Daily News

The Philippines hopes WTO will speed up negotiations on fishery rules

According to a report by the Philippine Business Mirror on July 19, in a recent WTO ministerial video conference, the Philippine Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Minister Lopez and the Department of Agriculture (DA) Minister Dahl said that the global fish In the context of the continued decline in resources, it is proposed to push the WTO to immediately end the negotiation of fishery subsidies.

The latest data from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization show that depleted fish stocks will exacerbate poverty and endanger coastal communities that rely on fishing. One-third of the world’s fish populations are overfished, a continuous increase from 10% in 1970 and 27% in 2000.

The WTO pointed out that negotiations on this matter have been going on for about two decades. One of the "hardest problems" that must be resolved is to provide special and differential treatment to developing and least developed countries while ensuring the sustainability of the oceans.

Russia intends to publicly auction fishery quotas again, the total amount may not be less than 2.5 billion US dollars

According to foreign media reports, a Russian government official proposed that the national crab and other seafood fishing quotas be again publicly auctioned, the total amount may reach 200 billion rubles (2.67 billion US dollars).

Ilya Shestakov, president of the Russian Federation Fisheries Agency (Rosrybolovstvo), said that the auction of fishery resource quotas will increase federal government revenue and stimulate industry investment.

A Rosrybolovstvo spokesperson confirmed to UCN that the auction of new quotas will generate 200 billion rubles in revenue, including 140 billion rubles worth of crab quotas and 60 billion rubles worth of northern scallops, sea urchins and scallops. The specific quotas for each species will need to go through the industry Agreed.

In 2019, Russia publicly auctioned 50% of the national crab quota, and the government made a profit of 142 billion rubles (US$2.1 billion). Russian Crab Company (RCC), a subsidiary of the Russian Fisheries Company (RFC), bid 33.85 billion rubles ($534 million) for 9,450 tons of quota.

Shestakov said that the quota auction proposal is progressing smoothly, and it is expected that the first auction of quotas will be launched by 2023 at the earliest. The auction of new quotas will also include additional conditions such as corporate investment, such as the construction of new fishing vessels.

In 2019, after RCC purchased the quota, it promised to build 10 new crab boats with a length of not less than 50 meters, and stated that it will complete the shipbuilding order within the time limit specified by the government.

Earlier this year, RCC CEO Alexander Sapozhnikov stated that the auction of new quotas will further consolidate the company's position in the industry. Quota bidding and investment in shipbuilding involve high thresholds and require large amounts of financial support.