Joint Assembly of the Convention concluded between the African, Caribbean and Pacific States and the European Union (ACP-EU) - Resolutions adopted on ACP fisheries and the eighth EDF (ACP-EU/1801/97/fin.)

The ACP-EU Joint Assembly,

- meeting in Brussels (Belgium) from 17 to 20 March 1997,

- having regard to the resolution on fisheries in the context of ACP-EEC cooperation, adopted in Brussels (Belgium) on 7 October 1993 (1),

- having regard to the deliberations of the follow-up group on fisheries in the context of the Lomé Convention,

- having regard to the fisheries agreements between the European Community and 14 different ACP countries,

A. having regard to the fact that fisheries agreements between the EC and ACP countries, while basically commercial in nature must be coherent with cooperation policy,

B. having regard to the need to develop the fisheries sector in the ACP countries,

C. having regard to the possibilities provided by the EDF for assisting the ACP fisheries sector, notably artisanal fishing,

D. having regard to the indicative programmes already signed and those being signed for the 8th EDF,

1. Notes that given the limited funds available under the EDF, its funds have not been primarily used to assist in the development of the fisheries sector in ACP countries;

2. Recognises that ACP countries must make difficult choices regarding the use to be made of EDF funds, and that, in many cases, the requirements of other sectors are seen as more pressing that those of the fishing sector;

3. Encourages, nevertheless, ACP Governments to take account of the development potential of the fishing sector and related services, as a potential source of high-protein food, employment and economic and social development when deciding on the use to be made of resources allocated under the 8th EDF;

4. Calls for particular attention to be given to increasing the ACP countries' administrative capacities in the fields of resource management, scientific research, biological rest periods and maritime surveillance;

5. Calls for particular attention to be paid to the artisanal fishing sector, which is highly vulnerable in the face of organized commercial fishing by international operators, including EC boats using the facilities provided under fishing agreements;

6. Calls on the EU to mobilize additional financial support to permit development measures to be undertaken independent of the Regional Funds or of current schemes for financial compensation in respect of the catches allowed under fishing agreements;

7. Calls upon the EU to implement the consultative mechanisms provided for in the fishing agreements as often consultations take place only upon the renewal of the Agreements;

8. Hails the adoption of the Code of Conduct on Responsible Fishing by the FAO in October 1995 and calls on the contracting parties to uphold the spirit and letter of this code;

9. Commits private ACP/EU operators to undertake specific development measures in the form of joint undertakings, Joint Ventures, technology transfer and other forms of partnership, particularly those linked to the acquisition of production equipment such as ships, including idle fishing vessels (either on lease or on the basis of joint ventures), processing factories and related industries and services;

10. Calls upon ACP States to improve on their individual and collective negotiating capabilities when negotiating new fishing agreements with the European Commission and to place the interests of their nations at the forefront;

11. Calls upon the EU to recognise that the alternative patterns of exploitation of fishing resources of ACP states now being developed make a more direct contribution to the wider social and economic development of ACP countries in a manner more wholly consistent with the EU development policy objectives;

12. Calls upon ACP countries to quickly switch to alternative patterns of exploitation of its fisheries, as fostered under fishing agreements, which are principally designed to satisfy the needs of the EU fishing fleet and needs of the EU market, which is not necessarily consonant with the principles of promoting sustainable social and economic development of ACP States and integrating ACP economies into the world economy;

13. Welcomes the provisions in fishing agreements for specific areas to be reserved for artisanal fishermen, calls for the enforcement of these areas, the extension of this practice and for greater protection to be provided to artisanal fishermen in future agreements;

14. Calls on the ACP countries concerned and on the Commission to include in the context of wideranging consultation, representatives of the fisheries sector and in particular artisanal fishermen and women in the negotiations of future fishing agreements with all countries having an artisanal fishing sector;

15. Encourages the establishment of marine parks and protected areas to conserve the aquatic bio diversity and the renewal of the resources on which fisheries depend;

16. Deplores the fact that once again the ACPs' views on the rules of origin with regard to fishery products, expressed throughout the negotiations of Lomé II, III, IV and the revised Lomé IV, have been disregarded;

17. Calls upon the contracting parties to reacknowledge the coastal ACP States' right to the development and rational exploitation of their fishery resources in all waters within their jurisdiction and, consequently, the need to modify the rules of origin;

18. Reiterates the view expressed by the ACP representatives and renews the Assembly's request that all catches made in waters on which ACP States exercise sovereign rights and which are obligatorily landed in ACP ports for processing and export to the EU markets should enjoy originating status while ensuring that such arrangements do not benefit third parties to the detriment of the ACP and EU;

19. Calls upon the European Commission and the Governments of the Member States to relax the implementation mechanisms of the rules of origin with respect to fishery products with immediate effect so as to enable increased quantities of fishery products from ACP States to be sold on the EU market and to absolve ACP States from paying indemnities to EU importers who are in the first place penalized by EU Member States' Customs Unions;

20. Welcomes the revision in Lomé IV bis with regard to the provision of Protocol 1 to increase the annual quantity of canned tuna and tuna loins to 4 000 tonnes and 500 tonnes respectively which ACP States are allowed to export to the EU market under the provision of automatic derogation, but notes that it falls well short of the ACP demand for 10 000 tonnes;

21. Calls on the European Union Member States and the Commission to consider favourably requests from ACP States for flexibility and the extension by a period of two years of the present derogation to enable them to modernise their canneries so as to conform with the new EU Regulation 91/493/EEC on norms and standards for fishery products - bearing in mind that the continuation of the derogation is important in order not to penalise ACP exports, especially of canned fish products, to the EU;

22. Instructs its Co-Presidents to forward this resolution to the ACP-EU Council of Ministers and the Commission.(1) OJ C 14, 17. 1. 1994, p. 22.