Using trade management to combat IUU fishery in African developing countries - The EC regulation no 1005/2008 and its practical effects
(2010) JURM01 20101Department of Law
- Abstract (Swedish)
- IUU-fiske är ett problem med globala konsekvenser och som har allvarliga effekter inom flera områden, såsom ekonomi, miljö och socialt välbefinnande. På grund av dess natur är problemets omfång svårt att klarlägga, men uppskattningar har visat att mängden IUU-fisk som cirkulerar inom internationell handel är enorm.
Afrikanska utvecklingsländer har få ekonomiska möjligheter att kontrollera och övervaka sina vatten och deras myndigheter är ofta dåligt organiserade med mycket korruption. På grund av detta drabbas afrikanska utvecklingsländer hårt av IUU-fiske och de är bland de länder i världen som har allra svårast att bekämpa detta problem.
Flera rättsliga försök har gjorts för att försöka bekämpa IUU-fiske, de flesta med fokus på... (More) - IUU-fiske är ett problem med globala konsekvenser och som har allvarliga effekter inom flera områden, såsom ekonomi, miljö och socialt välbefinnande. På grund av dess natur är problemets omfång svårt att klarlägga, men uppskattningar har visat att mängden IUU-fisk som cirkulerar inom internationell handel är enorm.
Afrikanska utvecklingsländer har få ekonomiska möjligheter att kontrollera och övervaka sina vatten och deras myndigheter är ofta dåligt organiserade med mycket korruption. På grund av detta drabbas afrikanska utvecklingsländer hårt av IUU-fiske och de är bland de länder i världen som har allra svårast att bekämpa detta problem.
Flera rättsliga försök har gjorts för att försöka bekämpa IUU-fiske, de flesta med fokus på handelsreglering i olika perspektiv. Europeiska Unionen har utvecklat en ny förordning inom området, EG-förordning nr 1005/2008, som trädde i kraft den 1 januari 2010. Avsikten med förordningen är att hindra att fisk och fiskprodukter med ursprung från IUU-fiske kommer in på den europeiska marknaden. För att uppnå detta måste länder och företag som önskar exportera varor till unionen ha fångstcertifikat och system för spårbarhet som säkerställer att varorna kommer från legala källor.
Omfattningen på fiskhandel med den Europeiska Unionen varierar stort mellan olika afrikanska utvecklingsländer. Länder som har ett stort antal fartyg vars fiskfångst transporteras till Unionen har större kostnader för att certifiera fångsten än länder med mindre omfattning på handeln. Fullgörandet av de nya kraven kommer dock att ha effekter på alla dessa länder eftersom knappt någon av dem har tillräckliga system och metoder varken för certifiering eller spårbarhet, eller för godkännandet av de samma.
Med tanke på den dåliga ekonomin och tekniska situationen i afrikanska utvecklingsländer, kan de nya kraven som ställts i förordningen skapa omotiverade handelshinder när det gäller handeln med lagligt fångad fisk, eftersom dessa länder kan ha svårt att implementera bestämmelserna. För att undvika att bestämmelserna fungerar som handelshinder kan Europeiska Unionen behöva ge extra stöd till dessa länder när det gäller fullgörandet av kraven. Stödet bör inte bara utgöras av ekonomiska medel, utan också av utbildning, tekniskt bistånd och möjligtvis längre tidsfrister för genomförandet.
Bestämmelserna i den nya förordningen har också positiva effekter i afrikanska utvecklingsländer. Förbättringar har noterats både i myndigheters struktur och samarbete, och i övervakning och kontroll. Framför allt har förbättringar noterats när det gäller medvetenheten om de allvarliga konsekvenser som följer av IUU-fiske. Förhoppningarna är att det efter hand även märks förbättringar i områden som miljö och hållbarhet för fiske.
Tiden måste avgöra om kraven i förordningen har mest positiva eller mest negativa effekter för afrikanska utvecklingsländer. De negativa effekterna innebär främst svårigheterna att uppfylla kraven och kan i allmänhet begränsas genom stödjande åtgärder. De positiva effekterna kan visa sig efter hand som kraven utövas, men avsikterna är att IUU-fiske ska minska och därmed förbättra ekonomi, miljö och socialt välbefinnande. (Less) - Abstract
- IUU fishery is an issue with global consequences, having severe impacts in several areas such as economy, environment and social well-being. The size of the problem is due to its nature hard to determine, but estimations has shown that the amount of IUU fish that circulate in trade is considerable.
African developing countries have poor economical possibilities to control and survey their waters and the authorities are often badly organized with high levels of corruption. Because of this, African developing countries suffer hard from IUU fishing activities and they are among the countries in the world that have most difficult to fight this problem.
Several legislative attempts have been made to try to combat IUU fishery, most of them... (More) - IUU fishery is an issue with global consequences, having severe impacts in several areas such as economy, environment and social well-being. The size of the problem is due to its nature hard to determine, but estimations has shown that the amount of IUU fish that circulate in trade is considerable.
African developing countries have poor economical possibilities to control and survey their waters and the authorities are often badly organized with high levels of corruption. Because of this, African developing countries suffer hard from IUU fishing activities and they are among the countries in the world that have most difficult to fight this problem.
Several legislative attempts have been made to try to combat IUU fishery, most of them focusing on trade management in different perspectives. The European Union has developed a new regulation in the area, EC regulation no 1005/2008, entering into force January 1, 2010. The intention with this regulation is to hinder fish and fish products with origin from IUU fishing activities to enter the European trade market. To achieve this, states and companies that wish to export products to the Union must have catch certificates and traceability schemes that ensure the legal origin of the products.
The extent of fish trade with the European Union varies widely between African developing states. Countries that have a large amount of vessels fishing for trade with the Union will have more costs for certifying all the catch than countries with less trade. The implementation of the new requirements will however have effects on all of these countries since barely any of them have sufficient systems and methods for certification and traceability, or for the validation of the same.
Having in mind the poor economy and technical situation in African developing countries, the new requirements set up in the regulation may create unjustifiable trade barriers regarding the trade with their legally caught fish since these countries may find it difficult to implement the provisions. The European Union may need to give extra support to these states regarding the implementation of the requirements in order to avoid that the provisions will function as trade barriers. The support should not only constitute of financial means, but also of education, technical assistance and perhaps extended implementation periods.
The provisions in the new regulation also have positive effects in African developing countries. Improvements have been noticed in both authority structure and cooperation, and in monitoring, control and surveillance. Above all, improvements have been noticed regarding the awareness of the severe consequences of IUU fishery. The intentions are that there eventually also will be improvements in areas of environment and fish sustainability.
Time will tell whether the requirements in the regulation will have mostly positive or mostly negative effects on African developing countries. The negative effects mainly refer to the difficulties with fulfilling the requirements. In general, these difficulties could be limited by supportive measures. The positive effects may show over time when practicing the requirements, but the intentions are that IUU fishing will be decreased and thereby improve economy, environment and social well-being. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/1628128
- author
- Isacson, Emma
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- JURM01 20101
- year
- 2010
- type
- H3 - Professional qualifications (4 Years - )
- subject
- keywords
- Sjörätt
- language
- English
- id
- 1628128
- date added to LUP
- 2010-07-13 19:35:13
- date last changed
- 2010-07-13 19:35:13
@misc{1628128,
abstract = {{IUU fishery is an issue with global consequences, having severe impacts in several areas such as economy, environment and social well-being. The size of the problem is due to its nature hard to determine, but estimations has shown that the amount of IUU fish that circulate in trade is considerable.
African developing countries have poor economical possibilities to control and survey their waters and the authorities are often badly organized with high levels of corruption. Because of this, African developing countries suffer hard from IUU fishing activities and they are among the countries in the world that have most difficult to fight this problem.
Several legislative attempts have been made to try to combat IUU fishery, most of them focusing on trade management in different perspectives. The European Union has developed a new regulation in the area, EC regulation no 1005/2008, entering into force January 1, 2010. The intention with this regulation is to hinder fish and fish products with origin from IUU fishing activities to enter the European trade market. To achieve this, states and companies that wish to export products to the Union must have catch certificates and traceability schemes that ensure the legal origin of the products.
The extent of fish trade with the European Union varies widely between African developing states. Countries that have a large amount of vessels fishing for trade with the Union will have more costs for certifying all the catch than countries with less trade. The implementation of the new requirements will however have effects on all of these countries since barely any of them have sufficient systems and methods for certification and traceability, or for the validation of the same.
Having in mind the poor economy and technical situation in African developing countries, the new requirements set up in the regulation may create unjustifiable trade barriers regarding the trade with their legally caught fish since these countries may find it difficult to implement the provisions. The European Union may need to give extra support to these states regarding the implementation of the requirements in order to avoid that the provisions will function as trade barriers. The support should not only constitute of financial means, but also of education, technical assistance and perhaps extended implementation periods.
The provisions in the new regulation also have positive effects in African developing countries. Improvements have been noticed in both authority structure and cooperation, and in monitoring, control and surveillance. Above all, improvements have been noticed regarding the awareness of the severe consequences of IUU fishery. The intentions are that there eventually also will be improvements in areas of environment and fish sustainability.
Time will tell whether the requirements in the regulation will have mostly positive or mostly negative effects on African developing countries. The negative effects mainly refer to the difficulties with fulfilling the requirements. In general, these difficulties could be limited by supportive measures. The positive effects may show over time when practicing the requirements, but the intentions are that IUU fishing will be decreased and thereby improve economy, environment and social well-being.}},
author = {{Isacson, Emma}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Using trade management to combat IUU fishery in African developing countries - The EC regulation no 1005/2008 and its practical effects}},
year = {{2010}},
}