WRITTEN QUESTION E-2846/01

by Daniel Varela Suanzes-Carpegna (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(17 October 2001)

Subject: US embargo against Spanish tuna

Laying down rules on the statistical tracking of tuna is a fundamental requirement for compliance with the Agreement on the International Dolphin Conservation Programme (AIDCP). The lack of such rules in Spanish legislation led to a US embargo being placed on imports of yellowfin tuna and derived products from Spain on 3 August 2000.

Spain has since incorporated the rules required under the AIDCP into its legislation. Even though the Spanish Government has now complied with the above requirement, however, the North American authorities have still not lifted the embargo on the fresh grounds that Spain is not a member of the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC), the RFO which is at the origin of the requirement.

Is the Commission aware of this situation?

Does the Commission not consider the continuation of the US embargo to be totally unjustified, given that Spain has now incorporated the relevant rules into its legislation and has even applied for IATTC membership, which has so far been refused?

What steps has the Commission taken or will it take to resolve this situation, which is seriously harming the Community firms involved?

What steps has it taken or will it take to offset the damage already caused to those firms?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(23 November 2001)

The Commission is well aware of the current situation regarding the embargo applied by the United States on countries that have not received an affirmative finding under American law to enable exporting countries to market their tuna and tuna products on the American market. One of the requirements is that a tuna tracking and verification system as defined in the Agreement for the International Conservation of Dolphins (AIDCP) is applied by the exporting country. However, this is not the sole element to be considered by the United States in its determination. Another element taken into account by the United States in its determination is the membership of the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC).

The Commission is fully aware that Spain has introduced national legislation implementing a tuna tracking system as required by the AIDCP and the Community is currently discussing within the Council a Community tuna tracking and verification system that would meet the AIDCP requirements.

As the Honourable Member is well aware, neither Spain nor the Community are members of this organisation, and as a result this effectively means that the United States will not be inclined to issue an affirmative finding until membership of IATTC is resolved. The Commission is of the view that this double requirement of being a member of the IATTC and having a tuna tracking and verification system as defined in the AIDCP is contradictory.

Contacts have been undertaken with the United States on several occasions on this issue, the last being during the bilateral High Level Consultations with the United States in July 2001. The United States have promised to further examine this question and the Commission is currently in active consultations with the American authorities to resolve this problem.

The Commission is not aware of any material injury suffered by European industry as a result of this embargo, therefore, it is not in a position to take any remedial measures. However, it is not out of the question that the Commission may examine this American policy in the context of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) as regards a trade restrictive measure.