Josh Wilson (Fremantle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On behalf of the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties, I present the committee's Report 211: Protocol amending the Marrakesh agreement establishing the World Trade Organization agreement on fisheries subsidies.

Report made a parliamentary paper in accordance with standing order 39(e).

by leave—I rise to make a statement on the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties report into the protocol amending the Marrakesh agreement establishing the World Trade Organization agreement on fisheries subsidies. This agreement has been labelled as 'landmark', quite rightly, I think, by the World Trade Organization because it's the first WTO agreement to specifically deliver on an SDG target and the first broad, binding and multilateral agreement on ocean sustainability. It will provide for legally binding rules for fisheries-specific subsidies concerning marine wild capture fishing and fishing related activities at sea.

It's a comprehensive treaty capturing those activities and includes any operation in support of or in preparation for fishing, including the landing, packaging, processing, transhipping or transporting of fish that have not been previously landed at a port, as well as the provisioning of personnel, fuel, gear and other supplies at sea.

The agreement seeks to contribute to ocean sustainability and address the serious decline of global marine capture fishery resources. The committee consider this to be necessary if we are to prevent future environmental and biodiversity decline and to pursue the sustainability of fisheries around the world for the wellbeing of the billions of people who depend on fishing to make a living and as a key source of protein.

The agreement contributes to global food security and the protection of livelihoods by addressing key issues of ocean sustainability. It's particularly important to the Pacific region where fishing and fisheries are understandably of high importance economically, socially and culturally. It's notable that Australia worked in partnership with Pacific nations to reach consensus as part of the WTO negotiations that gave rise to the agreement.

The agreement prohibits subsidies to a vessel or operator that is engaged in illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing as well as prohibits subsidies for fishing of overfished stocks and unregulated high seas fishing. I think people in the community can understand how, if countries provide subsidies that enable what would otherwise not be commercial fishing of that kind, that has the potential to do significant damage to fishing stocks and to related environmental conditions and biodiversity. I note that the minister here in Australia is currently consulting on a process to look at the way in which Australia might adopt a framework with respect to illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. That's significant when you note that 65 per cent of seafood consumed in Australia is imported. The committee noted that, in fulfilling the sustainable development goal to conserve and sustainably use our ocean, sea and marine resources, it's important that countries not subsidise and make operations viable that are harmful to fish stocks and the environment, as I've described.

The committee noted the value of the fisheries funding mechanism, which is contained within the agreement, for assisting developing least developed countries to adopt the regulatory and administrative means of compliance with it. In recognition of the value of that funding mechanism, Australia has taken a leading role already in funding the mechanism by contributing $2 million. We're the first nation to do so, which I think is very welcome.

The committee looks forward to news of the second wave of negotiations, which will address further provisions in relation to subsidies that will more comprehensively cover fisheries that put stocks and environments at risk where there is overfishing or overcapacity. But the committee supports the WTO Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies and has recommended that binding treaty action be taken. On behalf of the committee, I commend this report to the House.