10 days before the anniversary of the #WTO #FisheriesSubsidies Agreement, still only 7 members have ratified, with 103 more needed to reach two thirds of the membership.
This is much slower than the previous agreement (Trade Facilitation), where 51 members had ratified a year after the 2014 decision.
Is this a sign that WTO members are not as committed as they claim?
https://tradebetablog.wordpress.com/2023/06/07/wto-slow-ratify-fisheries-agreement/
Updated today after the EU handed in its ratifications. The EU is 28 WTO members (27 member states + the EU) but for obscure legal reasons its ratifications count as 27, meaning one WTO member from the 28 will never ratify.
The EU says this shows the WTO is effective. The slow pace of ratifications casts doubt on that.
https://tradebetablog.wordpress.com/2023/06/07/wto-slow-ratify-fisheries-agreement/
Meanwhile the WTO website simply dodges the question of counting. Its page on ratifications just has “8 entries” counting the EU as one. Good luck with tracking when two thirds of the membership is reached.
https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/rulesneg_e/fish_e/fish_acceptances_e.htm
The WTO Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies, adopted at the 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12) on 17 June 2022, marks a major step forward for ocean sustainability by prohibiting harmful fisheries subsidies, which are a key factor in the widespread depletion of the world’s fish stocks. The Agreement represents a historic achievement for the membership as the first Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target to be fully met, the first SDG target met through a multilateral agreement, the first WTO agreement to focus on the environment, the first broad, binding, multilateral agreement on ocean sustainability, and only the second agreement reached at the WTO since its inception.
Yesterday (Jun 12, 2023) Nigeria ratified the #WTO #FisheriesSubsidies Agreement bringing the total to 35.
So, as Jun 17 approaches—the first anniversary of the original consensus decision—75 more ratifications are still needed to reach two thirds of the membership (110 from 164) and activate the agreement in ratifying countries.
The pace of ratifications is still far behind the pace for Trade Facilitation.
https://tradebetablog.wordpress.com/2023/06/07/wto-slow-ratify-fisheries-agreement/
TODAY—Gabon = 39th ratification ("acceptance") of the #WTO #FisheriesSubsidies Agreement
Still a long way to go.
71 more needed to reach 110 = two-thirds of WTO members and activate the agreement in the ratifying countries.
➡️ https://www.wto.org/english/news_e/news23_e/fish_12jul23_e.htm
Updated chart showing #FisheriesSubsidies ratifications still lag behind the previous agreement, #TradeFacilitation.
A flood is needed if 110 is to be reached by the Feb 2024 #WTO Ministerial Conference.
➡️ https://tradebetablog.wordpress.com/2023/06/07/wto-slow-ratify-fisheries-agreement/
Gabon deposited its instrument of acceptance for the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies on 12 July, making it the third African country to do so. Ambassador Mireille Sarah Nzenze presented Gabon’s instrument of acceptance to Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. More than one-third of the acceptances needed for the agreement to enter into force is now in hand.
Peter Ungphakorn