The European Union (EU) has turned down requests to defer implementation on Jan. 1 next year of a fish conservation policy, with an EU official expressing confidence that local fishers can “keep up with the challenge.â€
“We’re confident that, by Jan. 1, the Philippines will have all the arrangements put in place to ensure compliance with the IUU [illegal, unreported and unregulated] regulation,†Gabriel Munuera-Vinals, commercial counselor of the European Commission delegation to the Philippines, told reporters here recently.
The new policy requires tuna producers to provide a catch certificate that details the volume and where the stocks were caught.
Bayani B. Fredeluces, executive director of the Socsksargen Federation of Fishing and Allied Industries, Inc., said that additional costs tuna producers will have to bear will translate to higher prices, thus, making Philippine tuna products less competitive.
