Philippines ratifies WTO pact on fisheries subsidies

Published 2024년 2월 28일

Tridge summary

The Philippines has become the 70th member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) to approve the 2022 Fisheries Subsidies Agreement (FSA). The FSA allows for subsidies for disaster relief to support fisherfolks affected by natural disasters and aims to curb harmful subsidies while protecting depleting fish stocks. The Philippines can also avail of technical assistance from the WTO Fisheries Funding Mechanism to help implement the agreement. The FSA provides flexibility to developing and least-developed countries to offer subsidies within their exclusive economic zone for two years from the agreement's entry into force.

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Original content

The Philippines became the 70th member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) to give its approval to the 2022 Fisheries Subsidies Agreement (FSA), the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said Wednesday. In a news release, the DTI said the country, through Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual and Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr., presented the country’s Instrument of Ratification to WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala on February 27 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates during the 13th WTO Ministerial Conference (MC13). The FSA was adopted during the 12th WTO Ministerial Conference (MC12) in June 2022. The pact will enter into force once two-thirds of the WTO’s 164 member-countries have ratified it. “The agreement allows members to grant subsidies for disaster relief under certain conditions to support fisherfolks impacted by natural disasters,” said Pascual. “This is vital to the Philippines, being a climate-vulnerable country, especially since small-scale and ...

Source: Gmanetwork