MEPs on the European Parliament fisheries committee said on Tuesday 24 April that all imported fisheries products must meet the high standards imposed by EU law.
The committee voted by 17 votes to 3, with 3 abstentions, to adopt the own initiative report by Linnéa Engström (Greens/EFA, Sweden) on implementing measures to assess how well fisheries products comply with the criteria for access to the EU market.
The report will be put to a vote in the plenary session in May. Fisheries MEPs also want the European Commission to implement further control measures to ensure the compliance of fisheries and aquaculture products from third countries with EU conservation and management standards and hygiene requirements. They also call on the Commission and member states to intensify their efforts to ensure a more harmonised implementation of existing legislation, with the aim of applying EU law more consistently at all stages of the supply chain.
Equal competition. Extending control regulation to imported fisheries products would promote fairer competition, avoiding a discriminatory market that could adversely affect EU fishers and fish farmers.
Lastly, the Commission is called on to ensure close coordination between EU trade policy and the common fisheries policy, including during the negotiation of trade agreements which involve fisheries with third countries.
The European Union is the world’s largest market for fisheries and aquaculture products, accounting for 24% of total global imports in 2016. It depends on imports for over 60% of total consumption of these products. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)