Brussels, 01/10/2015 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission decided on Thursday 1 October to send yellow cards to Comoros and Taiwan to warn them that they risk being included on its list of countries identified as being uncooperative in tackling illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.
At the same time, the Commission has lifted the warnings to Ghana and Papua New Guinea, which have significantly reformed their fisheries governance systems.
It is estimated that between 11 and 26 million tonnes of fish are caught illegally a year, corresponding to at least 15% of world catches, with a global value of up to €10 billion per year.
The decision to issue a yellow card to Taiwan is based on serious shortcomings in the fisheries legal framework, a system of sanctions that does not deter IUU fishing, and lack of effective monitoring, control and surveillance of the long-distance fleet. The Comoros have partly delegated the management of their fleet register to a private company located offshore. The Comorian fishing fleet operates in breach of Comorian law and is not monitored by national authorities. Further shortcomings exist in the country's legal framework, the system of sanctions, the management of fisheries resources, and in monitoring, controlling and surveillance. The Commission has proposed a tailor-made action plan and given the Comoros and Taiwan six months to resolve the identified issues. If the shortcomings are not addressed within six months, the EU could consider trade sanctions on fisheries imports. Fisheries exports to the EU from Taiwan are worth €13 million yearly.
Both Ghana and Papua New Guinea have amended their legal frameworks to combat IUU fishing, strengthened their sanctioning systems, improved monitoring and control of their fleets and are now complying with international law. They now join the growing list of countries (Korea, the Philippines, Fiji, Belize, Panama, Togo and Vanuatu) that have reformed their systems, following warnings from the EU.
Thailand soon to face sanctions? Formal dialogue is ongoing with Curaçao (since November 2013), the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Kitts and Nevis, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (since December 2014), and Thailand (since April 2015). Sources indicate that, following the six-month period, some time will be needed to assess the measures taken by Thailand. The Commission will decide in December whether to give Thailand further time to take the necessary steps or whether to propose giving it a red card (a proposal prior to a Council decision that would ban the import to the EU of fisheries products from Thailand).
“There is cooperation at the political level: technical meetings and visits to Thailand have taken place. That is the basis on which we are assessing the situation and on which we will come to a decision”, said a Commission source, adding: “We are only part-way through. A lot of progress still has to be made in Thailand but we enjoy good cooperation with the Thai authorities” (our translation).
Fisheries products caught by vessels from Sri Lanka (since October 2014), and from Guinea and Cambodia (since November 2013) are banned from being imported into the EU. Belize was withdrawn from the blacklist in December 2014 after it adopted lasting measures to address the deficiencies of its fisheries systems. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)