GENEVA, July 16, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Pew Charitable Trusts expressed cautious optimism today that World Trade Organization members could soon reach an agreement to reduce harmful fisheries subsidies, noting that although negotiators failed to strike a deal at today's ministerial meeting, they made significant progress and paved the way for an agreement later this year.
WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and the chair of the negotiations, Ambassador Santiago Wills of Colombia, announced that WTO members will continue negotiating with an eye toward reaching an agreement before the WTO's 12th Ministerial Conference, scheduled for the week of Nov. 30.
Governments spend $22 billion a year on damaging subsidies paid to primarily industrial fishing fleets to artificially lower the cost of fuel and vessel construction, enabling these large vessels to catch more fish than is sustainable by fishing farther out to sea and for longer periods.