ID :
108237
Wed, 02/24/2010 - 01:43
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/108237
The shortlink copeid
Japan asks EU to rethink proposed bluefin tuna trade ban
+
BRUSSELS, Feb. 23 Kyodo -
Japan called on the European Union on Monday to rethink the proposal put forth
by the European Commission for banning international trade in bluefin tuna from
the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, a senior Japanese official said.
Takahiro Sasaki, parliamentary secretary for agriculture, forestry and
fisheries, said he made the request to Spanish Minister of the Environment,
Agriculture and Marine Affairs Elena Espinosa. Spain currently holds the EU
presidency.
Sasaki said he told the Spanish minister that if an international agreement is
reached to ban such trade at a conference scheduled for next month in Qatar,
Japan will exercise its right not to comply.
Espinosa explained the EU's stance on the matter and did not express any
opinion on Japan's request, according to Sasaki.
Janez Potocnik, EU commissioner in charge of environment, told a news
conference that the proposed ban is targeted at Japan, saying the country
consumes 80 percent of the world's yearly catch of the highly prized species.
In view of support from major EU economies such as France and Italy, the
27-member European body is expected to support the proposal at a meeting of EU
farm and fisheries ministers within days.
If the European Union backs the proposal, it will then seek an international
accord to ban the trade at the Qatar meeting in March of signatory states of
the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and
Flora, better known as Washington Convention, according to the EU executive
body.
Monaco proposed the ban last year, and the move has been strongly contested by
Japan.
In early February, the secretariat of the Washington Convention supported the
proposal, which would classify the fish as a species threatened with extinction
and prohibit its cross-border trade.
The secretariat says bluefin tuna stock has declined more than 80 percent since
data began to be taken 40 years ago.
The European Union also proposed the ban last year. But the proposal was
rejected in September due to initial opposition from France and Italy.
The ban would only affect trade in bluefin tuna from the East Atlantic and
Mediterranean. Its quota, set by the International Convention for the
Conservation of Atlantic Tunas, is 13,500 tons for this year, down from 20,000
tons for 2009.
The proposed ban will be adopted at the upcoming Qatar meeting if it is
supported by more than two-thirds of the 175 Washington Convention signatory
states.
With the secretariat of the convention supporting the ban, the situation is
''tough'' for Japan, according to Japanese Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
Minister Hirotaka Akamatsu.
The Washington Convention regulates trade in more than 33,000 endangered plants
and animals. A modification of the list requires approval by two-thirds of its
signatories.
==Kyodo
2010-02-23 23:15:28
BRUSSELS, Feb. 23 Kyodo -
Japan called on the European Union on Monday to rethink the proposal put forth
by the European Commission for banning international trade in bluefin tuna from
the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, a senior Japanese official said.
Takahiro Sasaki, parliamentary secretary for agriculture, forestry and
fisheries, said he made the request to Spanish Minister of the Environment,
Agriculture and Marine Affairs Elena Espinosa. Spain currently holds the EU
presidency.
Sasaki said he told the Spanish minister that if an international agreement is
reached to ban such trade at a conference scheduled for next month in Qatar,
Japan will exercise its right not to comply.
Espinosa explained the EU's stance on the matter and did not express any
opinion on Japan's request, according to Sasaki.
Janez Potocnik, EU commissioner in charge of environment, told a news
conference that the proposed ban is targeted at Japan, saying the country
consumes 80 percent of the world's yearly catch of the highly prized species.
In view of support from major EU economies such as France and Italy, the
27-member European body is expected to support the proposal at a meeting of EU
farm and fisheries ministers within days.
If the European Union backs the proposal, it will then seek an international
accord to ban the trade at the Qatar meeting in March of signatory states of
the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and
Flora, better known as Washington Convention, according to the EU executive
body.
Monaco proposed the ban last year, and the move has been strongly contested by
Japan.
In early February, the secretariat of the Washington Convention supported the
proposal, which would classify the fish as a species threatened with extinction
and prohibit its cross-border trade.
The secretariat says bluefin tuna stock has declined more than 80 percent since
data began to be taken 40 years ago.
The European Union also proposed the ban last year. But the proposal was
rejected in September due to initial opposition from France and Italy.
The ban would only affect trade in bluefin tuna from the East Atlantic and
Mediterranean. Its quota, set by the International Convention for the
Conservation of Atlantic Tunas, is 13,500 tons for this year, down from 20,000
tons for 2009.
The proposed ban will be adopted at the upcoming Qatar meeting if it is
supported by more than two-thirds of the 175 Washington Convention signatory
states.
With the secretariat of the convention supporting the ban, the situation is
''tough'' for Japan, according to Japanese Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
Minister Hirotaka Akamatsu.
The Washington Convention regulates trade in more than 33,000 endangered plants
and animals. A modification of the list requires approval by two-thirds of its
signatories.
==Kyodo
2010-02-23 23:15:28
