REMARKS: SG Puna to Pacific ACP-WTO Trade Ministers Meeting

Honourable Manoa Kamikamica, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Trade, Commerce, Small Enterprises and Communications of Fiji; and Chair of the PACP Trade Ministers Meeting;

Honourable Ministers of Pacific ACP WTO Members;

Senior Pacific Trade and Fisheries Officials;

Representatives of the Regional Fisheries Agencies; and

Secretariat staff;

I am delighted to welcome you all to this important Meeting. As you are aware, this Meeting is part of your preparations for the WTO Thirteenth Ministerial Conference (MC13) that will be held in Abu Dhabi from 26 to 29 February.

I recall and acknowledge the successful efforts of the Pacific in playing an instrumental role at MC12 in Geneva in 2022 by delivering the Geneva package of ten outcomes including the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies. I commend the Ministers who participated in these efforts in 2022 under the able leadership of Honourable Faiyaz Koya. I also commend you, Chair, and Fiji for the bipartisan support in formally accepting the MC12 Fisheries Subsidies outcome and the continuous effort to work together towards achieving an MC13 outcome on this priority issue for the Pacific.

Honourable Ministers, MC13 is happening at a time of rising global uncertainty. The world economy is still recovering from the impact of COVID 19 and the continuing war in Ukraine, which saw food and fuel price inflation across the world. The escalating situation in the Middle East including the disruptions to the main transport routes through the Red Sea are also likely to lead to trade disruptions and high trade costs. As a region therefore, a collective solidarity on issues of priority has never been more important, and we must be vigilant in ensuring that our trade aspirations as guided by our 2050 Strategy and its implementation plan remain front and centre.

The rules-based multilateral trading system of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) therefore plays an important role in keeping international markets open and in providing stability for world trade. This is especially important for small Members like us in the Pacific that rely heavily on international trade.

As already mentioned, MC12 in 2022 was where WTO Ministers adopted the Agreement on Fisheries subsidies. This was a partial agreement that focussed on the prohibition of three types of subsidies, namely – subsidies that support illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing; subsidies to fishing of stocks declared to be overfished; and subsidies for fishing in the unregulated high seas. To-date, 60 Members have ratified the Fisheries Subsidies Agreement including three Forum Members.

MC12 also mandated that negotiations continue towards a comprehensive agreement including disciplines on overcapacity and overfishing (OCOF) with appropriate and effective special and differential treatment for developing countries and least developed countries (LDCs) an integral part of the negotiation.

During the Pacific ACP Trade Ministers Meeting in October last year you reviewed the progress of this second wave of the negotiations and adopted common positions to progress the negotiations. These positions have been guiding the Pacific Ambassadors in Geneva supported by Officials from capitals.

Subsequently at the Forum Leaders Meeting in the Cook Islands in November 2023, Leaders acknowledged the strong leadership role, played by the Forum WTO Members in the adoption of the Fisheries Subsidies Agreement at MC12, welcomed the ratification by three Forum Members and urged all Forum WTO Members to ratify the Agreement. Leaders also reiterated their call for all Forum Members to work together towards advancing the negotiations and to aim towards delivering the second part of the Fisheries Subsidies Agreement by MC13.

At Abu Dhabi, the Trade Ministers of the 164 Members will be welcoming Timor Leste and Comoros as new Members and will be considering a range of issues. These issues include agriculture trade reforms, fisheries subsidies, e-commerce, WTO dispute settlement reform and an Outcomes document. Negotiations are continuing on development issues with an aim to have an outcome on the G-90 proposals and a decision on the Smooth Transition for graduated LDCs. The new draft texts for MC13 were just released as a draft Abu Dhabi Package on the evening of Friday 16 February 2024.

The top priority for the Pacific ACP Members at MC13 is the Fisheries Subsidies Agreement. This Agreement will focus on the prohibition of subsidies that support overcapacity and overfishing. This is the most important pillar but also the most complex. Pacific ACP Members have been calling for strong disciplines on the top subsidisers with appropriate flexibilities or policy space for developing countries to develop their fisheries sector in future. An Agreement on fisheries subsidies will contribute to the 2050 Strategy thematic pillar on Oceans and Environment and will also fully deliver on SDG 14.6.

On the other issues, wide divergences exist on agriculture reforms, development issues, WTO dispute settlement reforms and e-commerce moratorium. Apart from these matters, conversations will also take place on trade and environment issues, and trade and inclusion to allow Ministers to exchange views.

With these differences still existing close to MC13, Ministers will need to be prepared to negotiate if the Geneva process cannot resolve them in the coming days. Working with our strategic partners such as the ACP Group, which will be led by Samoa, and with the Forum partners Australia and New Zealand, would be an effective way to take forward the region’s interests.

To conclude, given that negotiations are likely to be ongoing until MC13, another Pacific ACP Trade Ministers Briefing will take place in Abu Dhabi either on Saturday 24th or Sunday 25th February. This is to further update Ministers on the state of play in the negotiations and expectations for MC13. The Secretariat team together with our consultants will be assisting you in Abu Dhabi.

I therefore wish you a successful meeting.

[ENDS]