European Parliament resolution on the role of flags of convenience in the fisheries sector (2000/2302(INI))
The European Parliament,
- having regard to Rule 163 of its Rules of Procedure,
- having regard to the report of the Committee on Fisheries and the opinion of the Committee on Regional Policy, Transport and Tourism (A5-0405/2001
),
A. noting with alarm the increasing use being made of flags of convenience in the fishing industry, with severe impact for the marine ecosystem and for social and working conditions for the crews on board,
B. recognising the ways in which the Agreement on the implementation of the provisions of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982 which relate to the conservation and management on straddling fish stocks and highly migratory fish stocks will provide increased pressure upon flag states to assume their responsibilities by monitoring and controlling the activities of vessels flying their flag, and hence the importance of the entry into force as soon as possible of the Agreement,
C. whereas the Member States should act to discourage the transfer of fishing vessels from their registers to registers of FOC countries,
D. whereas public money should not be used to fund the transfer of fishing vessels to FOC registers,
E. noting the import bans imposed by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) on tuna and swordfish caught by vessels flying certain flags of convenience, as well as other undertakings such as the establishment of registers listing vessels which are authorized to fish in the ICCAT Regulatory Area,
F. recognising that FOC fishing vessels rely heavily on transport vessels at sea, in order to avoid the need to go into harbours to resupply or to offload their catches,
1. Points out that the use of flags of convenience is generally motivated by a desire to minimise costs and circumvent certain tax regulations by means of complex legal devices and results in numerous difficulties with regard to the attribution of responsibility in the event of illegal fishing, accidents at sea and, in general, with regard to compliance with the competition rules to which sea transport is subject;
2. Strongly condemns all those engaged in the FOC fishing industry, including its attendant transport vessels, for its impact on fish stocks and species caught as bycatch, for its treatment of crew in terms of working conditions, wages and safety standards, and for the unfair competition it poses to those legitimate fishing vessels which respect the relevant management measures;
3. Urges those Member States which have not completed ratification procedures of the UN Fish Stocks Agreement to do so as rapidly as possible;
4. Welcomes the FAO International Plan of Action on Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing and encourages all governments, including those of the Member States, to implement it rapidly and in its entirety;
5. Calls on the Member States to refuse to remove vessels from their shipping registers if they are being exported to non-member countries which have been identified by the relevant regional fisheries organisations as countries that permit fishing in a manner which jeopardises the effectiveness of international conservation measures;
6. Calls on the Commission and the Council to look again at the possibility of establishing a European system for the registration of ships (a European shipping register), to operate in tandem with port State control;
7. Congratulates the governments and fishing industries of Japan and Taiwan for the innovative programme that they have introduced to repatriate or scrap over 125 large-scale tuna longliners which have been fishing under flags of convenience; congratulates also the government of South Africa for banning the landing of fish in its ports and harbours by FOC vessels; notes in addition the innovative proposal incorporated by Spain into its domestic law which specifies the countries and territories which, on account of their failure to assume their responsibilities under international law by not effectively exercising the requisite jurisdiction and control over their fishing vessels, are to be regarded as providing flags of convenience for fishing purposes;
8. Condemns the practice of some states, of temporarily incorporating in their register vessels known to have engaged in FOC fishing, a practice tantamount to laundering; considers that such practice is unacceptable in a situation with excess of fishing capacity;
9. Calls on the Commission, in the context of the accession negotiations, to ensure that the candidate countries incorporate into their national law Community rules on safety at sea;
10. Urges all Member States to vigorously apply all provisions of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2847/93 of 12 October 1993 establishing a control system applicable to the common fisheries policy,(1)
including comprehensive inspections in harbours before allowing fish to be offloaded;
11. Calls on the European Union to draw up and implement, as soon as possible, a regulation designed to prevent ships flying flags of convenience from circumventing strict rules and controls with regard to safety at sea, the protection of the marine environment in general and fish stocks in particular, and Community rules, compliance with which is also a guarantee of safety and compliance with international competition rules;
12. Calls for a strict reinforcement of control measures and Community compulsory minimum safety rules;
13. Calls on the EU and the Member States to ask the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) to review, as a priority and a matter of urgency, control measures on the application of international rules, both with respect to flag states and port states, in line with the measures proposed by the Commission that are about to be adopted in the Erika I and II packages;
14. Recalls that, although a year and a half has passed since the Erika accident and despite the acceleration of the relevant process by the European Parliament, the Erika I package of measures on safety at sea and, in particular, the directives on shipping registers and port State control, have still not been implemented; calls, therefore, on the Council, in cooperation with the European Parliament, to adopt and implement these measures as soon as possible;
15. Calls on the Commission to propose, within three months, amendments to Regulation (EEC) No 2847/93 to allow landing of fish only after it has been demonstrated that it was caught in compliance with the management measures adopted by any relevant regional fisheries organisation and other relevant international instruments such as the UN Agreement;
16. Calls on the Commission to incorporate into its internal rules the list of FOC states and territories which has been drawn up by the regional fisheries organisations (CICCA, NAFO, CEPANE and CCRVMA) as a necessary source of legal security and to ensure that the list is also used to prevent the payment of subsidies in respect of the setting up of joint ventures involving vessels to be registered in the states and territories which appear on that list; calls for bilateral talks to be initiated with the states and territories in question with a view to discouraging flagging by countries which do not intend to assume their international responsibilities as a flag state;
17. Urges the Commission to adopt Community trade and customs laws which will seal off all the Member States" markets against the products of illegal fishing, which may arrive by sea (either directly in fishing vessels or in merchant vessels), by air or over land; considers that for this purpose, customs control procedures will have to be established which will enable a tally to be kept in real time of imports of the fisheries resources regulated by the regional fisheries organisations, so as to ensure that the quotas allocated within those organisations are not exceeded;
18. Calls on the Commission and the Council to lend their support to any initiative which, pursuant to the International Right of the Sea, leads to the establishment of transparent and non-discriminatory criteria indicating the minimum requirements for recognising the assumption of responsibility and duties by a flag state for fishing purposes and which should, a sensu contrario, enable flags of convenience to be identified at international level;
19. Urges the Commission to propose, within three months, measures to make it a violation for natural or legal persons in the Community to trade in fish or fish products which have been derived by fishing under flags of convenience;
20. Encourages ICCAT and other regional fisheries organisations, for tuna and other species, to cooperate in their attempts to eliminate fishing under flags of convenience; approves, in particular, of the establishment and dissemination of lists of vessels which are authorized to fish in the respective zones as well as the imposition of non-discriminatory trade restrictive measures;
21. Calls on the Commission and the Council to use the revision of the Multiannual Scheme of Generalised Tariff Preferences for the period 1 July 1999 to 31 December 2001, in order to establish the highest possible tariffs for products coming from third countries which have been identified as FOC states;
22. Requests the Commission to propose an amendment to add to the list of serious offences under the CFP those infringements of fisheries management measures which are committed by Community nationals on board FOC fishing and transport vessels;
23. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and Commission.