On 15th. September, 2025, the WTO Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies will enter into force

Sept 2025 : The WTO Agreement is a milestone in global efforts to tackle subsidy policies that undermine sustainable development. “We’re delighted that this landmark instrument for ocean sustainability will come into effect. We warmly congratulate WTO Members on this historic achievement”, said Patricia Fuller, President and CEO of the World Trade Organization.

Overfishing is a pressing environmental threat to the world’s marine resources. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (UN), the share of marine fish stocks considered to be fished beyond sustainable levels has steadily increased over the last half century. Harmful subsidies that encourage unsustainable fishing practices not only threaten biodiversity but also jeopardize the livelihoods, food security, and economic resilience of vulnerable coastal communities around the world.

The Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies, adopted at the WTO’s Twelfth Ministerial Conference (MC12) in 2022, prohibits subsidies to vessels and operators engaged in illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing. It also bans subsidies for fishing overexploited stocks where there are no measures in place to rebuild them, as well as subsidies for unregulated fishing on the high seas. Upon the agreement’s entry into force, WTO members that have ratified will be legally bound to put these disciplines into practice through their national laws and policies. To support this process, IISD has developed a self-assessment tool to help governments identify current gaps and assistance needs.

The WTO Fish Fund will provide targeted technical assistance and capacity enhancement to developing and least developed countries to support effective implementation. The WTO Fisheries Funding Mechanism Trust Fund, known as the Fish Fund, is a voluntary funding mechanism established to support developing and least-developed country (LDC) WTO Members that have accepted the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies. These Members can apply for funding to support their implementation of the disciplines under the Agreement.

The main objectives of the Fish Fund are to:

• Provide technical assistance for developing country WTO Members, including LDC Members, for their implementation of the disciplines under the Agreement.

• Coordinate with core partners, including the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the World Bank, and the World Trade Organization (WTO), to leverage relevant expertise, create synergies, fill gaps, and avoid duplication.

“The entry into force of the agreement is a critical milestone, clearly demonstrating the value of multilateralism, but the work does not end here”, said Alice Tipping, Director of Trade and Sustainable Development at IISD. “The focus must now shift to full implementation, robust transparency, and continued negotiations to strengthen the agreement with additional disciplines”.

Negotiations on fisheries subsidies at the WTO began in 2001 and gained new momentum in 2015, when UN member states included a dedicated target in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG target 14.6) on the prohibition of harmful fisheries subsidies. Governments adopted the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies in 2022, while also committing to negotiate more comprehensive rules to prevent subsidies that contribute to overcapacity and overfishing.

SDG target 14.6: By 2020, prohibit certain forms of fisheries subsidies which contribute to overcapacity and overfishing, eliminate subsidies that contribute to illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing and refrain from introducing new such subsidies, recognising that appropriate and effective special and differential treatment for developing and least developed countries should be an integral part of the World Trade Organization fisheries subsidies negotiations. Nearly 50% of assessed stocks are overfished, meaning they are being exploited too rapidly for the fish population to be able to

replenish itself. Subsidies have played an outsized role in creating this dire circumstance. 

The WTO Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies, adopted at the 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12) on 17^th. June 2022, marks a major step forward for ocean sustainability by prohibiting fisheries subsidies that contribute to illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, overfished stocks and fishing in the unregulated high seas. The Agreement represents a historic achievement as the first multilateral WTO agreement with sustainability at its core. The agreement will enter into force only once two thirds of WTO Membership has ratified it so it is important for the health of our oceans that this be done as soon as possible. Developing members that have ratified the agreement will be able to access assistance to implement the new disciplines from a new WTO fisheries funding mechanism. The Fund became operational on 8^th. November 2022. It is operated by the WTO with partner organisations the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and the World Bank.

IISD will continue its work to help governments and other stakeholders implement this crucial agreement and support the conclusion of additional rules (Fish 2) that are still needed to tackle subsidies that drive unsustainable fishing more broadly.

Additional Rules: WTO members are now working to strengthen the agreement through additional disciplines aimed at tackling subsidies that encourage overfishing and overcapacity more broadly.

The aim of these proposed rules is to ensure that government financial support to the fishing industry does not drive unsustainable levels of fishing. If adopted, these disciplines could play a vital role in safeguarding marine ecosystems and supporting the livelihoods, food security, and development prospects of communities that rely on healthy fish stocks. Despite falling short of finalizing these new rules in 2024, members made significant progress and came closer than ever to consensus on this vital sustainable development priority.

Team Maverick