sound as simple as to define "harmful subsidies" touches delicate aspects. For example on the understanding of subsidies designated to "vessels' capacity".
If on the one side it can be understood as a harmful subsidy, as done so by the European Union, on the other side subsidies for capacity building that target safety measures, for instance, are not understood as harmful by others members.
Considering these and other difficulties, the WTO 11 th Ministerial Conference was unable to witness an agreement to discipline fisheries subsidies. As introduced, the "housepeeking Conference" merely produced a commitment from the member States to reach an agreement by 2019 on the MC12, in Jamaica 37 . The "agreement on disagreement" frustrated not just those expecting a text deliberating on IUU but added another level of preoccupation concerning the political will of members to eliminate support programmes for fisheries. The second paragraph

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Agriculture (AoA) and being one of the "unfinished businesses" from the Uruguay Round, as already described herein. If subjected to the provisions of the (AoA), the matter would have been affected by decisions from Nairobi (MC10 38 ) to completely eliminate export subsidies by developed members and to do so by 2018 by developing partners.
The FAO International Plan of Action to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate IUU also seems to be an intersection point from the July proposals. In reference to the working document 274, subsidies that result in fishing activities in overfished stocks might come as a realization of Buenos Aires if positions largely advance towards a bigger convergence during the conference.
Ultimately, if the modest advances on fisheries subsidies bring the expected results it might be a sole achievement of the conference projected to assume a housekeeping aspect.
Nevertheless, even a modest bounding language on the prohibition of certain types of fisheries subsidies will symbolize an important common ground giving the overlapping jurisdiction of the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (SVM) and the Agreement on Agriculture (AoA). If a potential text brings clarification on whose prerogative will the management of fisheries be subjected to (if the FAO or the WTO) it shall be conceived as an extra bonus.