Brussels, 05/06/2009 (Agence Europe) - ACP (Africa/Caribbean/Pacific) fisheries ministers decided in Brussels on Friday 5 June after their very first meeting that an intra-ACP coordination and cooperation ministerial mechanism on fisheries issues would be created within the group of ACP states. The new body, arrangements for which have not yet been decided, must contribute to helping ACP states to move towards sustainable management of their fisheries resources and to effectively raise the challenges facing ACP fisheries industries. These challenges are: - the stringent export conditions and requirements; the lack of infrastructure and technical know-how to enable ACP countries to maximise benefits from their fisheries resources, especially in the field of “value-addition”; increased competition from non-ACP fish and fishery products; and erosion of traditional market preferences.
“The establishment of this mechanism is critical for the ACP Group. Its objective is to provide political support, both within the group and from its external partners, for new approaches to fisheries governance and cooperation in fisheries, in order to ensure that fisheries play their just part in the social and economic development of ACP member states”, Joel Morgan told the press in his capacity as minister of natural resources, environment and transport of the Republic of Seychelles and chairman of the minsters in charge of fisheries of the ACP Group.
The resolution adopted by the ministers translates their deep concern about the intensifying global fisheries crisis due to overfishing by the world's fleets; illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing; and the collapse of revenue from global resources and perpetually shrinking global fish stocks, fuelled by strong and resilient world demand for fisheries products and dysfunctional fisheries management models.
Ministers call on the fisheries body to ask the European Commission as a matter of urgency to finance an all-ACP programme aimed at helping ACP members to implement the EEC regulation on IUU fishing, given that it will be necessary for them to have time and means to set in place the necessary infrastructure and strengthen policing capacity. The Commission is also invited to study the possibility of granting all ACP countries and regions that so request the advantages arising from talks conducted on rules of origin with regard to fishing, within the framework of the economic partnership agreements (EPA).
ACP ministers invite the international community to provide assistance to ACP states which so request to ensure security of fishing vessels and their crews in the waters of ACP member states, protecting them from acts of piracy and armed robbery.
They also underline the need for effective special and differentiated treatment in favour of ACP countries at the WTO, with appropriate exemptions for non-industrial fishing and small fishing sectors, which are essential for the reduction of poverty, the preservation of means of subsistence and food supply security. (A.N./transl.jl)