Implications of the WTO on Indian Marine Industry, Issues and Policy Perspectives

Kamat, Manasvi and Kamat, Manoj (2007): Implications of the WTO on Indian Marine Industry, Issues and Policy Perspectives.

Abstract

The outcomes of WTO negotiations under the Doha round, Hong Kong development round and the changing European Union regulations are likely to place new hurdles on the marine exports emerging from developing economies like India. In the light of the above, we attempt to discuss the impact of WTO-GATS on the Indian Marine Trade and Service industry, analyze the challenges faced by the developing countries, and suggest way-outs to respond them. Many other WTO-GATS related aspects have repercussions on the marine exports from the developing countries in Asia and India in particular; namely the outcomes from the Dispute Settlement Mechanism (DSM), the relation between trade rules and Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs), Technical Assistance and Capacity Building (TA & CB) and the provisions for Special and Differential Treatment (SDT). The impact of GATS and the implications on Indian marine trade & services are specifically assessed in context of Tariff barriers, Non-tariff measures, Subsidies and Eco-labeling. Relevant policy implications follow the issues discussed.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: WTO, GATS, India, Marine Industry, Fisheries, Trade and Non-trade Barriers, NAMA, Implications, Policy Suggestions
• Subjects: P - Economic Systems > P5 - Comparative Economic Systems; F - International Economics > F2 - International Factor Movements and International Business; F - International Economics > F1 - Trade; L - Industrial Organization > L7 - Industry Studies: Primary Products and Construction

References

Abrego, L.E., et al. (1999). Trade and Environment: Bargaining Outcome from Linked Negotiations. CSGR Working Paper No.27/99. Centre for the Study of Globalisation and Regionalization. Warwick. APEC (2005) (website), Tariff database. AsiaPacific Economic Cooperation, APEC Secretariat, Singapore. Arkell J and Johnson MDC (2005) Sustainability Impact Assessment of Proposed WTO Negotiations: Final Report for the Distribution Services Study, ITSP and Institute for Development Policy and Management, University of Manchester. Bostock, T., Greenhalgh, P., Kleih, U. (2004) Policy Research – Implications of Liberalization of Fish Trade for Developing Countries: Synthesis Report. Chatham, UK: Natural Resources Institute. Cato, J.C. (1998). Economic issues Associated with seafood safety and implementation of seafood HACCP programmes. Rome: FAO Deere, Carolyn L. (1999) Ecolabelling and Sustainable Fisheries, IUCN: Washington, D.C. and FAO: Rome. Delgado, C.L., Wada, N., Rosegrant, M.W., Meijer, S., Ahmed, M. (2003) Fish to 2020 Supply and Demand in Changing Global Markets; International Food Policy Research Institute and WorldFish Center, Washington D.C. and Penang, Malaysia. Dey, M. M., M. Ahmed, K. M. Jahan, and M. A. Rab. (2002). Analysis of fish trade policies in developing Asian countries: Liberalization vs. barriers. Paper presented at the biennial meetings of the International Institute of Fisheries Economics and Trade, held in Wellington, New Zealand, August 19–23, 2002. DFID (1998) Carney D, (Ed.), Sustainable rural livelihoods: What contribution can we make? Papers presented at the Department for International Development’s Natural resources Advisers conference, July 1998 Directorate of Economics & Statistics (2004), Agricultural Statistics at a Glance, New Delhi. DOD. (2002). Vision for Ocean Development: Year 2015, http://dod.nic.in/vision.pdf FAO (2002a) Trollvik T, The impact of World Trade Organization Agreements on Fish Trade, FAO Fisheries Circular No. 977, FAO Rome FAO (2002b) Twenty Five Ways to improve the Derbez draft on agriculture. International Food and Agricultural Trade Policy Council FAO, Rome FAO (2003) WTO agreement on agriculture, the implantation experience Developing country case studies. Economic and Social Department, FAO Rome. FAO (2005) FAOSTAT. Food Balance Sheets (Updated August 2004), FAO, Rome FAO (2005) The state of world fisheries and aquaculture 2004, FAO Rome. FAO. (1999). Historical consumption and future demand for fish and fishery products: exploratory calculations for the years 2015/2030, by Y. Ye. FAO Fisheries Circular No. 946. Rome. Gardiner, P. and Viswanathan, K. (2004). ‘Ecolabelling and Fisheries Management’. World Fish Centre. George, C., and Kirkpatrick, C. (2004) Trade and Development: Assessing the Impact of Trade Liberalisation on Sustainable Development; Journal of World Trade 38 (3); pp441469. Globefish (2000) Filhol A., Effects of the World Trade organizations regulation on world fish trade, FAO, Rome Globefish (2004) Josupeit H, International fish trade regulatory framework: Infofish Tuna Conference, Bangkok, Thailand ICSF (1998). Fish Stakes. ICSF. Chennai. ICTSD (2005) Untangling Fisheries and Trade: Towards Priorities for Action; CTSD Dialogue, 910 May 2005, International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development, Geneva. ICTSD (2005) website. Various documents (e.g. Bridges); International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development, Geneva. IFPRI. (2003). Fish to 2020: Supply and Demand in Changing Global Markets, by C. Delgado, N. Wada, M. Rosegrant, S. Meijer and M. Ahmed. International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Washington, DC. Infofish (2005) (website) Information on fisheries management in the Republic of Ghana, FAO, March 2005. ITN. (2002). India Enforces Antibiotic Ban, http:// www.seafood.com/news/current IUCN (2004), Sanitary and Phyto Sanitary Barriers to Trade and its Impact on the Environment – The Case of Shrimp Farming in Bangladesh, IUCN The World Conservation Union, Bangladesh. SIA of WTO Negotiations: Inception Report for Fisheries Page 38 Khatun, F., Rahman, M., and Debapriya, B. (2004) Fisheries Subsidies and Marine Fisheries Resource Management: Lessons from Bangladesh, United Nations Environment Programme, Geneva, 2004. Kurien, J. (2000). ‘Behind the label: Are ecolabels the answer to sustainable fishing?’ New Internationalist 325, July 2000. Lem, A. (2004), Presentation of Fisheries Issues in the ACPEU negotiations; Addis Abeba, December 2004. Lem, A., FAO (2004b), WTO Trade rules with an update on the Doha Round negotiations and a short reference to antidumping action and the shrimp case, WAS Honolulu. Macfadyen, G. (2004), Trade Issues Background Paper: Ethical /Social /Eco Certification, Labelling and Guidelines, as part of project “Policy Research – Implications of Liberalisation of Fish Trade for Developing Countries”, Bostock et al (2004). Marine Resources Assessment Group Ltd (MRAG) with Cambridge Resource and International Institute for Environment and Development (2000), The Impact of Fisheries Mathew, S. (2002), International Collective in Support of Fishworkers (ICSF). ‘Sustainable Fishing and Social Well Being: The Marine Stewardship Council and the Fair Trade Initiative’. Milazzo, Matteo (1998) Subsidies in World Fisheries: A Reexamination, World Bank Technical Paper No 406 MRAG/Soil Association/IIED (2000). ‘Relevance of Certification to Fisheries in Developing Countries’. DFID Contract: 7381CA Final Report, 2000. SIA of WTO Negotiations: Inception Report for Fisheries Page 39 ODI (2004) Page S, How developing countries can negotiate, ODI Briefing Papers 3, Overseas Development Institute, London. ODI (2004) Page S, Principal issues in the Doha negotiations, ODI Briefing Papers 2, Overseas Development Institute, London. OECD (2003) Liberalising fisheries markets: scope and effects. Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, Paris. OECD (2005) Subsidies: A Way Towards Sustainable Fisheries? Policy Brief, December 2005; Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, Paris. OECD, 2000; Possibility of liberalization of the market in the fisheries sector in the OECD countries, Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, Paris. Planning Commission. (2006). Tenth Five Year Plan 2002-2007, http://planningcommission.nic.in/plans/planrel/fiveyr/10th/volume2/v2_ch5_2.pdf Reserve Bank of India (2004), Handbook of Statistics on Indian Economy, Mumbai. Rodrigues, Branda (2004), Economics of Fishing industry In Goa: An Analysis of Production & Exports, Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industry Bulletin, Vol LIII, No 4. Scharm, W. (2005) Are EU access agreements harming Africa’s artisanal fisheries? – Tensions between the EU and West Africa off Africa’s coasts; Article in Agriculture & rural development 2/2005. pp38 – 40. Scholz, U., and Schirm, B. (2005), How important is the fishery sector for the developing world? Article in Agriculture & rural development 2/2005. pp3032. Seas, And Coastal Areas And The Protection, Rational Use And Development Of Their Living Resources SIA of WTO Negotiations: Inception Report for Fisheries Page 37 Stiglitz, J. E. and Charlton, A. (2005) Fair Trade For All – How Trade Can Promote Development; Oxford University Press. UNCED (1992) Agenda 21: The Rio Declaration on environment and development: Chapter 17: Protection Of The Oceans, All Kinds Of Seas, Including Enclosed And Semienclosed UNEP (2004) Incorporating Resource Impact into Fisheries Subsidies Disciplines: Issues and Options – A Discussion Paper. UNEP (2005) Website: Systemwide Earthwatch : Crisis in ocean fisheries, United Nations Environment Programme SIA of WTO Negotiations: Inception Report for Fisheries Page 40 United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) (2003). Successful capacity building in fish safety/quality for trade facilitation in Uganda. USDA (2005) Website Ghana trade survey paper. US FDA Centre for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition,(2006), www.cfsan.fda.gov. Vannuccini, S. (2004) Overview of Fish Production, Utilization, Consumption and Trade (based on 2002 data), Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations; Rome. Willems, S., Roth, E., Van Roekel, J. (2005) Changing European Public and Private Food Safety and Quality Requirements Challenge for Developing Country Fresh Produce and Fish Exporters. European Union Buyers Survey; World Bank, Washington D.C. World Bank (1998). World Development Report 1998-99, New York. Oxford University Press. World Bank (2004) Saving Fish and Fishers – Toward Sustainable and Equitable Governance of the Global Fishing Sector, Report No. 29090GLB, The World Bank – Agriculture and Rural Development Department; Washington D.C. World Bank. (1998). Subsidies in world fisheries: A re-examination. World Bank Technical Paper Number 406. Washington, D.C. World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) (2001) Hard Facts, Hidden Problems. A Review of current data on Fishing Subsidies. WWF Technical Paper. WTO (2001) Ministerial Declaration, Fourth Ministerial Conference; Doha, 9 – 14 November 2001; World Trade Organization, Geneva. WTO (2001) Trade topics: Trade policy Ghana Feb 2001. Trade Policy Reviews, Press Release, February 2001; WTO, Geneva, Switzerland. WTO (2003) Understanding the WTO; World Trade Organization, Geneva. WTO (2005) Ministerial Declaration, Sixth Ministerial Conference; Hong Kong, 13 – 18 December 2005; World Trade Organization, Geneva.