Coming after more than 20 years of negotiations, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) agreement limiting harmful fisheries subsidies has sparked reaction from across the fisheries and seafood sectors.
Agreed at WTO’s 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12) in Geneva, the so-called “Geneva Package” includes a strong prohibition of subsidies contributing to illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing as well as an absolute prohibition of subsidies for fishing on the unregulated high seas.
Specific commitments to eliminate harmful fisheries subsidies include the following:
- WTO members cannot grant or maintain subsidies to ships and operators engaged in illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing activities (Article 3)
- WTO members cannot grant or maintain subsidies for fishing or fishing related activities regarding an overfished stock (Art 4)
- WTO members shall not grant or maintain subsidies for fishing or fishing related activities in the high seas outside the competence of a relevant Regional Fisheries Management Organisation, and take special care and due restraint when considering granting a subsidy concerning fish stocks whose status is unknown (Art 5)
- WTO members shall strengthen and enhance transparency and notification of fisheries subsidies (Art.8), and a WTO Committee on Fisheries will be created and meet at least twice a year to review and improve implementation of the Agreement (Art. 9)
The agreement also establishes a voluntary WTO funding mechanism to provide technical assistance and capacity-building to developing countries.
Overall, the agreement requires two thirds of WTO membership (at least 109 countries) to ratify the agreement for it to enter into force.
’Fast-track ratification’
Ambassador Peter Thomson, UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy for the Ocean, commented, “Today’s deal is a historic step forward for ocean health, and also the ability of fisherfolk in small-scale coastal communities around the world to have fairer access to their rightful resource, thereby boosting both food and job security. Meanwhile, the money spared in future with the elimination of these harmful subsidies should be channelled toward ocean conservation and sustainable adaptation assistance to coastal communities.
“This agreement to end harmful fisheries subsidies has been over 20 years in the making, and we applaud the WTO, its Director General and its members for reaching a meaningful deal. But ocean life cannot wait another twenty years for the agreement to enter into force. I call upon all WTO members to fast-track their ratification process so that this deal comes into force at the latest by the next WTO Ministerial Conference in two years.”
‘Historic agreement’
European Commission Executive Vice-President and Commissioner for Trade, Valdis Dombrovskis, said, “Despite unprecedented challenges, this WTO Ministerial succeeded in clinching important outcomes of global significance. We showed that we can respond to urgent issues such as the emerging food security crisis and the pandemic. A historic agreement on prohibiting harmful fisheries subsidies to underpin sustainability was achieved.”
‘Serious harm’
European fishing industry group Europêche said it welcomed the introduction of global fishing disciplines and appreciated WTO’s decision not to extend the scope of the disciplines to cover non-specific fuel subsidies. However, it considers the section that refers to fishing in the high seas to be very negative, since it is going to cause serious harm in part of the EU long-distance fleet that operates in the Southwest Atlantic.
“This is an area where an RFMO could not be set up due to a political dispute over the territorial jurisdiction of the waters. Nonetheless, the EU fleet and its flag states have done their homework mapping and closing fishing grounds where needed and following resolutions of United Nations to protect vulnerable ecosystems. The EU has even adopted a dedicated law to manage fishing in this type of areas. These efforts have not been recognised. We regret that WTO has not granted the possibility to maintain subsidies where sustainable management measures are in place, similar to the case of overfished stocks. The EU fleet will pay for the inability of foreign countries to set up an RFMO and for the sins of Asian vessels operating in the same area with little control from their governments,” Europêche Managing Director, Daniel Voces, said.
‘Good day for ocean health’
Kristian Teleki, Director, Friends of Ocean Action/World Economic Forum, commented, “Ending these perverse subsidies that boost overfishing is a critical step to enabling sustainable global fisheries, supporting small-scale fishers, and maintaining the health of fish stocks and the wider marine ecosystem. It is a key target in the Sustainable Development Goal for the ocean, SDG14. Friends of Ocean Action looks forward to marking this success at the UN Ocean Conference in Lisbon in a few days, and urges countries to move swiftly to entry into force. I applaud WTO members for reaching this agreement – and also WTO Director General Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and chair of the fisheries negotiations Ambassador Santiago Wills of Colombia, for their tireless efforts to usher in a deal that works for fisheries, fishers and fish. This is a good day for ocean health and the future of our planet.
