Source: Europolitics
A compromise on the position the European Union will defend at the CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) conference of parties, scheduled for March in Doha, is on the agenda of the European Commission's meeting on 6 January. According to certain EU sources, the different commissioners' cabinets, who met on 4 January, do not see eye to eye on the issue. They asked the Secretariat-General to work out a compromise by 12 noon on 5 January. (The outcome will follow). The main stumbling block is the listing of bluefin tuna in Annex I of the convention, which would mean a total ban on its marketing. CITES, applied since 1984 by the European Community, is meant to ensure that international trade in species of plants and animals does not threaten the survival of the species to which they belong.
According to Fisheries Commissioner Joe Borg, the addition of bluefin tuna to Annex I of the convention could have a disastrous impact on the European tuna fisheries sector and for the EU's credibility in the international arena. Commissioner Borg's cabinet chief defended the idea of a draft joint declaration by the Commission and Council stating that, in the event of a threat for bluefin tuna, the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) should suspend fishing for this species. Only in the case of a failure, he continued, should the EU propose a ban on bluefin tuna trade with a view to the CITES conference in 2013. This proposal has the backing of Commissioners Orban, Barrot, Tajani and Almunia.