On June 10, 2014, the European Commission (EC), the executive body of the European Union (EU) responsible for proposing legislations and implementing decisions that uphold the Union's treaties and interests, issued a ‘yellow card’ warning to the Philippines, as well as the Papua New Guinea (PNG), for its shortcomings in fighting illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.
To identify collaborative actions to address this, the Philippine Council for Fisheries (PCAF), through its Committee on Fisheries and Aquaculture (CFA), in collaboration with the Save the Fisheries Now Network (SFNN), organized a forum on July 14, 2014 at the PCAF Apacible Conference Room.
Therese Yosuico of the Trade Section of the European Union (EU) Delegation and Atty. Annaliza Vitug of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) Fisheries Regulatory and Quarantine Division (FRQD) were at the forum to shed light to the stakeholders and members of concerned civil society organizations (CSOs) on the EC’s issuance of ‘yellow card’ warning to the Philippines and the current efforts being undertaken by the government.
The EC’s decision came after a thorough analysis of the Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (DG MARE) of the Philippines’ national systems for implementing the provisions of the IUU regulation (EC) 1005/2008.
The EC has identified deficiencies in the country’s fisheries management measures which include deficient traceability schemes, absence of a comprehensive catch certificate scheme, lack of compliance as regards flag state responsibility over the long-distance fleet operating in PNG waters and the areas of Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) and International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT).
The EC also found the country’s legal framework not being able to address the IUU activities committed by its fleet in high seas and waters under jurisdiction of third states and without deterrent sanction system IUU activities depriving offenders of the benefit derived from the illegal activity.
“There is also lack of sufficient administrative capacities to ensure control and enforcement of the legislation due to the imbalance between resources and the importance of the fishery sector and lack of compliance with international law and regional fisheries management organization (RFMO) rules since the Philippines’ legal framework only provides for limited conservation and management measures under its national jurisdiction and excludes the application of Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) rules to archipelagic borders,” Yosuico said as she further listed down the deficiencies identified by the Commission.
Yosuico also shared the importance of Philippine fisheries to the EU, saying that in 2013, €171 or $229 million worth of fishery exports to the EU or equivalent to three percent of the country’s total exports to the EU.
The EC has formalized dialogue with the Philippines on IUU fishing on June 10, stressing that they trust in the willingness of the country to “tackle the identified challenges and avoid the identification as non-cooperating and adoption of trade measures.”
“The formalization of the dialogue process will serve to strengthen the cooperation between the Commission and the Philippines to address all problems within a logical time frame of six months. A tailor-made suggested action plan has been proposed to the Philippines and has undertaken Trade-Related Technical Assistance (TRTA) to help the country address the named deficiencies,” Yosuico said.
BFAR spearheads the finalization of the said action plan in line with the 12-point action provided by the EU which includes the passage of a legislation on IUU fishing through the amendment of Republic Act No. 8550 or the Philippine Fisheries Code, traceability issues, catch certification, monitoring, control and surveillance, registration and licensing, and cooperation with the PNG on fisheries development.
“The prepared action plan is currently undergoing interagency scrutiny through the Department of Foreign Affairs and will hopefully be submitted before the deadline this December. We have addressed everything that’s been indicated in the EU’s proposed tailor-made action plan and we hope that this would be enough to satisfy the DG MARE,” Atty. Vitug said.
One of the efforts that BFAR will undertake in light of the issue is the Municipal Fisherfolk Registration (FishR) and the formulation of a national inspection plan. Atty. Vitug also disclosed that the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has committed funding for 1,700 positions in the agency this month
“We are very optimistic that by the end of December, we will be out of our ‘yellow card’ status. Aside from this, we are also aiming for a Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) plus certification,” Atty. Vitug said.
Through PCAF-CFA Resolution No. 9, the body sought the support of the Philippine Committee Against IUU Fishing, headed by Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala, which is mandated to ensure the implementation of the National Plan of Action to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate IUU Fishing (NPOA-IUU).
On December 6, 2013, President Benigno S. Aquino III signed Executive Order No. 154 to adopt the NPOA-IUU which was developed to achieve the objectives of the International Plan of International Plan of Action on IUU Fishing endorsed by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (UN-FAO) in 2001.
PCAF-CFA Chairperson Arsenio Tanchuling stressed the urgency to prioritize the six major deficiencies named by the EU through the mechanisms that will operationalize the NPOA-IUU. Private sector members of the committee and representatives of concerned CSOs pledged their support to assist the government in addressing the traceability issues identified.
Should the country not be able to tackle the identified six major deficiencies within the six-month period granted, the EU will issue a ‘red card’ and be declared as a non-cooperative country as was done to Belize, Cambodia and New Guinea in 2013.
The committee recommended the creation of a composite team representing the private sector, civil society and government offices. The committee hoped that this team can meet with Sec. Alcala and seek approval to undertake immediate steps to comply with IUU fishing regulations.
“The objective of this multi-stakeholder initiative is to synergize multi-stakeholder efforts to address the compliance to the EU regulation,” the committee said in the resolution.
The committee also welcomed the suggestion of private fishing operators that they will provide the Philippine government the data they submit to PNG’s vessels monitoring system to address traceability issues. CSO representatives also assured the committee that they will assist in the formulation of policies and action plans.
PCAF Deputy Exec. Dir. Florabelle Uy-Yap was also present at the forum, alongside PCAF-CFA Chairperson Arsenio Tanchuling, and suggested the presentation of the action plan prepared by BFAR to the committee.
Source: http://nafc.da.gov.ph/NAFCNEWs/2014/ycard.html
0 comments:
Post a Comment