Brussels, 28/02/2014 (Agence Europe) - The World Trade Organisation (WTO) dispute settlement body decided on Wednesday 26 February to set up a panel to settle the dispute between the Faeroe Islands and the European Union on over-fishing of the Atlantic and Scandinavian herring (see EUROPE 10994).
In January, the EU rejected the Faeroe Island's request for such a panel, arguing that settlement by panel would be time-consuming.
The prime minister of the Faeroe Islands, Kaj Leo Holm Johannesen, said that this was an important stage and appropriate manner to demand the cancellation of coercive economic measures imposed by the EU that are a flagrant violation of the duties incumbent on it under the WTO agreement.
The Faeroe Islands are an autonomous province of Denmark that has not joined the European Union, and acting on behalf of the Faeroe Islands Denmark sent a case in November 2013 to the WTO and its dispute settlement body over the trade sanctions imposed by the European Commission in the dispute between the two sides on herring quotas in the Atlantic and Scandinavia.
The EU Regulation 793 of August 2013 is the first application of EU Regulation 1026/2012 penalising non-EU countries that practise non-sustainable fishing. The rules ban the import into the EU of herring and mackerel from the Atlantic and Scandinavian fish stocks caught under the control of the Faeroe Islands, along with fisheries products made from these fish or containing these fish. Restrictions have also been laid down for the use of EU ports by Faeroe Island ships, except when they are in distress.
The EU accuses the Faeroe Islands of jeopardising the survival of herring stock in the North Atlantic. The Faeroe Islands say that herring stocks have increased in their fishing area and therefore they set a herring quota in 2013 that is 145% higher than the 2012 quota, increasing their share of the catch to 105,230 tonnes. In the request for consultations at the WTO, the Faeroe Islands say that the EU wants to reduce the Faeroe Islands total allowable catch to 31,000 tonnes. (LC)