Main Mexican political parties considered the recent new restrictions on tuna exports to the United States, imposed by U.S. District Court Judge Thelton Henderson, as a first reprisal of the United States against Mexico because of its opposition towards the Iraq war.
However, the Finance Secretary fully rejected this possibility and is considering an appeal to the judge Henderson’s ruling imposing a restriction to the export of Mexican tuna into the U.S. in relation to the “dolphin safe†labeling,
The injunction blocks a Commerce Department finding at the start of this year allowing tuna caught by fishermen encircling dolphins with nets to bear the 'dolphin safe' label if observers certify none of the mammals were killed or injured seriously in the process. Mexican fleets target dolphins because they are often a good indicator of tuna habitats. The judge considered that the label must be applied only to captures in which none of these mammals have died, not even by accident.
Kenneth Smith Branches, chief of the main directorate for Evaluation and Pursuit of the Finance Ministry explained that the ecological organization Earth Island is responsible for the dilemma, and clarified that the U.S. Government collaborates with Mexico to solve the litigation.
However, the political parties that are representatives of Mexico in Congress, the National Action Party (PAN), the Revolutionary Institutional Party (PRI) and the Democratic Revolution Party (PRD), conveyed their doubt on the official interpretation and criticized to the U.S. authorities.
PRD Foreign Relation Secretary Mariano Saucedo, declared that Mexico must apply to the dispositions of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and denounce this, as it is “an attempt to recriminate Mexico’s positionâ€.
Source: Mexican Press