FishFiles Lite

Common Fisheries Policy and Fish Hygiene

by MEGAPESCA LDA

TECHNICAL INFORMATION IN FOOD & FISHERIES POLICY & DEVELOPMENT

 

July 2004

 

FishFiles Lite is a free monthly newsletter summarising key developments in EU fisheries and fish trade policy and legislation. The full text of the documents listed in this newsletter is available to FishFiles Professional subscribers. To learn more about FishFiles Professional, or to subscribe, please visit MegaPesca FishFiles online at: http://www.megapesca.com/aboutfishfiles.asp

 

Common fisheries policy

 

  1. New European Fisheries Fund to replace the FIFG structural fund.
  2. Fisheries compliance highlights persistent offenders - Belgium, Spain and Netherlands.
  3. EU-Greenland fisheries agreement modified mid-term.
  4. Cyprus to receive € 3.4 million for fishery sector restructuring.
  5. Exhaustion of quota for haddock, blue whiting and whiting.
  6. French state aids approved for mollusc farmers but not Corsican fishers.
  7. Data collection subsidies set for 2004.
  8. Fisheries management subsidies for 2004 amended
  9. New EU members exempted from setting fleet reference levels for now.

 

Fish and food hygiene

 

  1. Thirty rapid alerts, of which 15 were shrimp.
  2. United Arab Emirates tuna rejected in due to illegal treatment.
  3. Member States urged to act on  “clear smoked”  tuna.
  4. France suspends imports of fishery products from Armenia, Angola and Cameroon.
  5. Final text of new hygiene regulations published.
  6. New guidelines for dioxin controls.
  7. Biotoxins were found in Greek molluscs.
  8. EU to allow import of heat treated molluscs from Morocco.
  9. Astaxanthin permanently approved as aquaculture feed additive.
  10. Outbreak of a fish viral disease in Austria, Czech Republic and Italy .
  11. EU funded research claims to improve fish quality.

 

Common fisheries policy

 

  1. The EU Fisheries Council considered the proposed new European Fisheries Fund, which will replace the Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance in 2006. €700 million per year will be available to help secure sustainable fisheries and diversify economic activities in fishing areas.

 

  1. The European Commission announced the publication of the fisheries compliance scoreboard; Belgium, Spain and Netherlands are the countries most implicated in over-quota fishing; Portugal and Italy are behind in supplying fleet information.

 

  1. The EU Council ratified a modification to the fourth protocol of the EU-Greenland fisheries agreement setting out the changes to quotas for cod, redfish, halibut, shrimp and to licence fees for EU vessels in Greenland EEZ during the period 2004 to 2006.

 

  1. The European Commission approved Cyprus’ operational programme for fisheries for the period 1 May 2004 to 31 December 2006. Cyprus will receive €3.4 million from the EU fisheries structural funds for fleet restructuring and modernisation of aquaculture and fish processing.

 

  1. Stop fishing notice were issued (due to exhaustion of quota) for German vessels targeting common haddock, all Member State vessels targeting blue whiting, and Belgian vessels targeting haddock and whiting.

 

  1. The EU Commission approved French state aids for mollusc farmers affected by oil pollution from the Erika incident; assistance to Corsican fishers for fleet upgrading was rejected.

 

  1. The Commission published a Decision setting out the level of financial support from the EC for Member States to support data collection programmes implemented in 2004.

 

  1. The Commission made some amendments to the financial support available for the EU Member States’ fisheries management control programmes.

 

  1. Derogations were defined for new EU members, exempting them from setting new fleet reference levels as a basis for fleet restructuring.

 

Fish and food hygiene

 

  1. Thirty rapid alerts were notified by Member States in July for failure to comply with health conditions in fishery products, which included 15 consignments of shrimps  from Indonesia, Vietnam, Ecuador, India,  Malaysia, Brazil and Thailand

 

  1. A consignment of tuna from United Arab Emirates was rejected in France since it had been treated with an illegal clear smoking process.

 

  1. The Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health once again called on Member States to take action to prevent imports of illegally treated  “clear smoked”  tuna.

 

  1. France suspended imports of fishery products from Armenia, Angola and Cameroon.

 

  1. The EU published the final text of Regulations setting out the new general hygiene requirements for foodstuffs, the specific hygiene requirements for foods of animal origin and the organization of the official controls on products of animal origin. These will replace existing vertical hygiene Directives, including 91/493/EEC (fish hygiene directive).

 

  1. The Commission published guidelines for the actions to be taken in cases where dioxin levels in foodstuffs exceed the maximum level permitted. In the cases of fish, it requires tracing of source and consideration of closure of the fishery.

 

  1. High levels of biotoxins were found in bivalve molluscs in Northern of Greece.

  2. The Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health approved the imports from Morocco of bivalve molluscs belonging to the species Acanthocardia tuberculatum. Allows heat treatment to reduce the level of PSP toxins.

  3. The Commission has permanently authorized astaxanthin of fungal origin as a feed additive for salmon and trout.

 

  1. The Commission published a table of aquaculture disease status in the EU. An outbreak of a viral disease of trout (VHS) was reported in Austria, Czech Republic, Italy

 

  1. An EU funded research project to measure texture, volatiles, colour and impedance changes in spoilt fish claims to improve fish quality, at a public cost of €730,000.

 

 

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