The Second Ad Hoc Meeting of Intergovernmental Organizations on Work Programmes Related to Subsidies in Fisheries took place at FAO headquarters on 4 and 5 July 2002 as a follow-up to a recommendation made at the twenty-fourth session of the FAO Committee on Fisheries. Representatives from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Council, the Association of Southeast-Asian Nations, the Caribbean Community Secretariat, FAO, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the Southern Africa Development Community, the United Nations Environment Programme and the World Trade Organization attended the meeting. Mr Ulf Wijkström, FAO Fisheries Department, was elected chairperson of the meeting and an agenda was adopted that included two main items: (i) presentation and discussion of current work programmes on subsidies in fisheries, and (ii) future work and opportunities for collaboration. The meeting noted a number of opportunities for collaboration in the preparation, execution and finalization of reports and meetings. It agreed to work towards expanding the membership of the group and to establish an informal e-mail-based system for sharing relevant information.
