The Centre for Trade and Investment Law (CTIL) at the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade organized a webinar on "WTO Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies: Legal Framework and Policy Prospects" on 21 September 2026, coinciding with the commencement of WTO Fish Week and following India's ratification of the WTO Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies (AFS) on 20 July 2026. The webinar brought together international trade law experts, fisheries specialists, and policymakers to discuss implementation challenges one year after the Agreement's entry into force, as well as ongoing negotiations on additional disciplines concerning overcapacity and overfishing.
Key discussion points emphasized the critical importance of reliable fisheries data, strengthened monitoring and reporting systems, institutional coordination, and adequate technical capacity for effective implementation of the AFS. Participants highlighted the need for continued capacity building and technical assistance for developing and least-developed WTO Members through available WTO mechanisms. The AFS, adopted at the WTO's Twelfth Ministerial Conference in 2022, establishes disciplines on harmful fisheries subsidies including those linked to illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, fishing of overfished stocks subject to specified rebuilding conditions, and fishing on the unregulated high seas.
The webinar covered implementation challenges, notification and transparency requirements, special and differential treatment (S&DT) provisions, domestic institutional preparedness, small-scale fisheries concerns, and ongoing negotiations on additional disciplines. Expert panelists included Ms. Alice Tipping (Director, Trade and Sustainable Development, IISD Geneva), Mr. Tristan Irschlinger (Senior Policy Advisor, IISD Geneva), Prof. Mukesh Bhatnagar (Former Professor, Centre for WTO Studies), and Mr. Sebastian Mathew (Small-scale Fisheries Advisor), with moderation by Prof. James J. Nedumpara (Professor and Head, CTIL).
Specific discussions addressed the substantive disciplines of the AFS, notification and transparency requirements, domestic data systems, inter-agency coordination, and the relevance of India's legal and policy framework. Deliberations also covered the negotiating history, the role of the IISD self-assessment toolkit in identifying implementation needs, and livelihood, food security, and developmental concerns of small-scale and artisanal fisheries. Technical issues relating to vessel registration, monitoring, and IUU-related determinations were examined. The program concluded with an interactive Q&A session focusing on practical and legal aspects of implementing the AFS, including notification requirements, IUU fishing provisions, rebuilding of overfished stocks, S&DT, and small-scale fisheries protections.