Brazil, the Vietnam, Kenya and the Tonga Islands ratified the agreement on Monday, September 15, 2025 of the World Trade Organization (WTO) on fisheries subsidies. This agreement was signed in June 2022. Today 112 countries have formally joined in their legislation the legal provisions of this agreement.

Countries members of the World Trade Organization implemented the first multilateral agreement that focuses on sustainable development, by deciding to better manage the subsidies they grant to the fishing sector. According to Director General of the WTO, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, “at a time when the The international trading system is facing profound challenges, this agreement [...] sends a strong signal: WTO members can collaborate in a spirit of cooperation and shared responsibility to find solutions to global challenges.” “Bookman Old Style”, serif; mso-bidi-font-family:arial"> For her part, Claire Delpeuch, director of the fishing department at The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Arial; color:black; mso-color-alt:windowtext">, “this The new agreement is a first in the sense that it is not just about simple commercial aspects but on sustainable development.” “It allows meet in part one of the sustainable development goals adopted in United Nations in 2015,” she welcomes.

Also, he This is a remarkable result in the current context of trade war. A person familiar with the matter in Geneva said that “this agreement could prefigure others on the environment, such as the ongoing discussions on the trade in plastics or pollutants.”

For his part, Tristan Irschlinger, advisor in charge of fisheries issues at the Institute International for Sustainable Development (IISD) believes that “it is a big breakthrough. It is the first WTO agreement that focuses on the environment”.