2005/938/EC: Council Decision of  8 December 2005  on the approval on behalf of the European Community of the Agreement on the International Dolphin Conservation Programme
Date: 2005-12-08
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: EU environmental policy, conservation of fish stocks, institutional agreement, marine mammal, protection of animals

L 348/26

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

30.12.2005

COUNCIL DECISION

of 8 December 2005

on the approval on behalf of the European Community of the Agreement on the International
Dolphin Conservation Programme

(2005/938/EC)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community, and in particular Article 37 in conjunction with
the first sentence of the first subparagraph of Article 300(2)
and the first subparagraph of Article 300(3) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament (1),

Whereas:

(1) The Community is competent to adopt measures for the
conservation and management of fishery resources and
into agreements with third countries and
to enter
international organisations.

(2) The Community is a contracting party to the United
Nations Convention on the Law of
the Sea, which
requires all members of the international community to
cooperate in conserving and managing the sea's living
resources.

(3) The Community is a contracting party to the Agreement
on the implementation of the provisions of the United
Nations Convention on the Law of
the Sea of
10 December 1982 relating to the Conservation and
Management of Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly
Migratory Fish Stocks.

(4)

In February 1998, the 35th Intergovernmental meeting
on the conservation of tunas and dolphins in the Eastern
Pacific Ocean adopted the Agreement on the Interna-
tional Dolphin Conservation Programme (hereinafter
referred to as the Agreement). The Agreement was signed
in Washington on 21 May 1998 and entered into force
on 15 February 1999.

(5) At present

there are 15 contracting parties to the
Agreement these being Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica,
Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico,
Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Spain, United States, Vanuatu
and Venezuela.

(6) The objectives of the Agreement include the progressive
reduction of incidental dolphin mortalities in the tuna
purse-seine fishery in the Eastern Pacific Ocean to levels
approaching zero, through the setting of annual limits
and the long term sustainability of the tuna stocks in the
Agreement Area.

(7) The Community recognises

the
Agreement in protecting sustainable fishing as a means
of guaranteeing the ecological conservation of species,
particularly dolphins.

the importance of

(8) Community fishermen fish tuna stocks in the Agreement
Area and it is in the Community's interest to play an
effective role in the implementation of the Agreement.

(9) The Community signed (2) the Agreement, and decided
to apply it provisionally (3) until completion of
the
required procedures for its official accession to the Inter-
American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC).

(10) Under Article XIV of the Agreement, the IATTC is to
have an integral role in coordinating the implementation
of the Agreement and many implementing measures will
be adopted within the framework of the IATTC.

(11)

In parallel, the Kingdom of Spain was authorised to
accede to the Convention establishing the IATTC on a
temporary basis (4).

(1) Opinion of 9 June 2005 (not yet published in the Official

Journal).

(2) OJ L 132, 27.5.1999, p. 1.
(3) OJ L 147, 12.6.1999, p. 23.
(4) OJ L 155, 22.6.1999, p. 37.

30.12.2005

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 348/27

(12) The Kingdom of Spain has acceded to the IATTC on June

HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:

2003.

(13) The official accession of the Community to the IATTC
the
take place upon the entry into force of
will
Convention for the strengthening of the IATTC estab-
lished by the 1949 Convention between the United States
of America and the Republic of Costa Rica (the Antigua
Convention), of which the Community is a signatory (1).

(14) Pending the entry into force of the Antigua Convention,
the effective participation of the Community in the work
of the IATTC and consequently, to all activities and
is ensured
measures decided under
through the Kingdom of Spain's membership of the
IATTC on behalf of the Community.

the Agreement,

(15) The Community is now therefore in a position to
approve the Agreement and fully assume its duties and
responsibilities under both the Agreement and the
Convention establishing the IATTC,

Article 1

The Agreement on the International Dolphin Conservation
Programme is hereby approved on behalf of the Community.

The text of the Agreement is attached to this Decision.

Article 2

The President of the Council is hereby authorised to designate
the instrument of
the person(s) empowered to deposit
approval with the Government of
the United States of
America as Depositary of the Agreement in Accordance with
Article XXXII thereof.

Done at Brussels, 8 December 2005.

For the Council
The President
J. HUTTON

(1) OJ L 15, 19.1.2005, p. 9.