Navigating Agricultural Domestic Support, Fisheries Subsidies, and Food Security: A Critical Examination of The WTO Rules

The WTO is ambitiously negotiating rules on agriculture subsidies, fisheries subsidies and food security to achieve Sustainable Developmental Goals (SDGs) such as zero hunger, doubling agriculture productivity and preservation of marine resources. However, the negotiations have reached an impasse as reflected in the failure of the 13th WTO Ministerial Conference. This paper explores the reasons for the impasse by critically examining the food security, agriculture and fishery subsidy regimes under the WTO to inform the ongoing negotiations and facilitate the fulfilment of the SDGs. In agriculture, negotiations on domestic support and public stockholding (PSH) remain contentious due to the clashing sensitivities and interests of the WTO members. Under domestic support, there is a strong push for reducing the members’ capacity to provide trade-distorting agriculture subsidies. Some members however do not concur as they fear losing policy space to subsidize their poor farmers. Similarly, calls for updating the WTO rules on public stockholding for food security purposes by some developing country members are persistently resisted by raising trade distortion concerns. In the fisheries, though the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies has been adopted, WTO members remain divided on the disciplines regulating subsidies that contribute to overcapacity and overfishing.