• The ICFO Quebec Statement on the Next WTO Fisheries Negotiation In Quebec, Canada in 1999
  • The ICFO Quebec Statement on the Next WTO Fisheries Negotiation
  • Recognizing the importance of the roles and functions that fishery, fishing communities and fishery cooperatives play for food security, environmental conservation, maintenance of local society and culture etc., we agreed that each member organization of ICFO would make efforts to ensure that member fishers of fishery cooperatives of the world could fully play their roles and functions.
  • Fishery products should, in principle, be supplied by domestic production, and it shall be supplemented by trade, when necessary and appropriate.
  • Fishing operations by flag of convenience fishing vessels as well as by the fishing vessels of non member State to international stock management organizations, and their exporting fishes without adhering to any conservation and management measures, must be absolutely done away with from the resource management and sustainable utilization point of view.
  • Further, the livelihood, culture and fishing technologies etc. which are deeply rooted in the fishing communities and playing important roles and functions from generation to generation must be protected and should not be subjected to unreasonable disintegration in the name of promotion of trade.
  • We ICFO shall actively participate in the various international fora and talks in cooperation with other international and regional NGOs in order to ensure that our opinions are reflected at the upcoming WTO fisheries negotiations, so that fair trade rules in which due considerations are given to the points mentioned above be established. We expect that this would lead to a desirable result in which all interested parties could receive equitable benefit and contribute to the realization of sustainable development of fishery, fishing communities and fishery cooperatives of the world in the coming 21st century.
  • 28 August, 1999, Quebec, Canada
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