[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3518 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
112th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 3518
To make it a principal negotiating objective of the United States in
trade negotiations to eliminate government fisheries subsidies, and for
other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
August 2, 2012
Mr. Wyden introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Finance
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To make it a principal negotiating objective of the United States in
trade negotiations to eliminate government fisheries subsidies, and for
other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Fair Trade in Seafood Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of
the United Nations, 85 percent of the world's fisheries are
overexploited, fully exploited, significantly depleted, or
recovering from overexploitation, the highest percentage ever
on record.
(2) A primary reason for the global fisheries crisis is
government subsidies that create perverse incentives for
continued fishing in the face of declining catches.
(3) Despite the dire conditions of the world's marine
resources, some of the countries that engage in the most
fishing continue to provide significant subsidies to their
fishing fleets.
(4) Fisheries subsidies are estimated to be approximately
20 percent of the value of the world catch and have helped
create a global fishing fleet that is up to 250 percent larger
than that needed to fish sustainably.
(5) Many long-range foreign fleets are supported by
government subsidies for fuel, other operational expenses, and
vessel construction that allow their fleets to fish longer, at
greater distances, and more intensively than is commercially or
environmentally warranted. Those fleets would not be viable
without the support of government subsidies.
(6) Many developing countries are particularly affected by
fisheries subsidies provided by other governments because the
developing countries are unable to compete against subsidized
industrial fleets.
(7) Fisheries subsidies offered by the governments of other
countries give the fleets of those countries an unfair
advantage over United States fishermen by reducing the costs of
operations and increasing the number, size, and power of
vessels competing for fish. Foreign fisheries subsidies also
undermine opportunities for United States fishermen in
potential export markets.
(8) Without committed global leadership to reduce
``overfishing subsidies'', there is a significant risk that the
oceans will become too depleted to fish, resulting in a
catastrophic blow to the world economy and environment.
(9) As one of the world's largest importers of seafood and
one of the top five exporters of seafood, the United States has
a particular responsibility to lead trade negotiations to
address fisheries subsidies and make the establishment of
strong new rules on fisheries subsidies a core priority in
United States trade negotiations.
(10) Paragraphs 28 and 31 of the Ministerial Declaration of
the World Trade Organization adopted at Doha November 14, 2001,
which launched the Doha Development Agenda, called for
negotiations to clarify and improve disciplines on trade-
distorting government fisheries subsidies.
(11) Paragraphs 9 through 11 of Annex D of the Ministerial
Declaration of the World Trade Organization adopted at Hong
Kong December 18, 2005, reinforced the Doha fisheries subsidies
mandate, noting that ``there is broad agreement that the Group
should strengthen disciplines on subsidies in the fisheries
sector, including through the prohibition of certain forms of
fisheries subsidies that contribute to overcapacity and over-
fishing'' and calling on ``Participants promptly to undertake
further detailed work to, inter alia, establish the nature and
extent of those disciplines, including transparency and
enforceability''.
(12) The negotiations on fisheries subsidies in the World
Trade Organization and negotiations for the Trans-Pacific
Partnership Agreement are two of the most important, and
promising, international efforts to stop global overfishing and
represent meaningful efforts to directly address a key
environmental issue that directly impacts international trade.
(13) On November 12, 2011, the leaders of the 9 countries
in negotiations for the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement--
Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Chile, Malaysia, New Zealand,
Peru, Singapore, Vietnam, and the United States--announced the
achievement of the broad outlines of an ambitious, 21st-century
agreement. According to a statement released by those leaders,
the agreed outline calls for ``[a] meaningful outcome on
environment [that] will ensure that the agreement appropriately
addresses important trade and environment challenges and
enhances the mutual supportiveness of trade and environment.
The TPP countries share the view that the environment text
should include effective provisions on trade-related issues
that would help to reinforce environmental protection and are
discussing an effective institutional arrangement to oversee
implementation and a specific cooperation framework for
addressing capacity building needs.''. Various proposals,
including a proposal by the United States, to bring disciplines
to government-subsidized fishing are under active discussion as
part of the negotiations on the environment chapter of the
Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement.
(14) The United States continues to make achievement of an
agreement on disciplines on government fisheries subsidies a
priority in negotiations in the World Trade Organization and
for the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement. On December 16,
2011, at the Eighth Ministerial Conference of the World Trade
Organization in Geneva, the United States Trade Representative
issued a statement urging ``continued work toward an ambitious
outcome on fisheries subsidies under the WTO''. Noting the
acute impact of declining catches on developing countries, the
Trade Representative further stated, ``We stand ready to
explore new negotiating approaches that can move us towards the
elimination of harmful subsidies that contribute to
overcapacity and overfishing. . . . WTO Members have a duty to
address one of the root causes of overfishing and
overcapacity--the fisheries subsidies that encourage fishing
enterprises to fish longer, harder, and farther than would
otherwise be sustainable without subsidy aid. . . . The United
States is ready to continue this work in the WTO and in other
appropriate fora--including free trade agreements such as the
Trans-Pacific Partnership and other bilateral, regional and
multilateral initiatives.''.
(15) A strong fisheries subsidies agreement by the World
Trade Organization and in the Trans-Pacific Partnership
Agreement would set an historic precedent by showing that
international trade can directly benefit the environment while
promoting exports and open markets.
SEC. 3. TRADE NEGOTIATING OBJECTIVES OF THE UNITED STATES WITH RESPECT
TO GOVERNMENT FISHERIES SUBSIDIES.
It shall be a principal negotiating objective of the United States
in negotiations for a trade agreement--
(1) to eliminate fisheries subsidies provided by
governments that unfairly distort markets to the detriment of
United States commercial fishing interests and that perpetuate
unsustainable fishing practices; and
(2) to ensure that any commitments with respect to such
subsidies are enforceable under appropriate trade laws.
SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.
This Act takes effect on the date of the enactment of this Act and
applies with respect to negotiations for a trade agreement that--
(1) include any negotiations relating to the elimination or
reduction of government fisheries subsidies; and
(2) are entered into--
(A) on or after such date of enactment; or
(B) before such date of enactment if the
negotiations continue on or after such date of
enactment.
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