New Zealand is the latest country to deposited its instrument of acceptance of the World Trade Organization Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies, making it the first country from the Oceania region to join.
With New Zealand’s acceptance, the WTO has received nearly 40 percent of the acceptances needed for the Fisheries Agreement to enter into force. Two-thirds of WTO members must accept the Agreement before it can come into effect.
The Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies – adopted last year at the 12th ministerial conference – sets new binding, multilateral rules to curb harmful subsidies, which are a key factor in the widespread depletion of the world's fish stocks, according to the WTO. The Agreement recognizes the needs of developing and least-developed countries and establishes a fund to provide technical assistance and capacity building to help them implement the obligations.
The Agreement prohibits support for illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, bans support for fishing overfished stocks, and ends subsidies for fishing on the unregulated high seas.
Members also agreed at MC12 to continue negotiations on outstanding issues, with a view to making recommendations by MC13, to be held in February 2024 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, for additional provisions that would further enhance the disciplines of the Agreement.
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