WTO Negotiation on Fisheries Subsidies: Implications for West Africa

This workshop is organized by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) in partnership with the Centre Africain pour le Commerce, l’Intégration et le Développement (Enda CACID), Senegal’s Ministry of Trade and SMEs, The Pew Charitable Trusts and the Réseau sur les Politiques de Pêche en Afrique de l’Ouest (REPAO), with the support of GIZ.

The overarching objective of the regional workshop is to support WTO members from the West Africa region as they seek to successfully negotiate new fisheries subsidies disciplines at the World Trade Organization (WTO). Specifically, the workshop will bring together policy makers from across the region and experts from academia, the fisheries sector and civil society for an in-depth discussion of WTO fisheries subsidies negotiations. In particular, the workshop is designed to help West African coastal countries to answer, with the support of experts, the following three fundamental questions:

• What is the reality of global and, more specifically, West African fisheries and relevant subsidy policies?
• How could WTO rules on fisheries subsidies impact on subsidy policies and fisheries in West Africa and what are the potential implications for the region?
• How best can a WTO agreement be designed to reflect the interests of West African countries and help support sustainable development in the region?

The workshop will address these questions by providing delegations with the input of experts and presenting new pieces of research, including a draft case study commissioned by IISD on the sardinella fishery off the coast of West Africa. The event will also provide government officials with an opportunity to discuss key questions in WTO negotiations on fisheries subsidies in a regional setting. Simultaneous interpretation will be provided in French and English.