China deposited its instrument of acceptance for the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies on 27 June, affirming its support for the historic agreement for ocean sustainability as the world’s leading marine fishing producer.

The news follows a call from WTO members that are among the first 10 to formally accept the Fisheries Subsidies Agreement for other members to do the same to ensure entry into force. Ambassadors and high-level representatives of Canada, the European Union, Iceland, Nigeria, Singapore, Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates and the United States highlighted the Agreement’s importance to a variety of economies and shared experiences with domestic acceptance processes at the 21 June event “WTO Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies — Race to Entry into Force.”

The world leader in marine fish catch

DG Okonjo-Iweala said: “I am delighted to welcome China’s formal acceptance of the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies. As the world leader in marine fish catch, China’s support for the implementation of this agreement is critical to multilateral efforts to safeguard oceans, food security, and livelihoods.”

Minister Wang said: “The Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies is the second multilateral agreement reached by the WTO since its establishment in 1995, and the first WTO agreement aimed at achieving the goal of environmental sustainable development. It is a significant agreement to boost the confidence of all members in multilateralism. China has completed the approval procedure of the agreement and will work with all members to push the agreement to enter into force before the 13th WTO Ministerial Conference.”

Adopted by consensus at the WTO’s 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12) held in Geneva on 12-17 June 2022, the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies sets new binding, multilateral rules to curb harmful subsidies.

The Agreement prohibits support for illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, bans support for fishing overfished stocks, and ends subsidies for fishing on the unregulated high seas.

Acceptances from two-thirds of WTO members are needed for the Agreement to come into effect and some clauses have not yet been finalised. The WTO website showed that only 11 countries have so far formally accepted it, although that includes European Union members.

The list of members that have submitted their acceptance of the Agreement is available here.