EU hails WTO Fisheries Subsidies Agreement entry into force, banning harmful subsidies to overfishing, IUU fishing and unregulated high seas
The European Union has welcomed the entry into force of the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies, describing it as a major step forward in the global effort to curb harmful subsidies and protect marine resources.
The agreement, which has been nearly two decades in the making, introduces binding and enforceable provisions designed to reduce overfishing, strengthen sustainable fisheries management, and promote fairer practices for coastal communities worldwide.
Among its key measures are a prohibition on subsidies to illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, a ban on subsidies for fishing in unregulated high seas, and new rules addressing subsidies that threaten overfished stocks. These measures are coupled with strict transparency requirements and reporting obligations.
Maroš Šefčovič, Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security; Interinstitutional Relations and Transparency, and Costas Kadis, Commissioner for Fisheries and Oceans, said in a joint statement: “The EU played a key role in reaching this landmark WTO Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies. This is the first ever multilateral trade agreement to focus on sustainability and will help to restore fish stocks across the world. It shows that the WTO can deliver solutions for today’s sustainability challenges and it underlines that multilateral cooperation is indispensable to tackle other global challenges.”
Commissioner Costas Kadis added: “The Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies is crucial for ensuring that fisheries subsidies take sustainability as their core objective. This landmark agreement is a key deliverable of our ambition to protect the ocean, as embodied in our European Ocean Pact. It will provide additional means to tackle harmful practices such as illegal fishing and avoid harming the ocean and fish stocks on which the livelihoods of coastal communities around the world depend. Along with initiatives such as the United Nations’ High Seas Treaty, the WTO agreement is another major step towards saving our ocean.”
The deal also activates the WTO Fish Fund, which is intended to support developing and least developed countries in implementing the new rules, enhancing sustainability, and strengthening benefits for fishing communities. The EU and its Member States are the majority contributors to the fund.
Officials emphasised that the agreement is closely aligned with UN Sustainable Development Goal 14.6, which calls for the elimination of harmful fisheries subsidies, and with the EU’s own European Ocean Pact.
With the agreement now in force, WTO Members must incorporate its rules into their domestic frameworks and provide detailed notifications to a newly established WTO Committee on Fisheries Subsidies.
The EU urged remaining WTO Members, particularly large fishing nations that have yet to ratify, to accept the agreement quickly in order to maximise global benefits.
The Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies was concluded at the WTO’s 12th Ministerial Conference in June 2022. The EU accepted the deal in June 2023 and has since pushed for rapid global uptake, framing the agreement as the first multilateral trade deal focused squarely on sustainability.
