IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/oup/jieclw/v26y2023i2p266-284..html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Managing Externalities in the WTO: The Agreement On Fisheries Subsidies

Author

Listed:
  • Bernard M Hoekman
  • Petros C Mavroidis
  • Sunayana Sasmal

Abstract

By prohibiting subsidies that support illegal, unregulated, or unreported fishing activities and contribute to the unsustainable depletion of marine resources, the 2022 Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies (AFS) is the first World Trade Organization (WTO) treaty to recognize that a specific trade policy instrument can have adverse consequences for the global commons. We assess the AFS as such and through the lens of the broader challenge confronting WTO members in determining how to address subsidy spillovers and adapt trade policy rules to protect the global commons. While the AFS is a step forward for the WTO, definitions of what constitutes a subsidy and the approach taken to ensure transparency are those that have been part of the WTO since 1995 and have become the cause for contestation and calls for reform. We suggest ways in which birth defects can be addressed while implementing and expanding the coverage of the agreement.

Suggested Citation

  • Bernard M Hoekman & Petros C Mavroidis & Sunayana Sasmal, 2023. "Managing Externalities in the WTO: The Agreement On Fisheries Subsidies," Journal of International Economic Law, Oxford University Press, vol. 26(2), pages 266-284.
  • Handle: RePEc:oup:jieclw:v:26:y:2023:i:2:p:266-284.
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/jiel/jgad008
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bernard Hoekman & Douglas Nelson, 2020. "Rethinking international subsidy rules," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(12), pages 3104-3132, December.
    2. Robert Wolfe, 2021. "Informal Learning and WTO Renewal: Using Thematic Sessions to Create More Opportunities for Dialogue," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 12(S3), pages 30-40, April.
    3. Bernard Hoekman & Charles Sabel, 2019. "Open Plurilateral Agreements, International Regulatory Cooperation and the WTO," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 10(3), pages 297-312, September.
    4. Claire Delpeuch & Emanuela Migliaccio & Will Symes, 2022. "Eliminating government support to illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing," OECD Food, Agriculture and Fisheries Papers 178, OECD Publishing.
    5. Aaron Cosbey & Petros C. Mavroidis, 2014. "A Turquoise Mess: Green Subsidies, Blue Industrial Policy and Renewable Energy: The Case for Redrafting the Subsidies Agreement of the WTO," Journal of International Economic Law, Oxford University Press, vol. 17(1), pages 11-47.
    6. Gregory Shaffer & Robert Wolfe & Vinhcent Le, 2015. "Can Informal Law Discipline Subsidies?," Journal of International Economic Law, Oxford University Press, vol. 18(4), pages 711-741.
    7. U. Sumaila & Ahmed Khan & Andrew Dyck & Reg Watson & Gordon Munro & Peter Tydemers & Daniel Pauly, 2010. "A bottom-up re-estimation of global fisheries subsidies," Journal of Bioeconomics, Springer, vol. 12(3), pages 201-225, October.
    8. Arthur Appleton, 2017. "Options For Improving The Transparency Of Fisheries Subsidies," Working Papers id:12336, eSocialSciences.
    9. Aaron Cosbey & Petros C. Mavroidis, 2014. "A Turquoise Mess: Green Subsidies, Blue Industrial Policy and Renewable Energy: the Case for Redrafting the Subsidies Agreement of the WTO," RSCAS Working Papers 2014/17, European University Institute.
    10. Petros C. Mavroidis, 2014. "A Turquoise Mess: Green Subsidies, Blue Industrial Policy and Renewable Energy: the Case for Redrafting the Subsidies Agreement of the WTO," EUI-RSCAS Working Papers p0368, European University Institute (EUI), Robert Schuman Centre of Advanced Studies (RSCAS).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Bernard Hoekman & Douglas Nelson, 2020. "Rethinking international subsidy rules," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(12), pages 3104-3132, December.
    2. Nelson, Douglas & Puccio, Laura, 2021. "Nihil novi sub sole: The Need for Rethinking WTO and Green Subsidies in Light of United States – Renewable Energy," World Trade Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 20(4), pages 491-508, October.
    3. Charnovitz, Steve & Fischer, Carolyn, 2015. "Canada–Renewable Energy: Implications for WTO Law on Green and Not-So-Green Subsidies," World Trade Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 14(2), pages 177-210, April.
    4. Bougette, Patrice & Charlier, Christophe, 2015. "Renewable energy, subsidies, and the WTO: Where has the ‘green’ gone?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 407-416.
    5. Brewster, Rachel & Brunel, Claire & Mayda, Anna Maria, 2016. "Trade in Environmental Goods: A Review of the WTO Appellate Body's Ruling in US‒Countervailing Measures (China)," World Trade Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 15(2), pages 327-349, April.
    6. Carolyn Fischer, 2017. "Environmental Protection for Sale: Strategic Green Industrial Policy and Climate Finance," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 66(3), pages 553-575, March.
    7. Bernard M. Hoekman & Petros C. Mavroidis & Douglas R. Nelson, 2023. "Geopolitical competition, globalisation and WTO reform," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(5), pages 1163-1188, May.
    8. Carolyn Fischer & Mads Greaker & Knut Einar Rosendahl, 2014. "Robust Policies against Emission Leakage: The Case for Upstream Subsidies," CESifo Working Paper Series 4742, CESifo.
    9. Thijs Van de Graaf & Harro van Asselt, 2017. "Introduction to the special issue: energy subsidies at the intersection of climate, energy, and trade governance," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 17(3), pages 313-326, June.
    10. Fischer, Carolyn & Greaker, Mads & Rosendahl, Knut Einar, 2017. "Robust technology policy against emission leakage: The case of upstream subsidies," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 44-61.
    11. Bernard Hoekman & Charles Sabel, 2021. "Plurilateral Cooperation as an Alternative to Trade Agreements: Innovating One Domain at a Time," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 12(S3), pages 49-60, April.
    12. Dirk Bièvre & Ilaria Espa & Arlo Poletti, 2017. "No iceberg in sight: on the absence of WTO disputes challenging fossil fuel subsidies," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 17(3), pages 411-425, June.
    13. Ahmad Bathaei & Dalia Štreimikienė, 2023. "Renewable Energy and Sustainable Agriculture: Review of Indicators," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(19), pages 1-24, September.
    14. Nelson, Douglas, 2021. "How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria? US – Countervailing Measures (China) (21.5)," World Trade Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 20(4), pages 556-565, October.
    15. Bernard Hoekman & Petros C. Mavroidis, 2021. "WTO Reform: Back to the Past to Build for the Future," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 12(S3), pages 5-12, April.
    16. Matteo Fiorini & Bernard Hoekman & Petros C. Mavroidis & Douglas Nelson & Robert Wolfe, 2021. "Stakeholder Preferences and Priorities for the Next WTO Director General," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 12(S3), pages 13-22, April.
    17. Vivoda, Vlado & Matthews, Ron & McGregor, Neil, 2024. "A critical minerals perspective on the emergence of geopolitical trade blocs," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    18. Bernard Hoekman & Robert Wolfe, 2021. "Reforming the World Trade Organization: Practitioner Perspectives from China, the EU, and the US," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 29(4), pages 1-34, July.
    19. Robert Wolfe, 2021. "Informal Learning and WTO Renewal: Using Thematic Sessions to Create More Opportunities for Dialogue," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 12(S3), pages 30-40, April.
    20. Hussain Sinan & Megan Bailey, 2020. "Understanding Barriers in Indian Ocean Tuna Commission Allocation Negotiations on Fishing Opportunities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(16), pages 1-15, August.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:oup:jieclw:v:26:y:2023:i:2:p:266-284.. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Oxford University Press (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://academic.oup.com/jiel .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.