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The agreement of the world trade organization on subsidies of fishing – its first environmentally friendly agreement – comes into force on Monday after years of thorny negotiations in a time of increased international trade stresses.
The governments are determined with more than 100 WTO members, including the United States, the European Union and China, which are binding, according to which the legality and sustainability of the fish activities they subsidy are taken into account.
The discussions about the deal began until 2001, with the WTO members finally achieving an agreement through consensus in June 2022.
Below you will find the main points of the agreement, which will be celebrated on Monday with a ceremony in the Geneva Geneva of the WTO after being ratified by two thirds of the membership.
More comprehensive rules for subsidies for activities that contribute to overcapacity and overfishing remain under negotiations.
– bans –
The deal forbids subsidies for a ship or operator, which illegally, not registered and not regulated (iuu), or fishing overbidden stocks.
However, a country can grant or maintain subsidies that “switch the stock to a biologically sustainable level”.
The agreement also prohibits subsidies for non -regulated fish on the high seas, including areas outside the jurisdiction of the coastal countries, whereby protection is done in cases where stock management measures are missing.
According to a widespread study in the Marine Policy Journal, the global subsidies for fishing in 2018 were 35.4 billion US dollars, of which 22 billion US dollars contributed to an increased capacity of the fishing fleet.
– notification and dispute settlement –
The agreement states that the countries “special care and exercise of the due restraint” when granting subsidies for ships that do not have to fly their own flag, subsidies granted, and if they grant them fishing or related activities if the status of the relevant stocks is unknown.
In addition to regular notifications about subsidies, the WTO members must update the organization to implement the agreement.
This includes, for example, the status of fish stocks, information on subsidies and a list of ships and operators that the country has contested for the IUU fishing.
In the event of disagreements, countries can refer to the WTO’s dispute resolution.
– developing countries –
The agreement offers a “peace clause” for the least developed countries (LDCs) and developing countries in the world, which are excluded by subsidy prohibitions in their own exclusive economic zones for two years.
