The World Trade Organization chief called on Wednesday (Thursday in Manila) on countries to wrap up 20 years of talks banning subsidies that contribute to overfishing and net a deal by July. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who took the WTO reins last month, urged member-states to step up efforts to draft a text that is “complete and clean enough” to be presented to ministers for consideration by July. “We must have closure by July,” she said. “We must also prioritize these negotiations over these few months, including late nights and weekends if needed,” she added.

Stop overfishing, WTO tells member-countries. (2021, April 23). The Manila Times, p. B4.