WTO Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies

Overview

• The fisheries subsidies negotiations of the World Trade Organization (WTO) commenced in 2001 aiming to improve the disciplines on fisheries subsidies. At the sixth WTO Ministerial Conference held in Hong Kong in 2005, WTO Members reaffirmed the need to strengthen such disciplines, and specifically called for prohibition of subsidies that contribute to overcapacity and overfishing.
• After over two decades of negotiations, the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies was adopted at the Twelfth WTO Ministerial Conference (MC12) on 17 June 2022. This agreement is the second multilateral trade agreement reached at the WTO since its inception, and also the first WTO agreement to focus on the environment.
• The Agreement is now open for acceptance and will enter into force once two thirds of WTO Members (i.e. 110 Members out of a total of 164 Members) have accepted it. The list of WTO Members who have accepted the Agreement can be found at the WTO's website.
• Hong Kong, China formally accepted the Agreement on 21 August 2023.