The Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum is pushing for the elimination of fisheries subsidies within the framework of the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Broadly speaking, APEC is an intergovernmental forum of 21 Pacific Rim economies that promotes free trade throughout the Asia-Pacific region.
According to the APEC Trade Ministers’ Declaration, one of the most important contributions the WTO will make this year to strengthen its credibility as a forum for negotiating new rules and safeguarding natural resources, is the successful conclusion of the negotiations on subsidies to fishing, which have gone on for decades.
As a group, APEC economies support calls by the WTO Director-General for the WTO fisheries subsidy negotiations to achieve a comprehensive and meaningful agreement with effective disciplines on harmful fisheries subsidies by July 31, 2021.
From the Ministers’ point of view, the WTO must demonstrate that global trade rules can help address the human catastrophe of the Covid-19 pandemic and facilitate recovery.
Fisheries subsidies
APEC economies will work proactively and urgently in Geneva to support text-based discussions, including a temporary exemption from certain intellectual property protections on Covid-19 vaccines, as soon as possible and at the latest at the next Ministerial Meeting (MC12 ).
As APEC members seek to facilitate recovery from the pandemic, they support efforts to provide pragmatic and effective solutions in trade and health that reinforce APEC’s work on essential goods, minimize disruptions, and improve the resilience of supply chains. supply, and demonstrate the positive role that trade can play in responding to global health emergencies.
APEC economies must support the WTO and its members to modernize trade rules for the 21st century.
For this reason, these economies recognize the positive role that the existing plurilateral negotiations and debates are playing in advancing the results.
APEC is the only international trade organization, other than the WTO, in which China, Hong Kong and Taiwan are members. Membership is completed by Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Indonesia, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
