Georgia’s Deputy Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development, Genadi Arveladze, has presented his country’s instrument of acceptance of the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies to World Trade Organization Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. Georgia is the 98th WTO member to deposit its acceptance of the Agreement with the WTO.
“Georgia’s ratification brings us closer to making this Agreement a powerful demonstration of how multilateral cooperation can advance the global common good,” said Okonjo-Iweala. “Together, we can magnify our impact to improve ocean sustainability–for people and for our shared planet. Only 13 more acceptances to go!”
The Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies, sets new, binding, multilateral rules to curb harmful fisheries subsidies. It prohibits subsidies for illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, for fishing overfished stocks, and for fishing on the unregulated high seas. The agreement also recognizes the needs of developing economies and least-developed countries by establishing a fund to provide technical assistance and capacity-building to help governments that have formally accepted the agreement implement the new obligations.
“Georgia has always been a top performer in implementing WTO commitments in full. By depositing its instrument of acceptance of the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies today, Georgia is clearly demonstrating its firm support for the rules-based multilateral trading system,” said Deputy Minister Arveladze. “This step reaffirms our continued engagement in international efforts to promote the sustainable and responsible use of marine resources. We commend the collective efforts by WTO members in concluding this Agreement and look forward to continued cooperation toward its entry into force and effective implementation.”
The agreement was formalized at the WTO’s 12th Ministerial Conference in 2022. For it to come into force, formal acceptances from two-thirds of WTO members are required–representing 111 members. The list of current instruments of acceptance deposited with the WTO is available here.
WTO members also agreed at MC12 to continue negotiating on remaining fisheries subsidies issues. The objective is to find consensus on additional provisions to further strengthen the disciplines on fisheries subsidies.
