Zambia accepted the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies on July 14, bringing the trade deal just six countries away from taking effect, according to a press release. WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala got the acceptance from Zambia’s WTO Ambassador Eunice M. Tembo Luambia. This makes Zambia the 105th member to accept the agreement.
The deal needs two-thirds of WTO members—111 countries—to accept it before it becomes binding international law. Okonjo-Iweala noted that Zambia, as a landlocked country, stepped up to help protect marine fish stocks and food security. The agreement bans subsidies for illegal fishing, fishing in overfished waters, and fishing on unregulated high seas.
The agreement came out of the WTO’s 12th Ministerial Conference in Geneva in June 2022. Ministers adopted new binding rules to curb harmful fisheries subsidies. The deal targets three main problems: subsidies for illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing; subsidies for fishing already overfished stocks; and subsidies for fishing on the unregulated high seas. These subsidies have helped push fish populations toward collapse worldwide and hurt small-scale fishing communities that depend on healthy fish stocks.
Ambassador Luambia said Zambia is pleased to be among the first 105 signatories and believes the agreement will strengthen the rules-based multilateral trading system. She noted that even as a landlocked country, Zambia understands the importance of the agreement in keeping marine fish stocks healthy and promoting fair trade to help livelihoods, particularly for small-scale fishing communities.
The WTO also set up a fund to help developing countries and least-developed countries put the new rules into practice. The Fish Fund launched a call for proposals on June 6, inviting developing economies and LDCs that have ratified the agreement to submit requests for project grants. This help recognizes that poorer countries may need support meeting the new obligations.
WTO members also agreed to keep negotiating on remaining fisheries subsidies issues beyond those covered in the current agreement. The goal is to find consensus on additional provisions that would further strengthen the rules on fisheries subsidies and close any remaining loopholes that allow harmful subsidies to continue.
