GLOBEFISH Meet the Expert has the opportunity to interview Mr David Vivas Eugui, Legal Officer in the Trade, Environmental, Climate Change and Sustainable Development Branch of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). UNCTAD supports developing countries to access the benefits of a globalized economy more fairly and effectively.

During the interview, Mr David Vivas Eugui explained the role of UNCTAD in the fisheries and aquaculture sector as the Organisation has been supporting countries around sustainable fisheries throughout the entire value chain. He mentioned the joint work and efforts with other bodies in the organisation of important events worldwide, for example, the 4th Oceans Forum on Trade related aspects of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14. During the interview, the main challenges of the fisheries and aquaculture sector in terms of international trade and access to market were highlighted. A brief analysis on how tariff measures and non-tariff measures affect international trade of fisheries and aquaculture product was explained. 

David Vivas Eugui is a Legal Officer in the Trade, Environment, Climate Change and Sustainable Development Branch of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). Previously, he was a Senior Economic Affairs Officer in UNCTAD’s Trade Negotiations and Commercial Diplomacy Branch, Deputy Programmes Director at the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD), Senior Attorney at the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL),  Attaché for Legal Affairs at the Mission of Venezuela to the World Trade Organization (WTO) and Staff Attorney at the Venezuelan Institute of Foreign Trade.

David is an international expert with more than 20 years of experience on legal and economic issues. He has worked as an advisor and consultant for various institutions, international and national organizations and has lectured on intellectual property, trade, oceans economy and environmental law at the University of Strasbourg (CEIPI), Universidad de Buenos Aires (Argentina), Universidad Javeriana (Colombia), Maastricht University (the Netherlands), WIPO Distant Learning Academy, and University of Business and International Studies (Switzerland).

He holds a JD from the Universidad Catolica Andres Bello, an LLM from Georgetown University and a Master in Transnational Business from the Universidad Externado de Colombia.