Barbados backs historic WTO pact on fishing subsidies

Barbados has welcomed the World Trade Organisation (WTO)’s Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies, which entered into force on Monday.

This is the first WTO Trade Agreement that has clear sustainability elements, and will be key in the fight against Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) fishing. Barbados has been a central actor in the negotiations, which began in 2001, advocating for the priorities of small island developing states.

Prime Minister Mia Mottley, delivering one of the keynote statements at the entry into force ceremony at the WTO, said the ratification of the agreement proved that the WTO can deliver.

“The WTO Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies is a landmark. For the first time, WTO members have delivered an agreement that recognises the complex and symbiotic relationship between trade and environmental sustainability,” she said.

At a reception hosted by the Stop Funding Overfishing Coalition, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Barbados to the United Nations, WTO, and other International Organisations in Geneva, Matthew Wilson, said it was a day of celebration.

“The trade and environmental community needed this. The WTO needed this. Multilateralism needed this,” he said. “This agreement opens the door; actually, it kicks open the door on why it makes sense to ensure that trade rules support sustainability initiatives, and that good sustainability initiatives can lead to more inclusive trade.”

Barbados is a member of the Steering Committee of the WTO Fisheries Fund, which seeks to provide capacity building to developing countries to implement the agreement. Through the Fisheries Division, Barbados is currently preparing a project for submission.

(BGIS/BT)