Written Ministerial Statement by Jonathan Shaw on the outcome of the Agriculture and Fisheries Council 14 April 2008 - 30 April 2008
The Minister for Marine, Landscape and Rural Affairs and Minister for the South East (Jonathan Shaw)
My Nobel Friend Lord Rooker represented the United Kingdom at this month’s Agriculture and Fisheries Council in Luxembourg. Mike Russell, the Scottish Minister for Environment also attended.
The Council adopted a Regulation which restricted Poland’s future quotas for Baltic Sea cod to reflect a 2007 overfish.
The Council held a policy debate on a proposal for a Community system to prevent, deter and eliminate illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing. The debate was based on a Presidency questionnaire focusing on: the scope of the proposal – in particular whether EU vessels should be included or not; the proposed import certification system; and on potential criminal and administrative sanctions. The UK supported the general intention of the measure and the inclusion of EU vessels (to send the correct signal to our international counterparts), but raised concerns about the complexity of the proposed controls and the administrative resource implications.
The Council also held an exchange of views on a proposal amending the Cod Recovery Regulation. The UK welcomed the general thrust of the proposal, but emphasized the importance of taking account of the UK’s significant progress to date in reducing effort on cod. The UK also challenged the extension of the measures to the Celtic Sea – on the grounds that cod formed only a small part of the activities of the vessels concerned and restricting their effort in this way would interfere with their ability to catch a range of other less vulnerable species.
In addition, a number of issues were raised under any other business.
The Fisheries Commissioner updated the Council on progress with the 2006-2008 Action Plan for simplifying and improving the Common Fisheries Policy. The UK intervened to ask for more Member State consultation on the expected review of the Control Regulation.
The Council took note of updates provided by the Fisheries Commissioner on the Fisheries Partnership Agreement between the European Community and the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, and the Bluefin Tuna recovery plan. The Council also took note of a report provided by the Health and Consumer Protection Commissioner on a recent outbreak of classical swine fever in Slovakia.
France requested an urgent review of the Total Allowable Catch (TAC) for Celtic Sea cod (in line with a December Council commitment). The UK supported the initiative and the Commission indicated that the matter was in hand and that they hoped to come forward with a suitable proposal before the end of June.
France expressed concerns over the Commission’s intention to authorise chemical decontamination of fresh meat, and also on the continuing difficulties in the pigmeat sector. The UK joined with other Member States to acknowledge the importance of consumer confidence.
Italy informed the Council about a recent case of fraud in the wine sector. Portugal raised concerns about the import of cattle and sheep from other Member States infected and bluetongue virus (serotype 8).
The Agriculture Commissioner updated Council on the state of play in the WTO-DDA agriculture negotiations, following the recent agreement reached on sensitive products. Along with a number of other Member States, the UK welcomed the progress being made and urged the Commission to continue working for a deal.
The Presidency informed the Council on preparations for the forthcoming UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) high-level conference on world food security and the challenges of climate change and bioenergy, which will be held in Rome, on the 3-5 June 2008. Austria also drew Council’s attention to FAO’s 26th regional conference for Europe to be held, in Innsbruck, Austria on 26-27 June.
Page published: 30 April 2008