Madrid – Bruselas – Roma 22 de Junio
3 Consejos Consultivos Pesqueros Europeos, como son el Consejo Consultivo de Larga Distancia, el del Mar Mediterráneo y el de Mercado unen sus fuerzas para demandar que se añadan a la Ley ya existente una serie de recomendaciones para prevenir y luchar de forma más efectiva contra la pesca Ilegal No Declarada y No Regulada.
Con la Legislación Europea existente que lleva en vigor desde 2010 se ha mejorado mucho, pero con estas recomendaciones hechas por los consejos consultivos se podría avanzar todavía más.
A continuación damos paso a la Nota de Prensa Oficial.
Three EU Fisheries Advisory Councils join forces to request further efforts in the fight against Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing.
Madrid / Brussels / Rome, 22 June 2017
The EU Advisory Councils on Long Distance Fleet (LDAC), Markets (MAC) and Mediterranean Sea (MEDAC) adopted on 9 June a joint advice with a number of recommendations to improve the implementation of the EU Regulation to prevent, deter and eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing.
This piece of legislation, in force since 2010, has made the EU the front-runner in the fight against IUU fishing worldwide, positively contributing to better fisheries management and governance in third coastal and flag countries. Despite the important progresses achieved to date, the three Advisory Councils (ACs) believe that there is still room for improvement in certain areas of its implementation.
One of the key recommendations laid out in the advice is the development of an IT tool to share intelligence and exchange information in an integrated and safe environment amongst Member States. This will strengthen the alerts systems and mutual assistance between MS, preventing potential non-compliant consignments entering into the EU market. Furthermore, an active involvement from the stakeholders represented in the ACs (fishing sector and NGOs) is sought in the design phase to shape the technical specifications together with the MS control authorities and the European Commission.
Furthermore, the three ACs promote to increase cooperation between the European Commission and the European Fisheries Control Agency in developing guidelines with regard to the content and scope of obligations to check and verify catch certificates on the basis of a risk management approach.
The three ACs demand greater Transparency through the disclosure of actions plans provided to third countries during the carding process of identification as non-cooperating countries.
Last, the three ACs are favorable that the Commission endeavors to maintain up-to-date lists of licensed vessels by third countries and that this are made publicly available, in line with other ongoing legislative such as the new Fishing Authorisation Regulation, currently under discussion.
In words of the three AC Chairs, Iván López (LDAC), Guus Pastoor (MAC) and Giampaolo Buonfiglio (MEDAC), “we are very proud of having managed to adopt a joint position promoting an effective implementation of the IUU Regulation with specific and realistic recommendations. Fight against IUU fishing is a cornerstone of our work to achieve a level playing field amongst all fleet operators and processing industries commercializing their products into the EU market. Ultimately it is a question to provide full guarantees to the consumer that they are eating a fish that comes from operators which comply with the rules not only in terms of sustainability from an environmental perspective, but also from hygiene, social and labour standards, thus avoiding unfair competition and ensuring full traceability of the whole value chain. We would also like to acknowledge the valuable contribution of the NGO coalition on IUU Fishing, several of whom are members of the three ACs, which helped us to shape this advice”.
The advice presented as a joint opinion can be found here: http://ldac.eu/download-doc/145525
