UAE Ratifies Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies at World Trade Organization in Geneva

His Excellency Ahmed Abdul Rahman Al-Jarman, Permanent Representative of the UAE to the United Nations and other international organizations in Geneva, has deposited the UAE's instrument of ratification of the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies adopted by the World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference in June 2022.

The ratification instrument was submitted to Her Excellency Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director General of WTO, during the deposit ceremony.

In a speech during the presentation of the instrument of ratification, His Excellency Al-Jarman stressed that the UAE was among the first countries to ratify the agreement, as it is convinced of the need to protect, conserve, and promote sustainable use of the oceans, underscoring that a commitment to ocean conservation is key to long-term sustainable development.

In this regard, HE Al-Jarman noted that the UAE will host the 28th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28) in November at Expo City Dubai.

The Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies is the first multilateral agreement negotiated by the entire WTO membership since the adoption of the Trade Facilitation Agreement at the Ninth Ministerial Conference in Bali, Indonesia in December 2013. It comes in furtherance of United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 14 by 2030, which calls for "sustainably conserving and using the oceans, seas, and marine resources to achieve sustainable development.”

The adoption of the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies came after 21 years of negotiations.

It aims to reduce the scope of subsidy programs and measures while defining illegal, unregulated, and unreported fishing practices that justify the prohibition of subsidies; outlining the powers of concerned authorities; and identifying the depletion of marine resources through overfishing.

In addition to the UAE, the following countries have also submitted instruments of ratification for the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies: Switzerland, Singapore, Seychelles, the United States, Canada, and Iceland.

The Director General of the World Trade Organization expressed her hope that at least two-thirds of member states would ratify the agreement so that it can be formally adopted by ministers at the 13th Ministerial Conference in Abu Dhabi at the end of February 2024 after adding new provisions that will be negotiated during the preparatory phase for the conference.