Source: Business Mirror
Local exporters of fisheries products no longer face any hurdles in shipping their products to European countries after the European Union (EU) has deemed Manila compliant with its requirements for the illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing scheme.
Ambassador Alistair MacDonald, head of the delegation of the European Commission (EC) to the Philippines, said the documentation provided by the Philippine government meets the requirements of the EC.
“[This means], there will be no problems in exporting fisheries products to the EU as long as necessary documentation has been provided,†said MacDonald in an interview.
The EC official noted that the documentation should be clear that raw materials used for processed fish products were not caught illegally.
In December, Tuna Canners Association of the Philippines executive director Francisco Buencamino said that one of the requirements of the EU is the list of authorized signatories who will issue catch certificates.
Buencamino noted that the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) had been stringent particularly on the catch certification process.
He said authorized signatories for catch certificates, who are all BFAR personnel, had to undergo trainings before they were certified by the agency.
The issuance of catch certificates is a crucial component of the IUU fishing scheme as it would help establish that raw materials used for processed fish products were not obtained illegally.
Earlier, the Philippine government and TCAP had requested the European Commission to consider delaying the implementation of the IUU fishing scheme, citing increase in costs.
BFAR Director Malcolm Sarmiento, however, pointed out that the Philippines had been preparing for its implementation on January 1, 2010.
Under a regulation adopted by the EU Agriculture and Fisheries Council on September 30 last year, EU importers of processed fish products will have to submit a statement issued by the processing company of the exporting country providing information establishing the link between the processed fish products and the fish used as raw material.
The raw material should be accompanied by the catch certificates validated by the flag state of the fishing vessel. The number of health certificates and the approval number of the processing plant will have to be mentioned on the statement to ensure a link with the implementation of health legislation.
The EU Agriculture and Fisheries Council said the certification process aims to halt the import of IUU fishery products into European countries.
The EU is a major market for local fisheries products, particularly tuna products. Figures from the National Statistics Office show that the