Brussels, 13/07/2016 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission announced on Wednesday 13 July that it was proposing the lifting of trade sanctions against the Republic of Guinea. These sanctions were imposed at end of 2013 because the country was not doing enough to tackle illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.
Since November 2013, a ban has been in place on the import into the EU of fisheries products caught by Guinean vessels, the country having been included on the list of third countries not cooperating in the fight against illegal fishing (EUROPE 10971). The Commission is proposing now to lift these sanctions. The only country left on the list of those that have received a “red card”, that is, those against which trade sanctions have been imposed, is Cambodia.
The Commission was pleased that, following a long bilateral dialogue process, the Republic of Guinea has revised its legal framework to combat IUU fishing, strengthened its sanctioning system, improved monitoring and control of its fleet and waters, and is now complying with international law.
In addition, the country has signed the FAO's port state measures agreement (PSMA) which seeks to prevent illegally caught fish from being landed in the country's ports (EUROPE 11565).
In April, the Commission gave “yellow cards” to Kiribati, Sierra Leone and Trinidad and Tobago and proposed that Sri Lanka be removed from the list of non-cooperating third countries in the fight against illegal fishing (EUROPE 11537, 11568).
Still nothing on Thailand. In May 2015, the Commission gave a yellow card to Thailand, calling on it to reform its laws on sanctions for illegal fishing and to put an end to labour law abuses. The country is doing all in its power to avoid being handed a red card (EUROPE 11551). The Commission has yet to make a decision. This week its experts are in Thailand to assess progress made in tackling IUU fishing.
The global value of IUU fishing is estimated at approximately €10 billion per year. Between 11 and 26 million tonnes of fish are caught illegally a year, corresponding to at least 15% of world catches. The EU is the world's biggest importer of fisheries products. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)