Brussels, 30/04/2004 (Agence Europe) - The European Union decided on April 29 to ban the import of tuna and swordfish products from countries whose fishing activities undermine international efforts to conserve and manage fish stocks in a sustainable manner. The countries and fish species targeted are: Georgia, Bolivia, Cambodia, Equatorial Guinea and Sierra Leone in respect of Atlantic bigeye tuna (Thunnus obesus), Equatorial Guinea and Sierra Leone in respect of Atlantic blue-fin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) and Sierra Leone in respect of Atlantic swordfish (Xiphias gmadius). The European Commission has also indicated in a communication that the restrictions currently in place on imports from Belize, Honduras, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines are to be lifted "following actions taken by these countries to bring their fishing practices into line with internationally agreed guidelines".
According to Pascal Lamy, "today's efforts to conserve and manage fish stocks are essential to make sure we still have fish in the sea tomorrow. Sustainable fishing is the responsibility of all of us". With this in mind, the Trade Commissioner considers that by taking this decision on Thursday, "the EU is honouring the commitments taken under internationally agreed measures to that end". His colleague for Agriculture, Franz Fischler, also welcomed the coherence between EU trade and fisheries policies represented by this decision.
The decision brings EU legislation into line with the most recent recommendations of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), which can adopt trade sanctions against countries whose fishing activities undermine efforts to conserve and manage tuna and tuna-like species. The sanctions for all countries, with the exception of Georgia, will enter into force one week after the date of their publication in the Official Journal of the European Union (i.e. one week after 29 April 2004). For Georgia, the sanctions will apply from 1 July 2004, which is in line with ICCAT's own procedures in this case. The European Commission underlined that consumers should be unaffected by the EU decision as the countries targeted are not traditional suppliers of the species concerned to the EU. The EU decision is compatible with the WTO rules, which allow this type of measure to be taken for the conservation of exhaustible natural resources, it was emphasised.