International trade in fish and fish products is booming. Production is increasing on the back of growing demand across the world. Preservation and transport of produce is becoming cheaper. Lower tariffs have helped, as has the coming in of 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zones.
More than half the value of exports is from developing countries of Low Income Food Deficit Countries (LIFDC). ICSF monitors this trade from the perspective of small-scale fishers, analysing international and regional trade regimes, disseminating information about relevant developments to fishworker bodies, civil society and policymakers.
ICSF explains ecolabelling and other forms of certification and their implications for small-scale fishing communities and food security. The aim is enhanced capacity of fisher organizations to deal with trade on an even keel.
ICSF follows negotiations related to fisheries subsidies and other fisheries-related debates at the World Trade Organization (WTO), and follows regional trade agreements, to inform small-scale fishers about their implications for their access to resources and markets.
ICSF continues to monitor and analyze information on developments in international trade and regional trade regimes and to disseminate information about such developments to fishworker organizations, CSOs and policy makers.
International Collective in Support of Fishworkers (ICSF) A REVIEW OF THE DRAFT AGREEMENT ON FISHERIES SUBSIDIES (WT/MIN (22)/W/20) 13 June 2022 1. The International Collective in Support of…
Labels or Fables? The Myth of Sustainability examines the costs of certification of global fisheries and how it is allegedly biased towards industrial-scale fisheries. This dossier is a compilation of…
This section provides information on instruments relevant to fisheries trade. This section also includes decisions on trade and environment that are important for the fishing industry. https://www.icsf.net/wp-content/uploads/2006/09/930.ICSF108.pdf
This paper examines, from the fishery perspective of a developing country, the debate on the role of fisheries subsidies in the context of the negotiations relating to the General Agreement…
The workshop was co-hosted by the NGO Instituto Terramar. The document gives a detailed report of the presentations and discussions transpired in the workshop. The discussions at the workshop as…
The study focuses on Guinea-Conakry, Senegal,Benin, Togo, Ghana, Gambia and Ivory Coast, which are either important producers or consumers of fish and have significant trade links with one another. The…
A long-standing demand of the women of fishing communities in the region has been towards enhancing regional fish trade. It is against this background that the Workshop on Problems and…
This video provides an overview of the issues involved, and highlights many of the concerns of the actors in the fisheries sector. It also reports briefly on the workshop on…
This video provides an overview of the issues involved, and highlights many of the concerns of the actors in the fisheries sector. It also reports briefly on the workshop on…
The shrimp-turtle dispute at the World Trade Organization (WTO) between the United States and several Asian countries is the first case that involved a Multilateral Environmental Agreement (EU 2001). All…
After more than two decades of negotiations, members of the World Trade Organization concluded the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies in June 2022. This new treaty establishes for the first time…
This self-assessment tool has been developed to support World Trade Organization (WTO) members in their implementation of the WTO Fisheries Subsidies Agreement. Public officials can use the tool to conduct…
The Sub-Committee on Fish Trade was established by the Committee on Fisheries to serve as a multilateral consultation forum for discussions on the international trade of fisheries and aquaculture products.…
The WTO Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies, adopted at the 12th Ministerial Conference, marks a major step forward for ocean sustainability by prohibiting harmful fisheries subsidies, which are a key factor…
The 2022 edition of The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture coincides with the launch of the Decade of Action to deliver the Global Goals, the United Nations Decade of…
This document is a draft ministerial decision of agreement on fisheries subsidies derived at the Twelfth Session of the WTO Ministerial Conference, Geneva, 12-15 June 2022. It describes protocol amending…
MC12 Outcome Document – Draft, 16 June 2022 (WT/MIN(22)/W/16/Rev.1) https://docs.wto.org/dol2fe/Pages/SS/directdoc.aspx?filename=q:/WT/MIN22/W16R1.pdf&Open=True
Draft Ministerial Declaration on the WTO Response to the Covid-19 Pandemic and Preparedness for Future Pandemics, Ministerial Conference Twelfth Session Geneva, 12-15 June 2022 https://www.tralac.org/documents/resources/external-relations/wto/4520-mc12-draft-ministerial-declaration-wto-response-to-the-covid-19-preparedness-for-future-pandemics-10-june-2022/file.html
This webpage contains pre-recorded and written statements submitted by ministers and heads of delegation. WTO members and observers were asked to submit these statements ahead of the 12th Ministerial Conference…
This Agreement applies to subsidies, within the meaning of Article 1.1 of the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (SCM Agreement) that are specific within the meaning of Article 2…