02/05/2006 (Agence Europe) - By adopting the report by Duarte Freitas (EPP, Portugal) on 27 April, the European Parliament has given its assent to the proposal allowing the EU to become a full member of the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC), set up as part of the agreement concluded in 1949 between the USA and the Republic of Costa Rica (EUROPE 8997 on the initial proposal). The European Community has been operating in the Eastern Pacific fisheries for years. At present, the tuna fleet active in the Eastern Pacific has five trawler-purse seiners. With the Listao as a particular target, it had a catch of 31,000 tonnes in 2002.