On Thursday 14 May, the European Commission decided to send a letter of formal notice to Malta for failure to comply with the rules on controls on Bluefin tuna farms.
The provisions in question are part of Control Regulation 1224/2009, the Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing (IUU) Regulation 1005/2008 and the Bluefin Tuna Regulation 2016/1627.
The Commission noted that “Malta has also failed to comply with two recommendations by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) on Bluefin tuna”.
In particular, Malta failed to ensure that an effective monitoring, control and inspection system was present in Bluefin tuna farms.
Several audit and verification missions carried out by Commission officials identified “serious shortcomings”: failure to allow EU inspectors access to waters under Malta's jurisdiction as part of a control and inspection programme, delayed investigations, limited numbers of random control checks and failure to sanction operators.
The Commission is of the opinion that Malta has not taken the necessary steps to address the deficiencies identified. Malta has four months to take the action required. If it fails to do so, the Commission may decide to send it a reasoned opinion. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)