WRITTEN QUESTION E-0768/06
by David Hammerstein Mintz (Verts/ALE)
to the Commission
Subject: Las Palmas, IUU fishing and fish imports
The port of La Luz in Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, is a key port for the fishing trade, whether it be for importation, transportation or exportation, and has been described, as the Commission put it, as a 'port of convenience'.
Council Regulation (EC) No 2847/93[1] requires Member States to carry out certain checks in ports.
1. Does the Commission believe that the Spanish authorities are adequately and comprehensively complying with their obligations regarding these checks and inspections in Las Palmas? If not, what problems have arisen and what has the Commission done in order to ease or resolve these problems? How many fishing inspectors are based there? Does the Commission consider this number to be sufficient?
2. What concrete measures, whether in terms of legislation or in other areas, has the Commission taken in order to ensure that the international plan of action to combat illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing (IUU) is put into practice, as requested in the Council's conclusions? Have any measures been taken following technical consultation conducted by the FAO in 2004 on state measures for ports and on the scheme that was adopted? If not, when does the Commission intend to make a proposal on this matter?
3. The Health and Consumer Protection DG has published lists of fishing vessels and fish-processing companies that are authorised to export fish to the EU. In some cases, these authorised trawlers have been detained in third countries for fishing illegally. Does the Commission believe it appropriate to allow the importation of fish caught by fleets which fish illegally? What procedures are used for co-ordination among the various Directorates-General in order to ensure that fish entering the EU is healthy and has been caught legally?
602968.EN PE 370.495
[1] OJ L 261, 20.10.1993, p.1.