Jakarta, March 6 -- Indonesia views the standardized ban on fisheries subsidies under the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies (AFS) as unfair and potentially harmful to developing countries, where small-scale fishermen make up the majority.

An Associate Expert Trade Negotiator at the World Trade Organization Negotiations Directorate at the Ministry of Trade, Jeremy Kumajas, said that the one-size-fits-all regulation does not reflect the differences in the characteristics of the fisheries sector between countries.

According to Kumajas, about 90 percent of Indonesian fishermen are small-scale fishers who continue to depend heavily on operational subsidies, such as fuel, to carry out fishing activities.

"Subsid...