April 8, 2025 (press release) –
DG Okonjo-Iweala said: "I thank Moldova for joining the collective effort to bring this historic Agreement into force. This is a signal of Moldova's commitment to playing an active role in promoting ocean sustainability and safeguarding the livelihoods and food security of millions of people who depend on it. I encourage more members to promptly ratify this Agreement so that it can start delivering its full benefits – only 15 more are needed."
Ambassador Cuc said: "For a small and landlocked country like the Republic of Moldova, the WTO Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies is about protecting ecosystems and promoting fairness in global trade. As Moldova depends on fish imports, we are particularly interested in how to manage fisheries worldwide in a sustainable manner, in line with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Our ratification of the Agreement also represents the Republic of Moldova’s efforts towards upholding the rules-based multilateral trading system."
Moldova's instrument of acceptance brings to 96 the total number of WTO members that have formally accepted the Agreement. For it to enter into force, formal acceptances from two-thirds of WTO members are required.
By adopting the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies by consensus at the WTO's 12th Ministerial Conference in Geneva in June 2022, ministers set new, binding, multilateral rules to curb harmful fisheries subsidies. The Agreement prohibits subsidies for illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, for fishing overfished stocks, and for fishing on the unregulated high seas. In addition, the Agreement recognizes the needs of developing economies and least-developed countries by establishing a fund to provide technical assistance and capacity-building to help them implement the new obligations, if they have formally accepted the Agreement.
The Agreement can be accessed here.
At the 12th Ministerial Conference, members also agreed to continue negotiations on outstanding fisheries subsidies issues, with a view to adopting additional provisions that would further strengthen the Agreement's disciplines.
The list of members that have deposited their instruments of acceptance is available here.
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