1. On the recommendation of the FAO Committee on Fisheries (COFI) at its Twenty-fifth Session, the Director-General of FAO, Mr Jacques Diouf, convened the Technical Consultation on the Use of Subsidies in the Fisheries Sector. The Technical Consultation was held at FAO headquarters, Rome, Italy, from 30 June to 2 July 2004.
2. The Consultation was attended by 74 Members, and observers from one non-Member nation of FAO, by representatives from two specialized agencies of the United Nations, and by observers from 24 intergovernmental and international non-governmental organizations. The list of delegates and observers is given in Appendix B. The documents that were placed before the Consultation are listed in Appendix C.
3. The meeting was called to order by the Secretary of the Consultation, Mr Ulf N. Wijkström.
4. Mr Ichiro Nomura, Assistant Director-General, FAO Fisheries Department, in his opening statement on behalf of the Director-General, reminded delegates that the Technical Consultation was in direct response to a request from the twenty-fifth session of COFI. At that session, the Committee agreed that in this Consultation, attention should be given to a practical mandate to consider the effect of subsidies on fisheries resources, such as effects on illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing and overcapacity taking into account the impact of subsidies on sustainable development, trade in fish and fishery product, food security, social security and poverty alleviation, especially in the context of recognizing the special needs of developing countries and small island developing States as recognized in international instruments. Mr Nomura stressed that FAO had followed and participated in the discussion on fisheries subsidies from the start, and more particularly when it became more prominent on the international agenda during the last years; he drew attention to the past and current work and activities undertaken by FAO on this issue. He also noted that the recently completed Technical Consultation to Review Progress and Promote the Full Implementation of the International Plan of Action (IPOA) to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate IUU Fishing and the IPOA for the Management of Fishing Capacity had concluded that there were substantial links between subsidies, IUU fishing and overcapacity. He finally expressed the hope that this Consultation would result in a sound and practical mandate for FAO to continue its efforts to promote a fruitful discussion on the use of fisheries subsidies.
