The World Trade Organization chairman announced Wednesday that the U.S. is the first major fishing nation to approve a treaty to limit subsidies that cause overfishing.
Last year, the trade watchdog’s 164 members agreed to reduce billions of dollars in damaging subsidies depleting marine life.
It needs two-thirds of members to take effect, and a few smaller nations have signed on. WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala tweeted that the U.S. approved it Tuesday.
“Hope others follow. By MC13, please! “Okonjo-Iweala said the trade watchdog’s next big session in 2024 will examine the deal’s unresolved issues.
“We are happy to be among the first WTO members to approve this agreement, which is the first multilateral trade deal with environmental sustainability at its core,” U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tam said in an email.
Marine Policy reported $35.4 billion in global subsidies in 2019. It included China, the E.U., the U.S., South Korea, and Japan as the top five subsidizers, albeit not all are “harmful” under the WTO pact.
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