Two African countries sign up for more sustainable fisheries

Benin and Sierra Leone sign Agreement of Fisheries Subsidies

Benin and Sierra Leone deposited their instruments of acceptance of the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies on Friday last week bringing the total number of African countries to have signed to 15.

This news was followed up on Monday with the two more signatories as Comoros and Timor-Leste became the latest members of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) as well as the signatories to the Agreement. This brings the total tally of formal acceptances to 80.

For the Agreement to enter into force, two-thirds of WTO members must formally accept the Protocol of the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies by depositing an “instrument of acceptance” with the WTO.

Ambassador Corinne Brunet of Benin and Ambassador Lansana Gberie of Sierra Leone presented the instruments of acceptance to Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.

“Their support underlines the importance that they, as least-developed members, place on this Agreement and on global cooperation for upholding ocean sustainability and combatting illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, to support livelihoods and food security in West Africa and around the world,” said Okonjo-Iweala

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, which are a key factor in the widespread depletion of the world's fish stocks. In addition, the Agreement recognises the needs of developing economies and least-developed countries and establishes a fund to provide technical assistance and capacity building to help them implement the obligations.

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