Source: UnoMasUno
The Mexican Senate Committee welcomed the ruling by the panel of experts of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in favor of Mexico. With this decision, there is a confirmation that the Mexican fleet complies with the guidelines of the Agreement on the International Dolphin Conservation Program (AIDCP), which has enabled a significant dolphin mortality in tuna fishing.
The Senate also endorsed the Mexican government’s commitment to free trade, as well as the dispute settlement system of the WTO.
The Mexican state legislator considered that the U.S. government should take the necessary measures in order to support its trade policy on the “Dolphin-Safe†labeling for Mexican tuna products given the recent ruling.
Senator Adriana Gonzalez Carrillo said that the marketing of tuna has been a historically debate in the bilateral relationship. In 1991, the U.S. government imposed a tuna embargo on Mexico based on a Law for the Protection of Marine Mammals in which measures are established to protect dolphins and, if a country cannot demonstrate compliance with these standards, the U.S. government has the right to establish an embargo on all imports of fish from that country.
Since then, U.S. authorities, pressured by the interests of different business groups, political and environmental - with obvious protectionist convictions- promoted many measures restricting access of Mexican tuna to the market, which caused serious damages to the fishing industry.
In March 2009, Mexico expressed his disagreement to the WTO by some protectionist measures labeling “Dolphin-Safe†used by the United States, because of the restrictive effects on trade and discrimination to Mexican exports and, after a long process of discussions, negotiations and deliberations, the arbitrating panel issued its report and made public its ruling in favor of Mexico last September 15th.
In this report, the panel determined that labeling measures “Dolphin-Safe†imposed by the U.S. represents an unnecessary obstacle for business, as it has sought to restrict the entry of Mexican tuna to the U.S. market, although our country meets with the highest international standards for protecting dolphins, Gonzalez Carrillo explained.
She equally added that “the panel found that beyond protecting marine life, the “Dolphin-safe†label only partially meets its objective of informing consumers about the protection of dolphins because, in reality, it allows access to tuna products caught with methods that are not sustainable or even internationally endorsed. And, even though tuna products from certain countries have actually obtained this label, their fishing standards are notoriously below that of the Mexican.â€
The report concludes that there is insufficient evidence to show that the fishing method used by Mexico may cause death or harm to dolphins, while fishing methods used by other countries, including the U.S., tend to be harmful to dolphins and other marine mammal species, Gonzalez Carrillo added.