Customs

On 08 July 2026, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) announced that at a meeting of the Negotiating Group on Rules, the chair reported on WTO members’ active participation and constructive engagement in three information and thematic sessions on fisheries subsidies negotiations held since the 14^th Ministerial Conference (MC14). He announced his intention to organise three “Fish Weeks” by the end of 2027, during which members will report on progress made in the negotiations and exchange views in thematic sessions.

In the Ministerial Decision on Fisheries Subsidies adopted at MC14 in March in Yaoundé, Cameroon, members agreed to continue to engage constructively in negotiations with a view to making recommendations to the 15^th WTO Ministerial Conference. Mandated by the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies, which was adopted at the 12^th Ministerial Conference (MC12) in 2022, these negotiations aim to further strengthen the objective of ocean sustainability by developing comprehensive disciplines on fisheries subsidies.

As part of that work, members have participated in three information and thematic sessions since MC14. At the first information session, held in May, speakers, including past chairs of the Negotiating Group on Rules, shared perspectives on key milestones in the history of the negotiations on fisheries subsidies since their launch in 2001. A second information session was held in June, at which experts from the United Nations (UN) Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the WTO Secretariat presented recent data on global fisheries and fisheries subsidies. At the third thematic session, held on 02 July 2026, Indonesia presented its views and exchanged views with members on institutional coherence between the draft additional provisions on fisheries subsidies and the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

The chair announced his intention to organise three “Fish Weeks” by the end of 2027. These will offer an opportunity to explore members’ views on how to advance the negotiations on the additional provisions on fisheries subsidies. These discussions will build on the progress made since MC12, in accordance with the MC14 Ministerial Decision. During the first “Fish Week”, to be held from 21 to 25 September 2026, members will be asked to identify progress made since MC12, which could serve as a basis for continued negotiations.

The chair said: “I would like to underline that, at this juncture, our focus should be on taking a first step in a process that should, in due course, lead us towards the conclusion of our negotiations. This is not the moment for decision-making. Rather, it is an opportunity for members to brainstorm together and engage in genuine exchanges aimed at establishing some common ground to guide our work going forward.”

Sources

• Ministerial Decision on Fisheries Subsidies
  • https://docs.wto.org/dol2fe/Pages/SS/directdoc.aspx?filename=Q:/WT/L/1237.pdf&Open=True
• Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies
  • https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/rulesneg_e/fish_e/fish_e.htm
• United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
  • https://www.un.org/depts/los/convention_agreements/texts/unclos/unclos_e.pdf