Photo Denmark – Thyboron, FEDER-02 – EC
(BRUSSELS) – The EU lifted its illegal fishing ‘yellow card’ against Taiwan Thursday in recognition of the country’s upgrading its legal and administrative systems to fight against illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.
“I welcome the considerable efforts undertaken by Taiwan to reform its fisheries legal framework, implement new control tools and improve the traceability of marine fisheries products,” said Fisheries Commissioner Karmenu Vella: “The EU’s dialogue with Taiwan has shown again that international cooperation is a key driver towards healthier ocean management.”
The EU restates its commitment to the fight against illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU) and is working with countries across the world to that end. After the issuing of the yellow card in October 2015, the Commission, on behalf of the EU, and Taiwan engaged in three and a half years of intense cooperation and dialogue.
As a result of that cooperation, the EU executive says Taiwanese authorities now have a broad range of modern and efficient tools to fight IUU fishing in place. This is a major step forward, given that Taiwan’s long distance fleet is the second largest in the world, and therefore plays a central role in the international supply chain for fisheries products. Taiwan has also reinforced obligations imposed on Taiwanese operators owning fishing vessels flagged to third countries.
To keep building on these achievements, the Commission is to propose the establishment of a dedicated IUU Working Group. This forum will allow both sides to maintain a close cooperation on matters relating to the fight against IUU fishing, including at the multilateral, regional and sub-regional levels.
In addition, the EU and Taiwan will continue addressing labour conditions in the fishing sector in the framework of their human rights consultations.
The global value of illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing is estimated at 10-20 billion euros per year. Every year, between 11 and 26 million tonnes of fish are caught illegally, corresponding to at least 15% of the world catches. The EU is the world’s biggest importer of fisheries products.
Commission actions on fighting IUU fishing are based on the EU’s ‘IUU Regulation’, which entered into force in 2010[1]. Pursuant to its provisions, only fisheries products that have been certified as legal, can access the EU market. The Regulation also provides for specific dialogue mechanisms with the countries that are not in a position to provide such assurance or to discharge their obligations as Flag, Coastal, Port and Market State under international law. The prime objective of these dialogues is to rectify the existing shortcomings, through appropriate support to the third countries concerned. Hence, they often lead to new and committed partners in the fight against IUU fishing.
Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated fishing in general and in Taiwan - background guide
Overview of Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated fishing procedures with third countries
