EU acts on illegal fishing: Yellow card issued to Thailand while South Korea & Philippines are cleared

Summary:

The European Commission put Thailand on formal notice in April 2015 for not taking sufficient measures in the fight against illegal fishing (IUU - illegal, unreported and unregulated). In contrast, it cleared both South Korea and the Philippines from their 'yellow card' following an positive assessment of the reforms carried out to tackle illegal fishing.

Further information:

Council Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008 (the so-called IUU Regulation) allows access onto the EU market only to fisheries products that have been certified as legal by the flag State concerned. When flag States are unable to certify their products, the Commission starts a process of cooperation and assistance with them to help improve their legal frameworks. The milestones of this process are the warnings (yellow cards), the green cards if issues are solved and the red cards if they aren’t – the latter leading to a trade ban.

The Decision to issue a 'yellow card' to Thailand on illegal fishing starts a formal procedure of dialogue with the country's authorities to make them take the necessary corrective measures. This outcome followed a period of analysis and discussions which started in 2011. The yellow cards had been given to South Korea in November 2013 and the Philippines in June 2014.

• Primary Source

News

EurActiv, 23.07.15: Thai seafood products could be banned, warns MEP http://www.euractiv.com/sections/development-policy/thai-seafood-products-could-be-banned-wars-mep-316532

---

Official

European Commission: Question and Answers on the EU's fight against illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-15-4807_en.htm

---