The WTO’s Fisheries Subsidies Agreement: What’s New and What’s Next?

A major factor cited for the prevalence of overfishing has been the lack of stringent national and international regulations on subsidies in the fisheries sector. Heavily subsidized large-scale fishing operators are largely responsible for overfishing and overcapacity, while the small-scale fisheriy sectors of developing and least developed countries (LDCs) are disadvantaged as a result of the trade distortive effects of subsidized fishing. For several years, efforts have been made at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to negotiate disciplines to address the trade and environmental impacts of such subsidized fishing. At the WTO’s recent 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12), WTO Members adopted the first Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies to address this issue. Fisheries Subsidies Agreement, Overfishing, Subsidies, Environmental Protection, Sustainable Development, Negotiations, Regulatory actions