Fiji and other Pacific island countries oppose draft deal on fisheries subsidies at WTO talks

Fiji, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands are opposing a draft deal on changes to fisheries subsidies at the World Trade Organisation talks in Abu Dhabi, arguing that it does not go far enough.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade, Manoa Kamikamica says they had to fight to get some attention and one of the unfortunate things they are seeing is that some of the big boys have taken over some of the processes and trying to seek a resolution has been challenging.

Kamikamica says they are not giving up, there is still an opportunity to discuss and the Pacific has been very transparent in the negotiation.

He says they have stated their concerns to every influential member of the WTO and have subsequently provided suggested text to articulate their concerns but the response has been quite disappointing.

The Deputy Prime Minister says this is what happens when you deal with big countries globally and they continue to press for some resolution.

He says right now, they are having a lot of discussions with supporting countries and have urged them to ask particularly the large fishing subsidizers that they come to talk to the Pacific.

He says they remain open to negotiation to try and ensure they cut a deal for the Pacific that is both practical and achieves the desired result in terms of disciplining the overfishing nations and something that will protect their current resources not only for current generations but for the generations to come.