EN Official Journal of the European Union C 224/72

Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the Proposal for a Council Regulation establishing a Community system to prevent, deter and eliminate illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing

COM(2007) 602 final — 2007/0223 (CNS)

(2008/C 224/16)

On 4 December 2007, the Council decided to consult the European Economic and Social Committee, under Article 37 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, on the

Proposal for a Council Regulation establishing a Community system to prevent, deter and eliminate illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.

The Section for Agriculture, Rural Development and the Environment, which was responsible for preparing the Committee's work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 29 April 2008. The rapporteur was Mr Sarró Iparraguirre.

At its 445th plenary session, held on 28 and 29 May 2008 (meeting of 29 May 2008), the European Economic and Social Committee adopted the following opinion by 70 votes in favour, with three abstentions.

1. Conclusions

1.1 Given that the persistent practice of IUU fishing requires a comprehensive response, based on an effective regulatory instrument to be applied throughout the supply chain, from catch to sale, the EESC believes that, in general, the proposed Regulation provides the necessary framework to prevent, deter and eliminate IUU fishing and therefore supports it. It believes that the proposed measures strengthen the Community's role as a flag state, port state, market state and beneficiary state.

1.2 The Committee believes that the success of the proposed Regulation is based on four pillars: — determination of Member States to combat IUU fishing; — cooperation between Member States; — international cooperation; — an ongoing and constant effort to implement it.

1.3 Without seeking to exclude the Community fleet from the scope of the proposed Regulation, the EESC believes that the proposal should distinguish more clearly between IUU fishing by third country vessels, which flag states do not monitor, and other acts of illegal fishing carried out by Community vessels which violate the Common Fisheries Policy and are presently covered by legal instruments provided for under Regulation (EEC) 2847/93 (1).

1.4 The Committee believes that implementing all of the proposed control and inspection measures will involve a significant increase in spending and bureaucracy for Member States, as well as an extension of administrative monitoring infrastructure. It therefore calls on the Commission to take this into account so as not to impair the end result and, in any case, to take the proper precautions so that the implementation of the proposed Regulation does not lead to increased operational costs for businesses whose fishing vessels practise legal fishing.

1.5 Furthermore, the Committee believes that the proposed measures should not, under any circumstances, affect legitimate commercial traffic in a way that could present a barrier to trade, contravening the rules governing international trade.

1.6 The Committee believes that the proposed Regulation does not properly explain how the flag state authority should validate the catch certificate requested by the European Community. Given that this validation must be carried out electronically, the EESC believes that the proposed Regulation should clearly explain the method of validation both for vessels transporting fresh catches as well as those which transport frozen fisheries products.

1.7 The EESC believes that the monitoring of fishing vessels from third countries should be carried out uniformly in all ‘designated ports’ across the various Member States. Furthermore, it believes that the proposed Regulation should spell out more clearly that the inspections will be carried out at sea, on land and from the air.

1.8 The EESC reiterates the point it made in other opinions that the Community Fisheries Control Agency should play a key role in coordination, monitoring and control of IUU fishing. In order to do this, the Agency must be provided with more financial and human resources.

1.9 The Committee believes that the level of sanctions imposed on third country vessels should be harmonised in all EU Member States. In the case of non-compliance by states, the Committee believes that the possibility of applying sanctions unrelated to fishing should be considered.

1.10 In any case, the EESC believes that the guarantees involved in the procedures for identifying IUU vessels and non-cooperating states should be reinforced, particularly the guarantees of protection, and that these should be based on solid evidence to prevent courts from later revoking measures adopted by Member States.

2. Introduction

2.1 For more than ten years, the Community has been engaged in a fight against IUU fishing. Since 2002 this fight has taken the form of a Community action plan to prevent, deter and eliminate IUU fishing within the Community itself and at regional and international level (2).

2.2 In its resolution (3) of 2005 on the application of the Community action plan stipulated in the above-mentioned Communication, the European Parliament stated that the European Union had to expand and step up its efforts to combat IUU fishing.

2.3 Although there have been significant improvements, IUU fishing has not disappeared. The Commission believes that the persistence of the practice requires a firm and urgent response on the part of the European Union.

2.4 Accordingly, last year the Commission drew up a new Communication (4) on a new strategy for the Community to prevent, deter and eliminate illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.

2.5 Following extended consultations throughout last year, in which the Committee played an active role (5), the Commission has drawn up the current proposed Regulation (6), which seeks to achieve the following: — improve control of the legality of the activities of third country fishing vessels and of their catches accessing fishing ports of the European Community; — improve control of compliance with conservation and management measures by third country fishery products imported into the Community by other means than fishing vessels; — close the EU market to IUU fisheries products; — address IUU activities carried out by nationals from the European Community outside its territory; — improve the legal means to ascertain IUU fishing activities; — introduce an efficient regime of penalties aiming to deter serious infringements to fisheries measures; — improve action against IUU fishing within Regional Fisheries Management Organisations; — support the policy and means of developing countries against IUU fishing; — increase synergies in the field of monitoring, control and surveillance among Member States and between Member States and third countries.

2.6 The proposal thus relies on the principle that an efficient strategy against IUU fishing should be comprehensive and cover all the facets of the problem, along the whole supply chain.

3. General comments

3.1 The EESC considers that the worrying environmental and socio-economic consequences of IUU fishing make it essential for the European Union to take decisive action, and thus broadly supports the Commission.

3.2 Current Community rules, under which a monitoring system for the Common Fisheries Policy (7) was established, provide for a broad-based system to monitor the legality of catches by Community fishing vessels, but do not authorise a similar degree of monitoring and sanctions for fisheries products caught by vessels from third countries and imported into the EU.

3.3 This loophole is a way for economic players, both from within and outside the EU, to introduce IUU fishing into the Community, the world's largest market and main importer of fisheries products, thereby increasing the profitability of their activities. For this reason, the Committee believes that it is right for the proposed Regulation to focus on IUU fishing activities by third country vessels, without excluding the Community fleet from the scope of its application, as stipulated in Article 1(4) of the proposal.

3.4 The proposed Regulation establishes a new monitoring system which will apply to all IUU fishing activities and to all associated activities carried out within the territory or within the maritime waters subject to the sovereignty or jurisdiction of the Member States or by Community fishing vessels or nationals. It will also apply, without prejudice to the jurisdiction of the flag state or coastal state concerned, in relation to IUU fishing activities carried out by non-Community vessels on the high seas or in the waters under the jurisdiction of a third country, as stipulated for the Community fleet under the Common Fisheries Policy.

3.5 Without seeking to exclude the Community fleet from the scope of the proposed Regulation, the EESC believes that the proposal should distinguish more clearly between IUU fishing by third country vessels, which flag states do not monitor, and other acts of illegal fishing carried out by Community vessels which violate the Common Fisheries Policy and are presently covered by legal instruments provided for under Regulation (EEC) 2847/93 mentioned above.

3.6 The proposed Regulation also establishes a proper system for monitoring the supply chain of fisheries products imported into the Community. The Committee believes that the proposed measures should not, under any circumstances, affect commercial traffic in a way that could present a barrier to legitimate trade.

3.7 The EESC welcomes the Regulation proposed by the Commission. It is clear and broad in scope, it provides for the monitoring of illegal fishing activities at EU and international level and it is backed up with immediate enforcement measures and effective, proportionate and dissuasive sanctions for natural and legal persons who have carried out serious infringements of the Regulation or are responsible for them. However, in the case of non-compliance by states, the Committee believes that the possibility of imposing sanctions that differ from those applicable to fishing should also be considered.

3.8 The EESC believes that the order of the chapters in the proposed Regulation should be changed, with chapters IV and V on the Community Alert System and Identification of vessels engaged in IUU fishing activities following on from chapter I.

3.9 At the same time, the Committee believes that Article 13(1) of chapter III should make it clear that the ban on importing IUU fisheries products covers imports by sea and by land and air.

3.10 In the Committee's view, the main difficulty in implementing the proposed Regulation is that it requires general consensus and the support of Member States as well as an effective cooperation network at international level.

3.11 The Committee believes that implementing all of the proposed control and inspection measures, both in port and at sea, as well as measures on the certification, monitoring and verification of vessels and catches, and on the control of imports by land, sea and air, will involve a significant increase in spending and bureaucracy for Member States, as well as an extension of administrative monitoring infrastructure. It therefore calls on the Commission to take account of their impact in the proposed Regulation so as not to impair the end result.

3.12 In this connection, the Committee urges the Commission to take proper precautions to ensure that the implementation of the proposed Regulation does not lead to increased operational costs for businesses whose fishing vessels practise legal fishing.

3.13 In short, the EESC believes that the proposed measures strengthen the Community's role as a flag state, port state, market state and beneficiary state.

4. Specific comments

4.1 As we have seen so far, the proposed Regulation, if applied correctly, consistently and continuously, is capable of making the European Union a leader or standard-bearer in the international struggle against IUU fishing.

4.2 After several general provisions on implementation, the Regulation turns directly to EU port control of third country fishing vessels. It is important to point out here that transhipments between third country fishing vessels or between the latter and Community vessels are to be prohibited. The ban extends beyond Community waters to transhipments at sea of catches from third country vessels to Community vessels.

4.3 The EESC welcomes this ban on high seas transhipment; it has repeatedly urged the Commission to introduce such a ban since it is the source of much IUU fishing.

4.4 The Regulation states clearly that vessels from third countries will be able to enter only ‘designated ports’ in the European Union, specified in advance by Member States, and provided that they have met a set of requirements concerning notice of entry and authorisation, a validated certificate of catches and inspection. Access to ports of Member States, the provision of port services, and the conduct of landing, transhipment or on-board processing operations in such ports will be prohibited for third country fishing vessels unless they comply with the requirements and provisions of this Regulation.

4.5 The Regulation attaches particular importance to close and rigorous monitoring of notification of entry, certification of catches and inspection in port.

4.6 With regard to the verification of catch certificates, which must be sent 72 hours prior to arrival in port, the Committee believes that these should be validated electronically by the validating authority. The Committee feels that the proposed Regulation does not make it sufficiently clear how these certificates will be validated. Furthermore, the Committee believes that the Commission should indicate any exceptions to the given time frame of 72 hours.

4.7 The Committee supports the Commission's guidelines on monitoring fishing vessels and calls for consensus among all Member States to ensure uniform application in all ‘designated ports’.

4.8 Breaches of the Regulation in which a fishing vessel from a third country has been involved in IUU fishing activities will result in that vessel being banned from landing, transhipping or processing its catches on board, in the launch of an investigation and, where appropriate, the imposition of sanctions under the national legislation of the Member State concerned. In the event of serious violations, the proposed Regulation provides for immediate enforcement measures.

4.9 The aim of this rigorous monitoring of third country fishing vessels, which follows exactly the same procedure as the monitoring of Community vessels, is to identify fisheries products obtained in illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing operations. Under the Regulation, it is prohibited to import these products into the Community.

4.10 The EESC believes that imports throughout Community territory should be inspected, and for this reason chapter III should also cover inspection of containers imported into the European Community by land or by air. Furthermore, a minimum figure should be set for the percentage of containers to be inspected each year.

4.11 The Regulation stipulates that when fisheries products are considered to be the result of IUU fishing under the terms of the Regulation and are therefore banned from being imported, while paying due consideration to the right of appeal, Member States may confiscate and dispose of these products in accordance with national rules.

4.12 To ensure correct application of the Regulation in all matters concerning the import and re-export of fisheries products and, where appropriate, a ban on imports, it is stipulated that the Commission will be able to sign administrative cooperation agreements with flag states.

4.13 The system established by the Commission under this Regulation requires broad cooperation at international level between the EU and flag states, states cooperating in regional fisheries organisations and with the regional organisations themselves. Furthermore, as a consequence of this cooperation non-cooperating states must be identified, and the Regulation provides for ways to deal with these states.

4.14 The first internal consequence of this international cooperation is the creation of a Community alert system, warning economic players and Member States of any reasonable doubt that the Community may have as to compliance with laws, regulations or international conservation and management measures in respect of fishing vessels or fishery products from certain third countries.

4.15 The warning will result in Community and international monitoring of the imports which provoked the alert and previous imports, and of the fishing vessels concerned by the warning. If the enquiries, inspections and verifications prove that IUU fishing activities have taken place, the Commission may adopt other measures, such as including the vessel or vessels concerned in a Community list of IUU fishing vessels.

4.16 The Regulation specifies that it will be the Commission or a body designated by it that will gather and analyse all information on IUU fishing activities.

4.17 The EESC believes that the body best placed to carry out this task is the Community Fisheries Control Agency, which should be provided with more human and financial resources.

4.18 The Regulation deals very extensively with all aspects of compiling, updating, and publicising the Community list of IUU fishing vessels as well as its content; vessels included in lists of IUU fishing vessels adopted by regional fisheries management organisations will be added automatically. The EESC believes that instead of including Community fishing vessels in this list automatically, the Commission should make sure in advance that the relevant Member States have not adopted effective measures, as indicated in Article 26 of the proposed Regulation.

4.19 The Committee believes that the system established under the Regulation is appropriate since it is a serious attempt to register fishing vessels and non-cooperating states in IUU fishing lists, with all the guarantees of prior information and protection this entails, and taking into account the measures applicable to vessels and states involved in IUU fishing activities. However, the EESC believes that the guarantees involved in the procedures for identifying IUU vessels and non-cooperating states should be reinforced, particularly the guarantees of protection, and that these should be based on solid evidence to prevent courts from later revoking measures adopted by Member States.

4.20 Given the serous consequences of being included in a list of non-cooperating states and that the requirements of this Regulation should apply equally to all States, the EESC accepts that the Commission should help developing countries to meet the requirements relating to monitoring, control and surveillance of fishing activities.

4.21 The Committee believes that the Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) is an important tool for monitoring IUU fishing activities, and that in order for a country to be removed from the list of non-cooperating states, it should be required to install VMS in all its fishing vessels.

4.22 The Committee approves of the strict measures established under the Regulation for fishing vessels and non-cooperating states involved in IUU fishing activities.

4.23 The Regulation also prohibits nationals of Member States from in any way offering support to or becoming involved in IUU fishing activities, as well as any activity relating to the chartering, export or sale of fishing vessels included in Community lists of IUU fishing vessels.

4.24 Finally, the Regulation places an emphasis on serious infringements, harmonising the minimum level at which maximum fines are to be set in all Member States, both for natural and legal persons, as well as the immediate enforcement measures and accompanying sanctions to prevent the reoccurrence of the infringement and to allow the competent authorities to investigate.

4.25 The Committee believes that the level of sanctions imposed on third country vessels should be harmonised in all Member States of the European Union.

4.26 With the aim of simplifying Community rules, the Commission's proposed Regulation includes the main rules on control, inspection, and enforcement adopted by the regional fisheries management organisations to which the Community belongs, thus broadening the scope of the Regulation's application to take in all waters covered by these organisations.

4.27 The EESC considers that at some future point the Commission should study the possibility of extending the Regulation to freshwater fisheries.

4.28 The EESC believes that the Regulation proposed by the Commission represents a very useful tool for preventing, deterring and eliminating illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. A sustained and steadfast effort will be required in order to implement it. The Committee considers that cooperation among Member States is essential here.

Brussels, 29 May 2008. The President of the European Economic and Social Committee Dimitris DIMITRADIS

(1) Council Regulation (EEC) No 2847/93 of 12.10.1993.

(2) COM(2002) 180 of 28.5.2002 and Council Conclusions of 7.6.2002.

(3) European Parliament Resolution 2006/2225, adopted 15.2.2007.

(4) COM(2007) 601 final of 17.10.2007.

(5) EESC conference on the responsibility of the flag state, 30.1.2007.

(6) Proposal for a Council Regulation 2007/0223 (CNS) establishing a Community system to prevent, deter and eliminate illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.

(7) Council Regulation (EEC) No 2847/93 of 12.10.1993.