Mr. Chairman, distinguished Members of the Committee,
It is a pleasure to appear before you today. Thank you very much for the invitation and for the opportunity to speak about the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies. Having spent more than 25 years of my career serving the U.S. House of Representatives, most of that as Chief Trade Counsel — although I am no longer in the U.S. government now — I have great appreciation for the work that you do. I am convinced that engagement by Parliamentarians, particularly this Committee, on WTO issues is vital to making our work effective, tangible, and relevant.
The timing of today’s meeting could not be better because I understand that in a few weeks, this Committee will vote on the ratification of the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies. I am very much looking forward to engaging with you today and providing the information you need to make your decision on this important Agreement.
In my remarks today, I will showcase the major accomplishment by our WTO Members, including the EU, in concluding the binding WTO Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies — in particular, how it will improve ocean sustainability, its significance for the multilateral trading system, and what we must do next.
Importance of the Agreement
Let me start with the significance of this binding, multilateral, and meaningful Agreement.
First, by prohibiting certain forms of fisheries subsidies, it delivers on UN Sustainable Development Goal Target 14.6 after more than 21 years of negotiations — the first SDG target addressed through a multilateral agreement. The European Union’s pragmatism and leadership was essential throughout the negotiations and in reaching consensus. We greatly appreciate the EU’s proven and constant commitment to multilateralism.
Second, the Agreement marks only the second time since the WTO’s creation that WTO Members have added a new multilateral agreement to our rulebook, which speaks to its significance for multilateralism. The Agreement reflects a consensus among all of our 164 Members, not simply the view of a majority that imposes its will on the rest of the Members. This accomplishment is systemically important for the WTO because it shows that our Members still value multilateralism and consensus-based decision making, even though it is challenging and time-consuming. It also demonstrates that even in times of profound geopolitical, global health, and economic tensions, and even war, Members can still find common ground and achieve success on issues related to the public good. This gives us hope that the WTO can deliver on other challenges of the global commons, such as climate change.
Third, the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies is the first WTO Agreement with a broad environmental sustainability objective. For the first time, WTO Members have used a subsidies discipline for an objective other than addressing purely economic effects of subsidies. Instead, the Agreement is designed to address the consequences to the ocean and the environment caused by harmful subsidies. It will make fishing more sustainable by prohibiting subsidies to illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing — or IUU fishing — as well as subsidies to fishing overfished stocks, and subsidies to fishing on the unregulated high seas. This will be of major benefit to all of the people in the world, in developed and developing countries alike, who depend on the fisheries sector to make a living and as a source of protein.
How will this historic deal address the problems of our ocean? As you know, the world’s ocean faces enormous challenges. One of the most fundamental is the dramatic deterioration in global fish stocks, which continues unabated. By some measures, nearly half of assessed fish stocks are overfished, down dramatically from 10 per cent in the ’70s and about 18 per cent in 2001 when the fisheries subsidies negotiations began. Not only does this decline have huge repercussions for marine ecosystems and thus the global environment, it also has grave consequences for millions of people around the world whose livelihoods and food security depend on fishing.
It’s quite discouraging that some governments continue to provide fisheries subsidies without regard for their impact on sustainability. These governments are investing in the destruction of natural capital that should instead be paying generous dividends globally. Research shows that governments spend about $22 billion per year in unsustainable fishing subsidies. Just consider what it would mean for fish stocks and marine health if that was spent on restoring fish stocks and sustainable fishing instead.
The Agreement thus represents a meaningful leap forward in the race to preserve our ocean and its precious living resources as well as to promote sustainable development.
Next steps
Now that the Agreement is concluded, our WTO Members are engaged in two parallel processes to carry the work forward.
First is accepting the new Agreement. To be able to deliver results, the Agreement must enter into force, which requires two-thirds of WTO Members to deposit their instruments of acceptance with the WTO. Two WTO Members — Switzerland and Singapore — have already completed their domestic processes and submitted their instruments of acceptance to the WTO.
We look to you, as leaders in the quest for a sustainable blue economy, to complete your ratification process and deposit the EU’s instrument of acceptance quickly, and then to implement the Agreement. This action would help us create significant positive momentum and encourage other Members to expedite their processes.
Second is continuing negotiations to resolve the outstanding issues that could not be agreed at MC12.
WTO Members agreed to keep working on a second wave of negotiations, with a view to recommending further disciplines to our next Ministerial Conference, which will take place in Abu Dhabi exactly one year from now. A central focus of the second wave of negotiations will be on disciplining subsidies that contribute to overcapacity and overfishing, along with special and differential treatment to developing country and least developing country Members concerning the use of subsidies to develop their fisheries sectors. To compel a successful conclusion of these second wave negotiations, WTO Members agreed to a termination clause in the existing Agreement after four years if a comprehensive agreement is not reached — that puts a hot deadline in our Members’ hands.
Delegations in Geneva are already actively working. Last October, we hosted a very fruitful retreat for our Geneva-based Ambassadors to discuss the second wave of negotiations, which helped illuminate Member priorities. One key message from the retreat was that Members should continue to build a backbone of knowledge, which we have started with two workshops:
- The first in November 2022 focused on implementing the Agreement and recalled the evolution of the overcapacity and overfishing disciplines; and
- The second in January this year focused on the challenges, limitations, and potential of data collection concerning fish stocks and fisheries subsidies.
Members found this knowledge-building extremely useful for laying a good foundation before commencing the second wave of negotiations.
Since then, Members have selected a new Chair of the negotiations, Ambassador Einar Gunnarsson of Iceland. In addition, the Secretariat has been conducting a series of technical activities in different regions of the developing country world to help government officials better understand the new Agreement, encourage prompt acceptance, and lay the groundwork for the second wave of negotiations.
A final, but no less important, point on the Agreement — as you know, Article 7 provides for the establishment of a dedicated funding mechanism to support implementation of the Agreement by developing and LDC Members. The Fund has now been established, and we have already started to receive donations. A few weeks ago, Japan became the Fund’s first donor by providing JP¥ 90 million (approximately €760 thousand). We are also grateful to the European Union for pledging €1 million to the fund and individual EU Members States for making similar pledges, and we hope those pledges become contributions shortly. A robust Fund sends a strong signal to developing and least-developed country Members that they will receive the assistance they need to implement the Agreement, thereby encouraging them to ratify the Agreement quickly.
Conclusion
Let me conclude by once again thanking the European Union for its vital engagement in negotiating the Agreement, and in the ongoing WTO work on fisheries subsidies.
As I said, for this agreement to come to life and to start delivering its benefits for fisheries sustainability and for the lives of European fishermen and women, we need two-thirds of WTO Members to accept it as soon as possible. The EU’s ratification will be an important step in that direction. My plea to you therefore is to say “yes” to this agreement and to continue with your strong leadership in the second wave of negotiations.
Thank you and I look forward to any questions you may have.
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