The FSA (fisheries subsidies agreement) has not yet come into force as the Agreement has not been ratified by two-thirds of the members of the WTO (World Trade Organisation), Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Jitin Prasada said in Parliament.
India has been able to protect the interests of fishermen under the agreement adopted at the 12th Ministerial Conference on the pillar of Illegal Unreported and Unregulated (IUU), and Overfished stocks, he told the Lok Sabha.
The FSA is confined to IUU fishing and for stocks that are in overfished condition as determined by the coastal member i.e. India in its jurisdiction, he said in a written reply.
Therefore, the genuine fishermen will not be impacted by the FSA and can continue to receive subsidies even after the Agreement enters into force, he said, adding there is no such decision in the FSA to scrap subsidies for fishing after two years.
As per the provisions of the agreement which has still not entered into force, no prohibition has been imposed on a WTO member regarding granting or maintaining subsidy to its vessel or operator as long as it is not undertaking IUU fishing and the stocks are not in overfished condition.
Prasada also said that, if a vessel/operator is not engaged in IUU fishing, then that vessel/operator will always be eligible for fisheries subsidies.
Similarly, if the stocks are not declared overfished by the coastal member that is India, then, all fishermen including the poor small-scale fishermen will be eligible for fisheries subsidies, he added.
