A planned global agreement to better protect fisheries resources has so far failed. Trade ministers from the 166 member countries of the World Trade Organization (WTO) were unable to agree on joint measures in Abu Dhabi.
Only a minimum consensus
Only a minimal consensus was reached on the moratorium on tariffs for electronic transmissions: countries agreed not to impose such tariffs for now, but only until March 31, 2026 at the latest.
German industry would have liked the practice of customs exemption, common since 1998, to be established once and for all as the norm. The next WTO ministerial conference will take place in Cameroon, Africa, in 2026. A new decision would then have to be made.
Agreement should have restricted overfishing
The fisheries agreement should have restricted any subsidies that lead to overfishing or overcapacity. On the one hand, this is intended to protect fishery resources and, on the other hand, to prevent the construction and use of more and more boats. It would have complemented an agreement reached in 2022 that addressed only the worst forms of subsidies.
“Unfortunately, there was no happy ending in the poker game between industrialized countries and developing countries,” said Anna Holl-Buhl, a fisheries expert at the WWF Environmental Foundation. “The result of the negotiations is in fact a license to continue the overexploitation of the seas.”
WTO members must decide unanimously
In the hope of reaching an agreement, the conference, which was actually scheduled to last only until Thursday, was extended several times, but ended in vain. The difficulty is that the now 166 WTO countries always decide unanimously. Therefore, each country effectively has a veto. The European Union is negotiating as a bloc for all 27 member states.
“In the long hours of negotiations, we witnessed difficult but also profitable cooperation”, concluded WTO Director General, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. But it wasn't enough. Negotiations will now continue at the organization's headquarters in Geneva.
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Another important topic for the German economy
Even before the conference began, it was clear that another issue close to the hearts of German businesses was not going to make progress: the restoration of the dispute resolution system.
It has been partially blocked for four years because the US is preventing the appointment of appeal judges. They demand extensive reforms in the WTO, for which there is currently no majority.