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FEBRUARY 2005

Common Fisheries Policy

1. New tariff quotas and minimum import prices set for imported farmed salmon.
2. EU Council ratifies Convention on the Conservation and Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the Western and Central Pacific
3. EU publishes details of fisheries agreement with the Comoros Islands.
4. The EU Commission defines plans to assist tsunami-hit countries
5. The Commission launches "Expanding Exports Helpdesk" service
6. Italy granted derogation to collect coastal fish landings data by sampling.
7. Fisheries and Maritime Affairs Commissioner Joe Borg, makes speeches in Italy and Norway.
8. EUROSTAT publishes the 2004 edition of the EU fishery statistics pocketbook.

Fish hygiene

9. Thirty rapid alerts were notified for failure to comply with health conditions for fishery products
10. New Guidance document published on the EU's new food safety requirements
11. New EU regulations on animal feed hygiene.
12. New Community procedure for setting MRLS for pesticides in food of plant and animal origin
13. Commission will consider reducing MRLs for dioxin-like PCBs in fish oils and fish meal by the end of 2007.
14. Finland has proposed options for allowing for continued local consumption of dioxin-contaminated Baltic fish.
15. The Commission has considered the FVO report on the USA compliance with Directive 91/493/EEC. No decision on List 1.
16. Antigua and Barbuda, Hong Kong and El Salvador moved to List 1 of countries permitted to supply the EU with fishery products.
17. DG SANCO reported on the food hygiene control system in Lithuania and Slovak Republic.
18. The Commission set out the amended list of approved fish and shellfish farms and zones which are free from fish diseases.
19. EFSA provided an opinion of the use of iodine as a feed additive
20. Norway nominates new reference laboratory for bivalve molluscs.

Common Fisheries Policy

1. The Commission considered that the UK and Irish salmon industry were likely to suffer permanent and serious injury due to the rapid rise in low priced imports, and imposed tariff quotas and minimum import prices on imported farmed Atlantic salmon.

2. The EU Council ratified the EU's membership of the Convention on the Conservation and Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean.

3. The Council published its regulation governing the extension of the EU's fisheries agreement with the Comoros Islands (up to the end of 2004). The agreement provided for access for 40 tuna seiners from Spain, France and Italy and for 25 surface longliners.

4. The EU Commission further defined its plans to provide immediate and long-term technical expertise and assistance to the countries affected by the tsunami of 26 December 2004. Missions are planned to assess impacts and identify reconstruction requirements in fisheries and aquaculture. The Commission also proposes to amend the Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance (FIFG), so as to permit the possible transfer of fishing vessels from the European Union to the affected areas (subject to results of a UN study).

5. The Commission announced the launch of an "Expanding Exports Helpdesk" service with on-line features and key services in English, French, Spanish and Portuguese.

6. The Commission granted a derogation to Italy allowing the collection of coastal fish landings data using a sampling approach.

7. Fisheries and Maritime Affairs Commissioner Joe Borg, made several speeches, outlining problems in Mediterranean fisheries in Italy, and setting out the next steps with the implementation of CFP reform on a visit to Norway.

8. EUROSTAT published the 2004 edition of the EU fishery statistics pocketbook.

Fish hygiene

9. Rapid alerts were notified for failure to comply with health conditions for fishery products for 30 consignments of imported fishery products, including Thailand (sardines), Vietnam (yellow catfish, black tiger shrimp, cream dory), Indonesia (swordfish, tuna, milk fish, pink shrimps) and India (squid, cuttlefish).

10. The Commission published a Guidance Document on the new EU food safety requirements applicable from 1 Jan 2005, including improved traceability of food products, the withdrawal of dangerous food products from the market, operator responsibilities and requirements for imports and exports.

11. The European Council passed a regulation setting out general rules on feed hygiene, including conditions and arrangements ensuring traceability of feed and arrangements for registration and approval of establishments. Feed establishments will be required to apply HACCP principles.

12. The EU Council agreed the text of an amendment to Council Directive 91/414 setting MRLS for pesticides in food of plant and animal origin, with a view to introducing a Community procedure for setting pesticide MRLs in all foods which would be applicable directly in all Member States.

13. The Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health announced a proposal to consider reducing the maximum residue levels of dioxin-like PCBs permitted in fish oils and fish meal by the end of 2007.

14. The Committee also discussed the current levels in fishery products for direct human consumption. Finland has proposed options for allowing for continued local consumption of Baltic herring and salmon in Finland and Sweden, following the end of the temporary derogation on their banning (until the end of 2006).

15. The Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health considered the (so far unpublished) report of the FVO mission to the United States of America from 23 June to 3 July 2003 in order to audit the United States regulatory system pertaining to fishery product safety. Denmark gave an opinion on the bilateral European Community/United States of America Veterinary Agreement in relation to the import of fishery products from the USA

16. Following inspections in 2004, Antigua and Barbuda, Hong Kong and El Salvador moved to List 1 of countries permitted to supply the EU with fishery products. The Commission was notified of changes to the Competent Authorities in Mexico, French Polynesia and Russia.

17. DG SANCO reported on the food hygiene control system in Lithuania, finding that the overall the level of organization of official controls was satisfactory. It also found that the food hygiene control system in the Slovak Republic was adequate, but with some gaps especially related to HACCP.

18. The Commission set out the amended list of approved shellfish farms and zones which are free from parasitic shellfish diseases, to account for new zones declared in UK, Ireland and Denmark. It also set out the amended list of approved fish farms and zones which are free from certain fish diseases, to account for new zones declared in France and Italy.

19. EFSA provided an opinion of the use of iodine as a feed additive for food animals, concluding that human exposure to iodine from all sources could be excessive in some cases, and recommending a maximum limit of 4 mg/kg of feed.

20. Norway nominated its reference laboratory for the analysis of bacterial and viral contamination in bivalve molluscs.