India says WTO fishing proposal favours rich nations

NEW DELHI: The latest World Trade Organization proposals on ending fishing subsidies are unfair, weak and favour rich nations, an Indian official told AFP on Friday.

Governments spend billions of dollars every year subsidising fishing industries that provide a livelihood to millions of people.

But the subsidies contribute to overfishing, which is threatening to lead to a collapse in the world’s fish ecosystem.

A draft text that would seek to end subsidies for illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing will be discussed in late November at the WTO in Geneva.

But an Indian commerce ministry official told AFP on Friday that the ongoing discussions hadn’t yet addressed the concerns of developing countries like India.