The French government has pledged EUR 1 million to the World Trade Organization (WTO) Fisheries Funding Mechanism according to a press release published by the WTO on Friday. The pledge is meant to help developing and least-developed country (LDC) members implement the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies adopted at the 12th Ministerial Conference in June 2022. The new rules would include adjustments made to members' legislative and administrative frameworks, transparency and notification, in addition to the enhancement of their fisheries management policies and practices.
The contribution was made official during a signing at the WTO, attended by Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and French Foreign Trade Minister Olivier Becht.
“The WTO Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies is a landmark in global efforts to preserve our ocean and protect the welfare of the 260 million people who depend on marine fisheries for their livelihoods," Okonjo-Iweala said. "I thank France for its very generous contribution to the funding mechanism for members that need technical assistance and capacity-building to implement the agreement.”
“The landmark Fisheries Agreement was a crucial first step toward satisfying the United Nations’ 14th Sustainable Development Goal, and a better consideration of sustainable development in trade rules," Becht said. "While WTO members still have negotiating to do, France’s contribution symbolizes our ongoing commitment to these negotiations, to the preservation of marine biodiversity and to the inclusion of developing countries and LDCs in international trade.”
According to its official website, the WTO is "the only global international organization dealing with the rules of trade between nations". Its foundation is made of several agreements negotiated and signed by the vast majority of the world's trading nations and ratified in their respective parliaments. The WTO's end goal is to help producers of goods, services, exporters and importers conduct their business.
"There are a number of ways of looking at the World Trade Organization," the website reads. "It is an organization for trade opening. It is a forum for governments to negotiate trade agreements. It is a place for them to settle trade disputes. It operates a system of trade rules. Essentially, the WTO is a place where member governments try to sort out the trade problems they face with each other."