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 yesterday.
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 artisanal fisherfolks are heavily impacted by strong typhoons and the increasing sea temperatures exacerbated by climate change,” added the Trade chief.
The DTI said that the Philippines, under the FSA, can avail of technical assistance from the WTO Fisheries Funding Mechanism to assist in implementing the disciplines and obligations of the agreement.
The Trade department noted that the accord is a “crucial step” in curbing harmful subsidies and safeguarding the world’s depleting fish stocks.
The FSA prohibits subsidies that contribute to illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, subsidies concerning overfished stocks, and subsidies for fishing in the unregulated high seas.
At the same time, the FSA provides flexibility to developing and least-developed countries to provide subsidies up to and within the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) for two years from the date of entry into force of the agreement.
This provision benefits the country’s small-scale and artisanal fisherfolks, who fish within their respective municipal waters, according to the DTI. (GMA Integrated News)
