WRITTEN QUESTION E-1854/99 by Carmen Fraga Estévez (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Mauritanian inspectors and the Community fleet.
Date: 1999-10-13
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Mauritania, agreement (EU), fishing agreement, fishing controls, weights and measures

18.7.2000

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 203 E/71

(2000/C 203 E/086)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1854/99

by Carmen Fraga EstØvez (PPE-DE) to the Commission

Subject: Mauritanian inspectors and the Community fleet

(13 October 1999)

For some months now, Community black hake fishermen working under the EU-Mauritania Fisheries
Agreement have been protesting to the Commission about dubious Mauritanian inspection methods giving
rise to totally unjustified fines.

The methods consist of weighing six of the fullest boxes of fish with (cid:145)Roman(cid:146) scales, the apparent purpose
being to show that more fish are actually being caught than are recorded in the daily register, since the
boxes in question are changed around until the inspectors obtain the weight they want.

No account is taken of the fact that not all boxes weigh the same, since four separate sortings are carried
out on board, while boxes containing the earlier catches also contain a larger quantity of ice to keep them
fresh. Furthermore, the use of (cid:145)Roman(cid:146) scales is completely unreliable under any circumstances, and quite
unjustifiable on board a ship at sea. It should also be noted that these vessels catch an average 3 000
boxes, which means that the six boxes weighed account for only 0,2 of the total. Finally, black hake is not
quota-bound.

What steps is the Commission going to take vis-(cid:224)-vis the Mauritanian authorities to put an end to
inspections of this kind?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(18 November 1999)

Mauritania holds exclusive competence for inspection at sea of fishing activities in waters under its
sovereignty.

The Commission however, which has been several times notified of the procedures adopted, has already
raised the matter with the Mauritanian authorities, the last occasion being in May 1999 when the Adviser
to the Mauritanian Fisheries Minister visited Brussels.

The Community pointed out that monitoring and inspection procedures for fishing activities needed to be
adjusted to ensure fair and equitable treatment.

The Commission will raise the matter again at the next meeting of the joint committee responsible for
attending to proper working of the Agreement.

(2000/C 203 E/087)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1855/99

by Mikko Pes(cid:228)l(cid:228) (ELDR) and Samuli Pohjamo (ELDR) to the Commission

Subject: Liquid waste in animal feedstuffs

(14 October 1999)

I had the pleasure of putting a question about the use of liquid waste by the feedstuff industry both to
Commissioner Fischler and to Council President Kalevi Hemil(cid:228) on the occasion of their visit to Parliament(cid:146)s
Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development on 28 September 1999. Owing to the large number of
topics covered in the discussion and to the lack of time it did not prove possible to give a sufficiently
detailed answer to the question which I therefore wish to resubmit in writing.

What action is the Commission taking to rule out the possibility of waste products being added to animal
feedstuffs in the EU? In my country, Finland, such an activity would be unheard of and would result in the
immediate closure of the factory concerned because of the serious risks to health. If nevertheless some
countries wish to make use of certain materials, how does the Commission intend to define the concept of
liquid waste?