I would very much like to support this report. It is extremely important and it is very important to support the attempts of NAFO to halt this very problematic activity of non-contracting parties. The reality of the situation is that 'vessels from non-contracting parties' usually means vessels flying flags of convenience or flags obtained from countries which have open registers. These are countries which will allow shipowners the right to fly their flag if they pay the country a fee. Under international law, it is the responsibility of the state whose flag vessels fly to ensure that they abide by the relevant rules and regulations; for example, conservation measures, safety and labour standards, etc. The big problem is that these countries selling flags of convenience have no intention of enforcing these rules, and that is the main reason why they appeal to these unscrupulous shipowners who can do what they like. They can flout the law and no one is going to try and enforce it. All the shipowner has to do is pay a bit of money to the country to get the flag which will allow him to fish with impunity. This really has to stop. The list of these countries is very long, but the traditional ones are Belize, Panama, Honduras and St Vincent and the Grenadines. Many of these vessels have been active in the NAFO area, but that is not the only place where they operate. Very large numbers have also been fishing for tuna in the Atlantic where the regional organisation is ICAT. ICAT has done more than any other regional organisation to try and combat fishing by flags of convenience. Most dramatically – and this is something that other people should take their lead from – is that it has now imposed import bans on bluefish tuna from one of its own members, Equatorial Guinea. ICAT really does mean business and other people should follow suit. Organisations like ICAT and NAFO cannot solve the problem on their own. The responsibility lies in many other quarters and this responsibility needs to be taken seriously. Many shipowners like to use flags of convenience for it lets them get away with just about anything. There is no way of enforcing the law. The countries that sell allow them to fly their flags; they turn a blind eye and do not care. This is why it is so popular. The EU is among the worst in this sense. According to Lloyd's Maritime Services, in December 1999 there were 1,323 vessels over 24 metres flying flags of convenience. Of these, 168 were owned by companies based in EU Member States. By far the worst, of course, and not surprising, is Spain with 116 vessels, but of course they are not alone. Each country tends to have their preferred flag use. For instance, the French vessels tend to use flags of Réunion, St Vincent and the Seychelles. For Greece it is Cyprus and Panama. The Dutch use Belize and St Vincent and 4 vessels, of course, from my own country are flagged in Belize as well. The preferred British countries are Panama and Belize. It is not surprising that Belize is there, considering last year’s revelations about Michael Ashcroft, the Tory Party treasurer’s business connections there. The Spanish fleet is distributed across a very long list including Belize, Honduras, the Netherlands Antilles, Panama and many others. The only place which has more of these flags of convenience is Taiwan, with 117, which just beats Spain into first place. Last year, the Commission was actually trying to do something; it proposed refusing to grant subsidies for transferring ship ownership to countries with open registers. The Council refused. It wants to use public money to fund ways of breaking the rules, and that is not acceptable. At least one organisation is trying to draw this matter to the public's attention. For the past two weeks, Greenpeace has had a ship in the middle of the South Atlantic where they have found plenty of vessels catching tuna, flying these flags of convenience. They have also found a transport vessel, flagged in Panama and owned in Japan, both contracting parties to ICAT by the way, which was receiving fish from non-contracting vessels from Belize. This is very much against ICAT rules and I really think we have to address it. The European Union has to take responsibility on this issue.

Political group: Verts-ALE