EU Ratifies AIDCP Dolphin Safe Programff

The European Commission Council of Ministers ratified the ruling made by the European Parliament on the adoption in the Agreement on the International Dolphin Conservation Program (AIDCP) throughout the European Union (EU) territory.

The Mexican National Commissioner of Aquaculture and Fishery (CONAIPESCA), Mr. Ramon Corral Avila, informed during a press release that this decision implies that the European Community acknowledges the Agreement as well as the Dolphin Safe label, approved by the AIDCP.

Tuna caught by the Mexican fleet in the Eastern Pacific Ocean (EPO) according to these regulations will be favored with better conditions to access the EU Market. It will at least no longer continue facing the same obstacles it had received in the past as a result of the fishing technique the fleet was using. The Dolphin Safe label certifies that the tuna fishing activity is carried out without causing damage to dolphin populations in the Pacific Ocean.

Currently, the export of Mexican tuna to the EU represents about 5,000 tons, which are mainly pre-cooked tuna loins.

Mr. Corral Avila added that the EU decision is an acknowledgement to the achievements and results obtained through the implementation of the AIDCP agreement, also applied by Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Spain, the United States, Vanuatu, and Venezuela.

He also indicated the additional acknowledgement obtained when the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) distinguished the AIDCP with the 2004-2005 “Margarita Lizarraga Medal” award, last November, in recognition of the decline in dolphin by-catches in tuna fishing.

Measures adopted by the EU and the FAO are based in the fact that the AIDCP has managed to reduce dolphin by-catches in tuna fishing by more than 98 % over the last five years, said the head of CONAPESCA.

“With the approval of the EU, tuna international trade is expected to return to normal, and discrimination suffered by tuna from the Eastern Pacific should decline,” said Mr. Corral Avila in a press release. He was confident that this acknowledgement would have influence on the litigation with the US, over the recognition of the importance of this program. Also that it increase its credibility among the traders and consumers which it may help overcome the disputes and critics dispersed by organizations such as Earth Islands Institute (EII), which promote a label without the due scientific support.

Source: Mexican Press