44. In order to avoid duplication of work and provide the occasion for synergies to occur amongst Intergovernmental Organizations addressing issues related to the use of subsidies in fisheries, the observers were invited to inform the Consultation of their relevant programmes of work.
45. The observer from the CPPS, Mr Adolfo Jalil, stressed the importance that the CPPS attaches to work aiming to provide information of the impacts of subsidies on trade and environment. The CPPS is promoting work on these matters through recently established working groups involving member countries. He stated that on this subject the CPPS would like to establish a framework for technical collaboration with FAO.
46. The observer from the OECD, Mr Anthony Cox, referred to the long history of OECD’s work on subsidies and fisheries and mentioned that the last in this series of work are a study on trade liberalization and fisheries, and a study on fisheries management costs. As a follow-up to the recent OECD Workshop on Environmentally Harmful Subsidies, the fisheries secretariat will undertake case studies using the checklist (see paragraph 41) and work on the associated policy filter.
47. The observer from UNEP, Ms Anja von Moltke, stated that UNEP’s work on fisheries has gained importance as a result of the Doha Ministerial Declaration. Part of the present work programme tries to document the interaction between subsidies, overcapacity and overfishing. Several country studies and informal workshops involving stakeholders including relevant organizations were conducted to address these issues. Future work will focus on analyzing the impacts of subsidies under different management conditions and providing guidance to countries for the development of sustainable fisheries policies.
48. Following these presentations the Consultation addressed the question of what would be appropriate follow-up and continuation on subsidies and fisheries.
49. The Consultation concluded that the Guide is a most appropriate tool to use in the study of subsidies and is ready for use. The experts encouraged FAO to assist Members in undertaking studies based on the Guide and to make those reports public. Finally, it was felt to be important that FAO be informed of the experiences derived in its use as, at some time later, it may be appropriate to undertake a revision of the Guide.
50. Simultaneously, FAO should work to improve guidance on how to identify and assess subsidies classified in categories 3 and 4. Initially this work might aim to provide quantitative assessments. Also, it is important that guidance be provided on how to place the annual analysis into a multi-year framework.
51. The Consultation specifically urged FAO to work on the following issues: (i) the long- term effects of subsidies; (ii) resource pricing, and (iii) the effects of government inaction.
52. The Consultation recognized that the data generated by the application of the Guide can be used to carry out empirical analyses for the purpose of estimating impacts. Essentially it is a matter of determining the stimulus to the firm, assessing the firm’s reaction to that stimulus, and then determining the short-term and long-term effects on fishing capacity, on fish stocks, trade, etc. The Consultation strongly recommended that this type of analysis be undertaken.
53. The Consultation concluded that FAO should promote development and use of appropriate models for the evaluation of impacts of subsidies through actual case studies.
54. Regarding environmental impacts, various methods are available. They include applying econometric and bio-economic models. Models will need to be adjusted to handle different kinds of subsidies, inter alia management costs as well as the dynamics of fishing effort and fish stocks. The Consultation recognized that considerable effort will be needed in terms of model development and data collection. It is unlikely that one model can be used to assess all possible types of impacts, rather there will be a need to tailor models to the type of impact studied.
55. Regarding the impacts on trade, a different model approach will be required. Global competitiveness analysis, as used in the international trade literature, allows immediate use of subsidy data (in conjunction with data on input-output coefficients for harvesting and processing activities) to assess the impact of subsidies on fisheries trade. Because of its partial equilibrium approach, it is relatively easy to perform comparative static or sensitivity analysis around important parameters of fisheries activities.
56. The Consultation stated that case studies, based on models outlined above, would be appropriate to analyse both the environmental impact and the impact on trade of subsidies and recommends such case studies be undertaken.
