FishFiles Lite is a free monthly newsletter summarising key developments in EU fisheries and fish trade policy and legislation.
To upgrade to FishFiles Professional and receive full access to the information summarised in this newsletter and also to be able to search for, and download, files from the Megapesca website, which now contains over 5,000 files, go to: http://www.megapesca.com/aboutfishfiles.asp

November 2005

Common Fisheries Policy

1. Commission announces proposed fish quotas for 2006
2. Baltic fish stocks management plans for 2006 outlined
3. EU-Comoros Fisheries Partnership Agreement signed
4. Commission proposed the 2006 guide prices for fresh and frozen fisheries products
5. Scientific advice causes Commission to amend quotas for herring and Greenland halibut
6. Revised approach to catch zone descriptions of EU vessel catch declarations
7. Commission publishes Frequently Asked Questions about fisheries management
8. Stop fishing notices published for Danish, Spanish and French vessels
9. EU to negotiate new tariffs for fisheries products with Mediterranean partners
10. New list of Producer Organisations published
11. New requirements for marking of passive fishing gears
12. European Commissioners present their "holistic approach to the sea"

Fish hygiene

13. Forty one rapid alerts for fishery products in November 2005
14. DG SANCO finds major fish hygiene weaknesses in Finland
15. DG SANCO finds mixed fish hygiene standards in Vietnam.
16. DG SANCO finds major fish hygiene weaknesses in South Africa
17. Ukraine to move to List 1, but illegal exports evident
18. Commission defers a decision on banning Indonesian fishery products
19. Food hygiene and HACCP guidance documents due soon
20. Chemical contamination procedures to be published
21. Commission debates shellfish toxin reference standards again
22. Health impact labelling of Gempylidae family will go ahead
23. Norway investigates endosulfan in fish feeds
24. Changes to zones and farms free of certain aquaculture

Common Fisheries Policy

1. The European Commission announced proposed levels of the fish quotas for 2006, expressing a gradual approach to the recovery of severely depleted fish stocks, whilst retaining some fishing opportunities. However, no fishing is proposed for the first half of 2006 for anchovy in the Bay of Biscay. A final decision will be made by the Fisheries Council meeting of 22 December 2005.

2. The Commission proposed the 2006 approach to Baltic fish stocks. This allows stable or increased fishing possibilities, except for cod where a 10% effort reduction and temporary closures, will be the first step towards a formal recovery plan.

3. The Commission announced a renewal of the EU-Comoros Fisheries Partnership Agreement. The Community will pay €2.3 million over a 6-year period to December 2010, in return for fishing opportunities for 40 tuna seiners (unchanged) and 17 long-liners (down from 25).

4. The European Commission proposed the 2006 guide prices for fresh and frozen fisheries products, as well as the Community producer price for tuna for processing. Average prices for most white fish species show moderate increases over the period 2003-2005, a reversal of the downward trend seen in 2002-2003.

5. Following new scientific advice, the Commission also amended fish quotas for herring and Greenland halibut, and the minimum size for octopus (to 450g gutted).

6. The Commission amended the way in which fishing effort zones are to be recorded on catch declarations in certain fisheries for demersal fish, herring, salmon and scallops.

7. The Commission issued a set of Frequently Asked Questions about the fisheries management tools used by the Community (TACs and quotas, ICES, STECF)

8. Stop fishing notice were published for Danish vessels targeting Norway lobster and herring, Spanish vessels targeting hake and anglerfish and French vessels targeting mackerel.

9. The European Union announced negotiations with its regional Mediterranean partners to open up trade in agricultural and fisheries products (the Barcelona process). Non-trade aspects such as rural development, technical barriers to trade, sanitary issues and quality policy will also be covered.

10. The Commission published an updated list of recognised fishery sector producer organisations.

11. New requirements were announced for the marking of passive fishing gears (set nets, traps etc, using buoys, radar reflectors and flags.

12. European Commission President Barroso and Commissioner colleagues, Borg and Piebalgs took part in a one-day conference on the challenges and opportunities of an integrated Maritime Policy. They presented their holistic approach to the sea.


Fish hygiene

13. Forty one rapid alerts were notified in November 2005 for consignments of fishery products found not to comply with health conditions, including several consignments of shrimp from Brazil and Ecuador, octopus from Mexico, and grouper from Argentina. Inspectors also reported the detection of irradiated horse mackerel (from an unspecified source).

14. DG SANCO reported on a mission to assess health conditions for fishery products in Finland. The mission found major weaknesses in checks on vessels, landings sites, approvals of establishments, and own checks systems.

15. DG SANCO reported on a mission to assess health conditions for fishery products and bivalve molluscs in Vietnam. The mission found that controls on establishments and bivalve harvest areas were generally good, but that controls on vessels and landing sites, and harvesting of scallops, were not compliant. In the meanwhile Germany informed the Committee of persistent problems with contaminated aquaculture products imported from Vietnam.

16. DG SANCO reported on a mission to assess health conditions for fishery products and bivalve molluscs in South Africa. The mission found that the South African Bureau of Standards allowed establishments to operate with numerous serious deficiencies such as poor design and layout, with dirty premises, contamination risks and lack of adequate HACCP conditions. Deficiencies were also noted in the system of controls for aquaculture abalone. A plan of corrective actions was required by the Commission.

17. DG SANCO reported on a mission to assess health conditions for fishery products in Ukraine, following an application to supply the EU. The mission found that approval procedures were not fully established, and that enforcement and inspection activities were weak. However, subject to the submission of an action plan and provision of guarantees, Ukraine may be placed on List 1. It was noted that despite not being authorised to supply the Community market, Ukraine has exported 6900 tonnes of fishery products in recent years, mainly to Spain. The Competent Authority (the SVMD of the Ministry of Agriculture) was unable to confirm or deny these figures.

18. Following negative results from two inspections missions (2004 and 2005) and a DG SANCO written warning to Indonesia in 2004, the Commission has once again deferred a decision concerning fishery products imported from Indonesia, since the Competent Authority (the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries) has not yet been able to provide the necessary guarantees that exports to the EU meet the health requirements. In the meanwhile, two more rapid alerts were notified in November for Indonesian fishery products exported to the EU.

19. The Commission announced that guidance documents for industry will be published soon, on the implementation of the new hygiene regulations (852/2004 and 853/2004) and on the implementation of the HACCP principles in certain food businesses.

20. The Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health published a Working Document on the Member State and Commission procedures to be followed in the case of a food safety incident involving chemical contamination of foods.

21. The Commission again discussed the issue of the lack of reference standards for the testing for certain shellfish toxins, a major constraint in the replacement of the mouse bio-assay reference method.

22. Spain unsuccessfully tried to veto a Commission decision to require labelling of fish of the Gempylidae family with regard to adverse health impacts

23. Norway indicated that experiments are being undertaken to determine the acceptable level of endosulfan in fish feeds, with results expected in 2007.

24. The Commission approved Member States' programmes for approved zones and farms free of certain aquaculture diseases in Finland, Austria, France, Germany and Italy