Overview
The WTO Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies represents a historic milestone as the first multilateral trade agreement with environmental sustainability at its core[4][16]. With its entry into force on 16 September 2025, governments, corporations, and industry stakeholders worldwide now face immediate, binding legal obligations that fundamentally transform the $22 billion annual global fisheries subsidies landscape.
This five-day course is specifically designed for government officials, diplomats, trade policymakers, legal professionals, and business representatives seeking to master the implementation of the WTO Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies. The Agreement entered into force on September 16, 2025, creating immediate binding obligations for governments and industry stakeholders worldwide. Through expert-led sessions, participants will gain comprehensive understanding of the Agreement's prohibitions on IUU fishing subsidies and overfished stock subsidies, enhanced transparency requirements, compliance mechanisms, and dispute settlement implications. The program explores practical implementation strategies using real-world assessment tools, risk management frameworks, and strategic opportunities created by this landmark environmental trade agreement. This course equips attendees with the specialized knowledge and tools needed to navigate complex compliance requirements, avoid costly violations, and capitalize on competitive advantages in the transformed global fisheries landscape.
Day 1: Agreement Foundations & Implementation Framework
This opening day provides comprehensive background on the WTO Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies, examining its evolution from the Doha negotiating mandate through the historic entry into force on 16 September 2025. Participants will explore the Agreement's relationship with SDG 14.6 and integration with the broader WTO legal system, including connections to the SCM Agreement and dispute settlement procedures. The session covers the global fisheries industry context, analyzing the $22 billion annual subsidies landscape, industry consolidation trends, and the environmental crisis driving regulatory reform. Participants will work hands-on with the IISD Self-Assessment Tool, learning to navigate its inventory tables and compliance checklists. The day concludes with an overview of implementation challenges and opportunities for different Member categories, including special and differential treatment provisions for developing countries and least developed countries.
Day 2: IUU Fishing Subsidies Prohibition & Due Process
This intensive day focuses on Article 3's absolute prohibition on subsidies to vessels and operators engaged in illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing. Participants will examine IUU determination procedures by coastal states, flag states, and Regional Fisheries Management Organizations, including due process requirements and "relevant factual information" standards established in Article 3.2. Sessions cover subsidy prohibition scope and duration calculations under Article 3.4, considering "nature, gravity, and repetition" factors for enforcement actions. Special attention is given to the developing country peace clause under Article 3.8, notification requirements under Articles 3.3 and 8.2, and cross-border enforcement coordination mechanisms. Interactive exercises include case study analysis of recent IUU determinations, hands-on completion of IISD assessment tables for IUU fishing obligations, and design workshops for government notification systems and inter-agency coordination protocols.
Day 3: Overfished Stocks Subsidies & Management-Based Flexibility
Day three examines Article 4's prohibition on subsidies for fishing regarding overfished stocks, focusing on the critical "best scientific evidence available" standards for triggering subsidy withdrawal obligations. Participants will analyze stock status determination procedures by coastal states and RFMOAs, conflict resolution mechanisms when different authorities reach contradictory conclusions, and the Article 4.3 management-based flexibility exception for rebuilding programs. Sessions cover practical challenges in coordinating stock assessments with subsidy cycles, developing effective rebuilding programs that qualify for the Article 4.3 exception, and managing cross-border information sharing requirements between fisheries authorities and subsidy-granting agencies. The day includes simulation exercises on multi-stakeholder rebuilding program design for shared tuna stocks, government response strategies to RFMOA overfishing determinations, and legal analysis workshops examining Article 4.3 exception interpretation challenges and compliance documentation requirements.
Day 4: Additional Disciplines & Transparency Implementation
This day covers Article 5's additional subsidies disciplines, examining prohibitions on unregulated high seas fishing subsidies under Article 5.1 and "special care and due restraint" obligations for reflagged vessels and unassessed stocks under Articles 5.2 and 5.3. Participants will work through RFMOA competence mapping exercises, analyze disaster relief exceptions under Article 11.1, and explore enforcement coordination mechanisms for remote area fishing activities. Article 8's enhanced transparency and notification requirements are analyzed in detail, including expanded subsidy notifications beyond standard SCM Agreement requirements, annual IUU vessel and operator lists under Article 8.2, and implementation measure reporting under Article 8.3. Practical workshops focus on developing notification templates using WTO documentation standards, designing automated compliance monitoring systems for ongoing obligations, and establishing coordination protocols with international partners and RFMOAs for information sharing and verification procedures.
Day 5: Strategic Implementation & Dispute Settlement Preparation
The final day integrates all Agreement elements into comprehensive implementation strategies tailored for different stakeholder categories, from coastal state governments to distant-water fishing nations and multinational fishing corporations. Sessions cover government inter-agency coordination mechanisms for ongoing compliance monitoring, industry compliance program design incorporating supply chain due diligence requirements, and regional cooperation models for effective enforcement. Participants examine WTO dispute settlement implications specific to fisheries subsidies, including consultation strategies, panel proceeding preparation, and enforcement coordination mechanisms between trade and fisheries authorities. The day addresses commercial dispute implications arising from compliance costs, investment treaty considerations for subsidy program modifications, and long-term industry transformation opportunities through sustainable fishing business model development. Strategic planning sessions help participants develop customized action plans for immediate 90-day compliance needs, ongoing monitoring system implementation, and preparation for "second wave" negotiations on overcapacity and overfishing subsidies expected by March 2026.
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