Proposal for a Council Decision authorising Member States to sign, ratify or accede to the Cape Town Agreement of 2012 on the Implementation of the provisions of the 1993 Protocol relating to the Torremolinos International Convention for the Safety of Fishing Vessels, 1977

The Torremolinos International Convention for the Safety of Fishing Vessels 1977 was amended by its 1993 Protocol, which updated the provisions and revised the obligatory application of the main chapters to vessels of 45 metres in length and over, leaving it up to a regional decision for an application to vessels of 24 metres in length and over. Neither the original convention nor the 1993 protocol have entered into force, as the necessary minimum requirements in terms of ratification were never reached.

A Diplomatic Conference was convened in Cape Town, South Africa by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) between 9-11 October 2012 to consider and adopt an Agreement on the implementation of the Torremolinos Protocol in a major effort on the part of the IMO to facilitate the entry into force of the 1993 Protocol. The Diplomatic Conference has resulted in the adoption of an Agreement amending the Torremolinos Protocol of 1993, entitled the "Cape Town Agreement of 2012 on the Implementation of the Provisions of the 1993 Protocol relating to the Torremolinos International Convention for the Safety of Fishing Vessels, 1977".

The European Union cannot become a party to the draft Agreement, as the current draft, as approved by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) Maritime Safety Committee, does not include a REIO (Regional Economic Integration Organisation) clause. However as the Agreement concerns a matter of exclusive EU competence, Member States are not in a position to decide autonomously on the signature and ratification of the Agreement. They can only do it, in the interest of the Union, after authorization by the Council and consent of the European Parliament upon a proposal by the Commission.

• Primary Source

EUR-Lex: COM(2013)38: Follow the progress of this proposal through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2013:038:FIN

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