Day 2

Day Two... Wednesday 14th

Negotiations here in Hong Kong are still at an impasse; the EU is refusing to move on agriculture without movement on other issues – and the rest of the world is demanding that the EU gives ground first. Meanwhile, the EU and US clamour to repackage old aid money as a sweetener to divert attention from the more substantive things that they’re not offering.

Jim Leape hosted WWF and UNEP’s well-attended press event on fishing subsidies, which drew representatives from seven countries – with Ministers from Brazil, the EC, New Zealand, the Philippines and Senegal, the US Trade Representative and the EC Agriculture Commissioner. This has undoubtedly served to substantially raise the visibility of fishing subsidies at this meeting – and beyond.

Jim then moved on to chair a meeting exploring the scope for negotiations on environmental goods and services to help emerging economies like China base their economic development on sustainable exports. Shi Miaomiao, Deputy Director-General at the Department of  WTO Affairs, Chinese Ministry of Commerce outlined her government’s approach to these opportunities, drawing positive responses from delegates from the EU, India and South Africa.