BANGKOK: The World Trade Organisation (WTO) has urged more member countries including Malaysia to sign the WTO Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies.
The agreement, which was agreed at the 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12) in June 2022, represents a significant step forward for ocean sustainability by outlawing detrimental fisheries subsidies that contribute to widespread depletion of the world's fish populations.
To make the agreement operational, two-thirds of the WTO's 164 member states must deposit their acceptance documents. Only four WTO members have approved it thus far.
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, director-general of WTO, said the organisation must complete the "second wave" of negotiations on fisheries subsidies by agreeing on new disciplines for harmful subsidies that contribute to overfishing and overcapacity, while also taking into account the needs of fishing communities in developing and least developed countries.
"WTO needs to move quicker on ratifying the agreement. I'm happy that Singapore is one of four WTO members that have done so at this time.
"We need other countries in the region to come on board so that we can start helping our oceans to recover," she said in her welcome remarks at the WTO outreach for Southeast Asian and Pacific journalists in Bangkok, Thailand on Tuesday.
Malaysia was among the WTO member governments that called for a prompt conclusion of the fisheries subsidies negotiations at MC12.
It was of the view that time is of the essence considering that this matter has been outstanding for the past 20 years and that now is the time to show compromise and to take a middle ground between the developed and developing members.
According to the WTO's 2023 Trade Policy Report on Malaysia, the government's support to the fisheries sector included fuel subsidies, living allowances, catch incentives and loans to fishers.
The government spent RM2.63 billion on fisheries subsidies over the review period, at least RM500 million per year, except for in 2020, mainly due to the impact from the Covid-19 pandemic.
Fuel subsidies accounted for more than 70 per cent of the total (RM1.9 billion), followed by living allowances (24 per cent) designed as income support to fishers affected by adverse weather conditions.
A trade official in Geneva, meanwhile, told the New Straits Times that Malaysia made no mention of its plans to ratify the fish subsidy arrangement at recent high-level WTO meetings (Trade Negotiations Committee or TNC, and General Council).
However, Malaysia's delegate at the TNC meeting on April 19 commended the WTO Secretariat for choosing Malaysia to host a regional workshop for fisheries subsidies in the Asian region to be held next month, the official said.
Meanwhile, Okonjo-Iweala said the agreement would reduce the projected US$ 22 billion in yearly global public assistance that contributes to marine resource depletion.
She also said the Agreement's successful implementation by all WTO members woild help guarantee the livelihoods of the 260 million people who rely on marine fisheries directly or indirectly, constituting a triple victory for trade, development, and the environment.
Ratifying the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies will increase the number of formal acceptances required for the agreement to enter into force, improving the sustainability of fisheries on which millions of primarily poor people rely for a living.
Eliminating harmful fisheries subsidies will also free up cash that could be utilised to encourage sustainable fisheries management and practises, such as development finance to developing and least-developed countries.