Photo taken on June 15, 2022 shows a view of the World Trade Organization's (WTO) 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12) in Geneva, Switzerland. (WTO/Handout via Xinhua)
The agreement to curb fisheries subsidies is only the second multilateral accord on global trading rules struck in the WTO's 27-year history. It aims to ban subsidies for illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing or fishing of an overfished stock and could have the potential to reverse collapsing fish stocks.
by Martina Fuchs
GENEVA, June 17 (Xinhua) -- World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) International on Friday welcomed the agreement by the World Trade Organization (WTO) members to curb harmful fisheries subsidies that drive overfishing and for which the environmental group has been working for more than two decades.
WTO members concluded the 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12) here on Friday, securing what Director General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala called "unprecedented" trade deals on fisheries subsidies, a partial waiver of intellectual property (IP) rights for COVID-19 vaccines, food safety and agriculture, and WTO reform.
The World Trade Organization's (WTO) Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (L) speaks at the WTO's 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12) in Geneva, Switzerland, June 15, 2022. (WTO/Handout via Xinhua)
The agreement to curb fisheries subsidies is only the second multilateral accord on global trading rules struck in the WTO's 27-year history. It aims to ban subsidies for illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing or fishing of an overfished stock and could have the potential to reverse collapsing fish stocks.
While the fisheries trade deal is significant, the WWF urged members to continue to work toward a global framework for fisheries that emphasizes "equity, sustainable development and resilience-building for both people and nature."
"These practices, in coastal waters and on the high seas, degrade the resources coastal communities depend on and jeopardize the future of the industry they set out to support. Today, one-third of fish populations are already exploited beyond sustainable levels," the organization wrote in a press release.
Marco Lambertini, director general of WWF International, said: "The new agreement is the product of compromise among 164 countries, so it's not perfect."
"But the ocean needs help now, and marine ecosystems as well as coastal communities cannot wait for a perfect solution. What the WTO has delivered is an agreement that should be a catalyst for further subsidy and fisheries reform."
He emphasized that "Countries can leverage this momentum heading into the UN (United Nations) Ocean Conference in Lisbon at the end of the month to further raise the ambition to achieve a nature-positive and sustainable future."
A woman watches dead fish floating on the water of a fish farm at Nagari Sungai Batang in Agam district, West Sumatra province, Indonesia, April 29, 2021. (Photo by Andri Mardiansyah/Xinhua)
The new deal reached on Friday comes after more than two decades of negotiations. According to the WWF, almost 85 percent of capacity enhancing subsidies go to large-scale, industrial fisheries, with little evidence of benefits flowing to small-scale fishers.
"Today we welcome the progress made by WTO members and tireless campaigners around the world, but let's not forget that much more needs to be done to change course and help put us on the path to a healthier ocean and more resilient communities."
WWF International, based in Gland, Switzerland, is an independent conservation organization with a global network active in nearly 100 countries and regions.
Its mission is to stop the degradation of the planet's natural environment and to build a future in which people live in harmony with nature. ■
