Barbados’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, the WTO, and other international organisations in Geneva, Matthew Wilson (third row, right), poses with outgoing and incoming members of the WTO Fish Fund Steering Committee. (Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade)
Barbados was one of eight countries selected on Monday, May 19, to be on the Steering Committee of the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Fish Fund.
The WTO Fisheries Funding Mechanism Trust Fund was established to assist developing members and Least Developed Countries (LDCs) members, including small island states like Barbados in implementing the Agreement Fisheries Subsidies.
A number of WTO members have made donations to the Fish Fund, which has more than US $15 million, to date, from Australia, Canada, the European Union, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Liechtenstein, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom.
The Steering Committee is the primary decision-making body of the Fund and provides direction for its activities, consistent with the Fund’s main objective of supporting WTO members from developing and LDCs to implement the Agreement, or any additional provisions that may be agreed by members to achieve comprehensive disciplines on fisheries subsidies.
Its responsibilities include making decisions on funding for project grants and project preparation grants submitted to the Fish Fund Secretariat; establishing and periodically reviewing and updating the Fund’s strategy; reviewing the Fund’s performance; and approving the Fund’s annual work plans and budgets.
This island’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, the WTO and other international organisations in Geneva, Matthew Wilson, said: “Barbados is proud to be part of a mechanism that will support developing countries to be able to implement the WTO Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies, improve our own fishing management in Barbados and ultimately contribute to more sustainable fishing practices. This is what I call a true partnership for multilateralism and for ocean sustainability.”
The other countries joining Barbados on the existing Steering Committee are Gambia, Haiti, Mauritius, Peru, Philippines, Seychelles, and Sierra Leone.
Manager of the Fish Fund, Johnathan Werner, noted: “The Fund is an intrinsic part of the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies and serves as a form of insurance that members committed to ocean health will have the support they need to pursue reforms and adopt better practices. It is fantastic to have committed members on the Steering Committee to guide the strategy and implementation of these important next steps.”
Barbados has been involved in the fisheries subsidies negotiations since they were launched almost two decades ago. In 2022, the WTO delivered on the first phase of the negotiations which is focused on addressing illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing. Barbados ratified the Agreement in February 2024, and has taken a leading role in calling for the completion of phase two of the negotiations and in supporting other WTO members to ratify it.
This included being the lead on a communiqué circulated by 34 WTO members affirming their support for the Agreement’s entry into force and conclusion of negotiations on additional provisions at the opening of the Aid for Trade Global Review on June 26, 2024.
At that event, Barbados’ Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Kerrie Symmonds, underscored the importance of the entry into force of the WTO Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies and concluding the second wave of negotiations. He noted that “these efforts protect ocean health and fisherfolk livelihoods”.
Author: Sheena Forde-Craigg
Source: https://gisbarbados.gov.bb/blog/barbados-on-wtos-fish-fund-steering-committee/
