HE Permanent Representative of State of Qatar to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva Dr. Hind bint Abdulrahman Al Muftah, deposited the State of Qatars instrument of acceptance of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies. The instrument was presented to HE WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, in a meeting on May 22, attended by Director of the State of Qatars office at the WTO and other economic organizations in Geneva, Ahmed Issa Al Sulaiti. The negotiations for the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies began with the Doha Round in 2001, and it was signed at the WTO's 12th Ministerial Conference in June 2022, as a means to fulfill Goal 14.6 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which prohibit certain forms of fisheries subsidies which contribute to overcapacity and overfishing, eliminate subsidies that contribute to illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. The Agreement sets new, binding, multilateral rules to curb h armful subsidies, which are a key factor in the widespread depletion of the world's fish stocks. ending the estimated US$22 billion per year in harmful fisheries subsidies. It prohibits support for illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, bans support for fishing overfished stocks and ends subsidies for fishing on the unregulated high seas. The Agreement also safeguards the livelihoods of the 260 million people who depend on these oceans and recognizes the needs of developing and least-developed countries and establishes a fund to provide technical assistance and capacity building to help them implement the obligations. The State of Qatar's acceptance of the agreement reflects the attention it gives to implementing the global goals for sustainable development 2030. It also supports international efforts in developing the sustainability of fisheries resources, and renews the State's commitment to its international pledges, especially with regard to the United Nations General Assembly Resolution No. 70 on Sept. 25, 2015 regarding the SDGs specifically Goal No. 14 related to conserving and sustainably using the oceans, seas and marine resources to achieve sustainable development. As a commitment by the State of Qatar to support global efforts to achieve these goals, the State of Qatar supported this agreement in the stages of its formulation during the rounds of negotiations since its launch within the Doha Round in 2001, and today by ratifying it to accelerate its entry into force, stressing the distinguished role it continues to play as a pioneering country on the path to sustainable development. Source: Qatar News Agency
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