wp.arcticportal.org

Tag: WTO

  • WTO engaged in EU fishing dispute

    WTO engaged in EU fishing dispute

    Fish farm outside of Thorshaven

    The Faroe Islands is seeking to bring its dispute with the EU over their herring and mackerel exports to the World Trade Organisation.

    The Danish mission to Gevena filed a request to establish a WTO panel in the dispute, which pits the Faroe Islands, a self-governing member of the Danish Kingdom, against the EU, which it is not a member of.

    The request will be dealt with at a forthcoming meeting of the WTO dispute settlement body on January 20.

    Last November, the Faroe Islands announced that it had started WTO dispute settlement proceedings against the EU to challenge the bloc’s trade sanctions against Faroese herring and mackerel.
    The sanctions, introduced last August, ban all imports of herring and mackerel products from the Faroe Islands, and deny access to EU ports by vessels transporting these products. The measures set up the awkward situation of Faroese ships being unable to call on Danish ports.

    In a statement accompanying the announcement, Kai Leo Johannesen, the Faroese premier, pointed out that his country was heavily dependent on fish exports, which he said constituted more than 95 percent of total Faroese exports.
    “This step is therefore of major importance for the Faroe Islands, and a crucial step in order to ensure that the EU’s coercive economic measure, whose purpose is exclusively to safeguard the interests of its domestic industry, will be withdrawn and revoked.”
    The ban against Faroese fish products has repercussions in Denmark, where Danish fishing boats have been banned from Norwegian waters due to the conflict.

    The EU can oppose the request to set up a panel during the January meeting, but EU regulations require that the matter be taken up the following month to attempt to mediate the dispute. Previous attempts at resolution have failed.

    Click here for more articles about EU – Faroese fishing dispute.

    Source: the Arctic Journal 
  • Mackerel dispute to reach WTO

    Mackerel dispute to reach WTO

    Fishing community of Nólsoy, 20 km outside of Thorshaven, Faroe Islands

    Last week the government of Faroe Islands decided to launch the fishing restrictions dispute through World Trade Organization (WTO).

    Political representatives of Faroe Islands want to challenge European Union´s (EU) ban on importing Faroese mackerel and herring and restrictions on the island nation´s ships entering EU ports.

    The Prime Minister of Faroe Islands Kaj leo Holm Johannesen said that the EU+s actions are being done against basic provisions of the WTO Agreement.

    It is worth mentioning that EU banned imports from the Faroe Islands in August in an ongoing dispute about alleged over-fishing on the islands’ part, and EU officials warned that they will take similar action against Iceland.

    Atlanto-Scandian herring stock was controlled jointly by Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Norway, Russia and the EU until this year. The Faroese claim the herring stock allocation is an issue for on-going negotiations between the five states.

    The Faroese state that the EU has not accepted its 105,230-tonne catch limit, and wants it reduced to 31,000 tonnes.

    This is the first WTO dispute the island group has been involved in. the EU now has 60 days to resolve the dispute. If it fails to do so, the Faroese could request that the WTO adjudicates.

    Source: IceNews
  • Iceland to join WTO complain on EU trade ban on seal products

    Iceland to join WTO complain on EU trade ban on seal products

    althingishusIceland has decided to support Canada and Norway in the case against the EU trade ban on seal products. This was decided on a meeting on dispute settlement on the 25th of March. It was also decided on the meeting that Iceland will join the case as a third party member against the EU trade ban.
    Iceland is one of six countries where seal hunting is still practiced. The others are Canada, Norway and Russia, which are not EU members states; Greenland, which is a Danish region but has autonomy in its domestic affairs; and Namibia in southern Africa.

    This decision of Iceland is in harmony with previous statements of the country. The ban, which was adopted by the EU Council on 27th of July 2009 and came into effect on the 20th August 2010 was also opposed by the Icelandic government in April 2009, where the minister of Fisheries- and agriculture sent a letter to the EU Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries. Worries about impending legislation where mentioned along with other reasons opposing the trade ban. The Icelandic minister for fisheries had also declared his support about the case at the 15th North Atlantic Fisheries Ministers Conference, which was held in Canada in July 2010.

    Photo by: Bergvin Snær Nesmann AndréssonIceland´s opposition is also shown in the NAMMCO statement on EU import ban on seal products. There, the bans is seen as contrary to international principles for conservation and sustainable management. Along with Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Greenland, and Norway, as well as observer nations to NAMMCO, Canada, the Russian Federation and Japan, reiterated their serious concerns about the EU ban on the import of seal products into the European Union.

    In the NAMMCO statement it is mentioned that the trade ban ignores and undermines the internationally recognized principles on which conservation and management of marine resources in the North Atlantic are firmly based. It has serious and detrimental consequences for the economies of the many communities dependent on abundant seal stocks across the North Atlantic. Therefore the incorporation of the ban into European Union legislation is said to be a huge step backwards for sustainable development and international trade.

    It is further states that the nations cooperating through NAMMCO are committed to promoting the principle of sustainable development in all areas of cooperation in the region, including the sustainable use of seals. Such cooperation is based on mutual respect and recognition of the rights of all peoples to use their resources responsibly and sustainably for their economic development, including the right to benefit from international trade.

    seal1It is finalized in the NAMMCO statement that conservation and management of all living marine resources should be science-based and should take account of the marine ecosystems and the interrelation between species, stocks and habitats in which fishing and hunting activities occur.
    Canada appealed to the European Union the trade ban on seal products to the World Trade Organization. Canadian Fisheries Minister, Gail Shea, has stated that she does not believe the government’s fight for seal hunters will damage other industries that employ more people. Fisheries minister has mentioned that other Canadian industries might be damaged if the country does not take a stand on what she insists is a matter of principle and needs to be ruled on facts, not emotions. A decision from the WTO could take a year or more.
    The EU trade ban on seal products has affected Canada’s Inuit community. Despite the fact that the Inuit are exempt from the ban, they no longer have a market for sealskins; a by-product of their subsistence hunt.

    A documentary has been made that brings together commentary from Inuit hunters, community leaders and an emotional testimonial from local people.

    Seal Ban: The Inuit Impact – Documentary

    Sources:

    The Icelandic Ministry of Fisheries and Agriculture

    NAMMCO

    Eye on the Arctic