Potential Implementation Steps of a WTO Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies
As members of the WTO negotiate new rules to curb harmful fisheries subsidies, this policy brief examines the potential steps governments could take to implement successful subsidy reform that promotes more sustainable fisheries.
Key Messages
- WTO members negotiating new multilateral disciplines to curb harmful fisheries subsidies should begin preparing for the reform of these support measures. In many cases, such reform would be useful in supporting more sustainable fisheries irrespective of whether an agreement is reached at the WTO.
- There are various practical steps that WTO members could consider to implement fisheries subsidy reform. While some of these steps are general, including establishing a subsidy inventory and crafting a subsidy reform program, others are more focused on the specific rules currently negotiated at the WTO.
- This may be an opportune time for donors and technical assistance providers to assess whether and how existing programs can be leveraged to assist developing countries with reforming fisheries subsidies.
Members of the WTO are negotiating new rules on fisheries subsidies with the aim of concluding a multilateral agreement on this issue by the end of 2020. However, there is currently very little guidance available about the reform of fisheries subsidies, either in the context of a possible WTO agreement or to guide unilateral reform.
This policy brief sets out some early thinking about the possible implementation of new WTO subsidy rules. It starts by presenting general implementation steps WTO members could take to fulfill their obligations for subsidy reform under agreed disciplines, irrespective of any specific rules. It then describes some of the more concrete steps that might be required to implement particular disciplines in the three main substantive areas under discussion at the WTO—i.e., subsidies that contribute to (1) illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing, (2) the fishing of overfished stocks, and (3) overcapacity and overfishing more broadly. Finally, the brief shortly discusses the role of technical assistance in helping developing WTO members to successfully reform their fisheries subsidies, including through a potential change in the focus of existing assistance programs.
.
You might also be interested in
Source to Sea: Integrating the water agenda in 2023
2023 could prove to be a definitive year for facilitating an integrative perspective on water issues, from fresh water to the marine environment.
S'pore becomes 2nd country to support global agreement ending harmful fisheries subsidies
Singapore has become the second member of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to ratify its agreement to protect the world’s oceans. On Friday, the Republic formally accepted the treaty – the first multilateral trade agreement that focuses on environmental sustainability – becoming the first coastal state to do so.
Biodiversité: les subventions pour la destruction de la nature
Des centaines de millions de dollars de plus sont nécessaires chaque année pour renverser les pertes de biodiversité —restaurer les forêts et les terres humides, établir des zones protégées, mettre en place une agriculture plus durable. Mais ce n’est pas seulement une question d’investissements dans la protection de la biodiversité. Les gouvernements doivent aussi cesser de subventionner sa destruction.
What Will Happen at COP 29?
Talks at the 2024 UN Climate Change Conference (COP 29) will range from defining a way forward on finance through a new collective quantified goal (NCQG) to mitigation, and loss and damage. Ahead of negotiations in Baku, IISD’s Earth Negotiations Bulletin Team Lead Jennifer Bansard examines the agenda and breaks down what to watch as eyes turn to Azerbaijan.