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WTO Enforces Landmark Agreement To Curb Overfishing Subsidies
The World Trade Organization (WTO) has officially put its landmark fisheries subsidies agreement into effect. This is the first environmentally focused deal in the WTO’s history and its first agreement since 2017.
The deal aims to cut government funding that contributes to overfishing, a move hailed by activists as a major step toward helping global fish stocks recover.
Originally adopted in 2022 after more than 20 years of negotiations, the agreement came into force once Brazil, Kenya, Tonga, and Vietnam formally ratified it, pushing support past the required two-thirds of WTO members. WTO officials marked the occasion with a ceremony in Geneva, calling it a historic step for ocean sustainability.
Under the new agreement, governments can no longer give subsidies for fishing in overfished areas or in international waters outside their control. Poorer countries will have access to a dedicated fund to help them follow the new rules. Talks on other types of subsidies, like those that encourage overfishing, are still ongoing.
Around the world, governments spend about $35.4 billion a year on fishing subsidies, including fuel support that lets fleets fish in distant oceans. A 2019 study named China, the EU, the U.S., South Korea, and Japan as the top five subsidisers, though not all are fully covered by the current WTO rules.
Negotiations on further rules have been challenging, with developing countries like India asking for exceptions that some other members see as difficult to accept.
Environmental groups welcomed the new agreement, saying it could help global fish stocks recover and support local fishers who rely on healthy oceans for their livelihoods. One international conservation group called it an opportunity for long-term ocean sustainability.
The agreement will last four years and will expire unless more comprehensive rules are agreed upon. WTO officials are hopeful that ongoing talks will either add binding provisions or prevent the deal from lapsing.
WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala called the pact a “historic milestone” and the first sustainability-focused agreement in the organisation’s history, noting it comes after 24 years of negotiations.
Reference: WTO
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