India joins WTO's agreement on fisheries subsidies

📌 Summary:

• India announced on July 20, 2026 that it has joined the WTO Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies

• The agreement prohibits government subsidies that support illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing and the over-exploitation of already overfished stocks

• Scope is limited to marine wild-capture fishing and fishing-related activities at sea

• Aquaculture and inland fisheries are explicitly kept OUTSIDE the scope of the pact

• The agreement was adopted by consensus at the 12th WTO Ministerial Conference (MC12), Geneva, June 2022

• It entered into force on September 15, 2025 after the required two-thirds acceptance threshold was met

• Significance: it is the FIRST multilateral WTO agreement with an environmental sustainability objective at its core, marking a shift in WTO's traditional trade-only mandate

🎯 UPSC Relevance: GS2 (international agreements and groupings, WTO) and GS3 (fisheries, blue economy, sustainable resource use). India historically resisted disciplines on fisheries subsidies citing livelihood concerns of small/artisanal fishers and Special & Differential Treatment — India joining marks a notable policy shift worth examining in Mains answers on WTO reform and India's negotiating stance.

📝 Prelims Facts:

• Adopted at 12th WTO Ministerial Conference, Geneva, June 2022

• Entered into force: September 15, 2025

• Covers marine wild-capture fishing only; aquaculture and inland fisheries excluded

• First WTO multilateral agreement with an environmental sustainability objective

• Links to SDG Target 14.6, which mandated elimination of harmful fisheries subsidies

🔑 Key Term: IUU Fishing — Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated fishing; fishing conducted in violation of national/international rules, unreported to authorities, or in areas without applicable conservation measures.