Commission warns third countries over insufficient action to fight illegal fishing

On the 15 November 2012, the European Commission stepped up its action to fight illegal fishing worldwide by warning eight third countries that they risk being identified as countries it considers non-cooperative in the fight against illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing. The countries in question are Belize, Cambodia, Fiji, Guinea, Panama, Sri Lanka, Togo and Vanuatu.

The decision was the first of its kind and it highlighted that these countries were not doing enough to fight illegal fishing. It identified concrete shortcomings, such as lack of dialogue or lack of actions to address deficiencies in monitoring, controlling and surveillance of fisheries, and suggests corrective actions to resolve them.

The decision would not, at this stage, entailed any measures affecting trade. The eight countries have been notified and given a reasonable time to respond and take measures to rectify the situation. The Commission also proposed an action plan for each country. Should the situation not improve, the EU could take further steps, which could entail trade measures such as a ban on selling fisheries products to the EU.

European Commission: Memo/12/859: Question and Answers on the EU's fight against illegal fishing http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-12-859_en.htm

European Commission: Speech/12/821: Maria Damanaki: Fighting IUU fishing internationally http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_SPEECH-12-821_en.htm

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