The Environmental Justice Foundation's (EJF)- IUU fishing (European Press Club Brussels) Commissioner for Maritime Affairs and fisheries Chairman of the Committee on Fisheries of the European Parliament INTRODUCTION I attend this event on behalf of Minister Arias, who as you know made a commitment to fight against illegal fishing during his previous mandate. The Minister regrets his absence today, due to his duties to the Nation. In any case, this is a memorable day for all of us, a day of special satisfaction because it is the result of a tremendous effort on our side, on the side of the Commission, Member States, other States and also nongovernmental organizations. Almost four years after the entry into force of the regulation 1005 / 2008 establishing a Community system to prevent, deter and eliminate illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU), it is my pleasure to participate in this event organised by the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF). I much appreciate your invitation and the opportunity to share this moment with some of the EU institutions and with so many and such important fishing representatives. 1
In 2002, Spain adopted its National Plan of action against IUU fishing, within the framework established by the FAO a year earlier. In November 2002, we organised in Santiago de Compostela, with the participation of FAO and the EU, an International Conference to fight against IUU fishing that delivered the first conclusions on this subject adopted by the Council that very same year, again under the Spanish Presidency. At that time we began to reject imports of products from IUU fishing, initially with some resistance from DG Trade or other MS. But today Commissioner, it is a reality and we should all should be happy for it this. For more than one decade, therefore, Spain has been trying to lead the battle to eliminate any space of impunity for those who practice illegal fishing at European and international level. We believe that it is essential for the future of the fishing industry to uphold the principles of sustainability of the Common Fisheries Policy, but above all, because we are convinced that it is absolutely unacceptable to let some countries and operators compete unfairly with our fishing sector, obtaining benefits from their illegal activities, including slave labour. 2
If the Community fleet is among the most controlled in the world and we have required ourselves a high standard of control, we must demand some minimum requirements to those who want to introduce their fishery products on the Community market or other markets, avoiding at the same time the risk of Community operators who may try to ignore these standards by operating under third countries flags. But we cannot do this alone. Nobody can: not the EU as a whole, not individual MS, not the NGOs on their own, not other States such as coastal States, some of which are here today. At this juncture I think we need to go beyond our current satisfaction for all these achievements reached so far: how can we improve? What lessons have we learned? From our point of view it all comes down to one thing: WE WILL ONLY BE MORE EFFICIENT IF WE DO NOT ACT ALONE, BUT IN A COORDINATED WAY. 1) I would like to highlight the enormous workload carried out by the fisheries administrations of the EU to fight against illegal fishing. In Spain, our control and inspection services get and have to study in depth an average of almost 40,000 import requests per year. This means a major bureaucratic effort, which could well 3
require a risk analysis system to concentrate on the most actual threats. The system would benefit from more strict standards to authorize catch certificate validations. As the recent report of EJF "Keeping illegal Fish Out of Europe" on the implementation of the IUU regulation states, only 20 countries are certified to export meat products to the EU, while more than 90 can do so in the fisheries sector. We need to be sure that States that export fishery products to the EU comply with all the standards of fisheries control. 2) Second, we can benefit from more help from the Commission and giving more decision-making power to the EU, as opposed to isolated MS efforts. Spain supports the creation of a network of focal points at a European level, the Single Liaison Offices (SLOs). Through better coordination we could ensure better monitoring for example of quota consumption by other States not EU States, and even determine at the EU level when the quota has been exhausted to close all imports. This is very important for RFMOs and we can only do this if we work together within the EU and of course even better with other partners in the fight against IUU. 3) We also need help from other MS. The issue of uniformity when applying the IUU regulation requires greater attention. Between 2010 and mid-2013, Spain refused the import of some 55 shipments on the basis of the IUU regulation. This figure represented more than 50 per cent of all EU refusals in 2012, and in mid-2013, by June, this 4
percentage would rise to almost 60 per cent of EU refusals Spain only accounts for about 19 per cent of EU fish imports. This means that half of the MS or more have not refused a single shipment in during these four years. (Now, things are beginning to change and in the second half of 2013, there has been a tremendous effort made by the Netherlands concerning some of the imports of illegal fishing to the EU; Fortunately the Netherlands will join the group of MS refusing more imports because of this). According to the mentioned report presented by EJF, we face not a risk, but a real problem of trade flows being diverted to what we might call "Ports of convenience". The successful case of the Port of Las Palmas is an example of the existence of this diversion of trade flows, with real economic cost in terms of employment. We cannot abandon those who are being sacrificed for the sake of sustainability and therefore we need homogeneous application of the regulation. 4) We need help from coastal States - represented here by Seychelles and Gabon - to ensure transparency in the licensing system. Spain is ready to work and cooperate with them and right now, Spain is the only EU Member State having developed an administrative system to require diplomatic validation of the private licences held by its vessels, and requiring that payments for the licences be made to an account of the Public Treasury of the coastal states. 5
5) We need help from other flag States to act against our own nationals on board IUU vessels flying a different flag. Spain is now pioneering with our new legislation that will allow us to apply sanctions where other flag states are unable to do so - or are not willing to do so-, in particular against opaque economic interests behind fishing companies. 6) We must remain active at the international level, particularly in FAO, in order to get effectively involved all States in place (flag, port and coastal). We also need a firm position within RFMOs; and we must continue extending the principles of sustainability and economic benefit for the fishing partnership agreements. 7) We must accomplish all these goals by making the European industry - represented here too-, to participate and own the principles of the fight against IUU fishing. In this regard, we have recently had good examples, such as the Tuna Transparency Initiative, or the Industry participation through the so-called "cooperative surveillance", which has been introduced in the fishing partnership agreement with Gabon. 8) In conclusion, nobody can achieve these goals on their own. Commissioner, we are ready, we have the capabilities, we want to have a meaningful role in the riskanalysis, audits, decision-making and homogeneous implementation. You are the coach of this team right now, and Spain is ready to play the game coming from the bench. 6
If we compare the fight against IUU fishing with the development of a human being, we could say that in the EU we are beginning to crawl and about to walk. But some MS are already walking and are willing to help others to get up. We still have important challenges ahead inside and outside our borders, such as expanding the scope of the catch certificate scheme, preferably electronic; improving the identification of fishing vessels through the Global Record of FAO, which we support and whose progress is a fundamental piece of this puzzle; or promoting the ratification of the Port State Measures Agreement of FAO. In this task, all stakeholders in the fishing sector are relevant. And today I want to highlight the role of one of these actors: civil society, represented here by the NGOs that actively work to solve problems as EJF when it comes to fight against IUU. Spain firmly believes in the benefits of a transparent relationship with the conservation NGOs in the fight against IUU fishing and for this reason, these two years, under this Government, we have been working with most of them; through multiple meetings and, above all, through the opening of communication channels that have allowed us to obtain valuable information and reliable contact points in third countries. We consider this relationship very positively, and hope to keep it and improve it in the future. I want to finish with an optimistic message: we will defeat the IUU fishing, and we will do so for three reasons: 7
1) Because this is a part of our pursuit of sustainability in fisheries, our economic activity and that on which depends the livelihood of many developing States. 2) Because we work under a set of principles in which we believe, without concessions to dark political interests. 3) Because we are willing to work united. The great Miguel de Cervantes wrote that a Caballero, a knight, could not allow his words to be better than his actions, so after everything I have proposed here, I can only say that we should continue working with greater intensity to eliminate IUU fishing. Spain is prepared to continue leading this task, and we are also ready to work and cooperate with all actors who are interested in joining us. Thank you 8