About this site

World trade in agricultural, fisheries and forestry products totals some $480 billion annually (average 2000-2002, FAOSTAT). This trade is an important source of foreign exchange earnings and a crucial component of food security.

FAO is committed to providing its Member States with trade-related assistance, as mandated in the World Food Summit Plan of Action. In support of the new WTO negotiations on agriculture, FAO has strengthened its programme of technical assistance aimed at enhancing the capacity of Member States - especially developing countries and economies in transition - to participate effectively in the multilateral negotiations and to derive maximum benefit from global trade.

FAO's trade work dates back to well before the Uruguay Round of negotiations and addresses broader policy and market issues of relevance to agriculture, fisheries and forestry. FAO's approach is multidisciplinary in that it involves capacity building for trade, including analytical as well as operational field activities with a direct impact on supply-side capacities.

There are four main elements of this programme:

Fisheries

Total world exports of fish and fishery products amount to some US$56.3 billion per year (average 2000-2002, FAOSTAT). These products were not covered by the Agreement on Agriculture, but the SPS and TBT Agreements do apply. The FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries seeks to promote greater order in fisheries and aquaculture and to prevent further resource and environmental degradation.

The Code and the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (1982 Convention) provide the umbrella for FAO's work in fisheries. These instruments over-arch the Department's work programme and touch, to some extent, all activities in the fisheries sector. The mission of the Fishery Department of FAO is to facilitate and secure the long-term sustainable development and utilization of the world's fisheries and aquaculture.

The Fishery Department website in general and its Trade site in particular provide information, database and analyses on sustainable fishery development and trade. The COFI documents provide additional resources on topics such as fisheries management, subsidies and international fish trade.

The Fish Utilization and Marketing Service operates a comprehensive training programme in the field of fish utilization and quality control. Since 1986, the programme has focused on the HACCP system as applied to the fishery industry. The core activities of this programme are the execution of courses, workshops and seminars and the development of training material relevant to developing countries' needs.

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