1. Public and private certification schemes to facilitate market access for sustainably managed fisheries
Sustainable Fisheries in the Black Sea
Committee of the Regions
Brussels, Belgium
7 June 2017
Victoria Chomo
Senior Policy Officer
Fisheries and Aquaculture sector
FAO Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia
Budapest, Hungary

2. Livelihoods
880 million people rely on fish value chains for their livelihoods, 12% of global population
3 billion people rely on fish for more than 20% of their intake of animal protein (some countries as high as 50%)
World population will reach 9.7 billion in 2050.
How will our planet supply jobs and food for an
additional 2.4 billion people?

3. 76 % of estimated value of the sector is post-harvest
Livelihoods
76 % of estimated value of the sector is post-harvest
Fisheries
US $ 100 billion
Primary processing
US $ 90 billion
Secondary processing
US $ 180 billion
Distribution
US $ 350 billion
Aquaculture
US $ 98 billion

4. Importance of fish trade
US$ billion
Most highly traded
food commodity
60% of exports from
developing countries
Opportunity for Serbia; import processing and re-exports. Production of inland capture and aquaculture for export market.
: estimates

5. Fish and Seafood Production to 2025
aquaculture
capture
Fish and Seafood Production to 2025
Capture fisheries has limited growth
Aquaculture production is growing but at slower rate

7. Fisheries Governance

8. International Plan of Action to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate IUU Fishing (IPOA-IUU)
IPOA-IUU (2001) falls within the framework of:
1995 FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries
1993 FAO Compliance Agreement
1995 UN Fish Stocks Agreement
Primary responsibility is the flag State,
using all available jurisdiction in accordance with international law.

9. FAO Port State Measures Agreement
PSMA blocks movement of undocumented fish into ports:
prevents IUU fish products from entering markets and fish supply chains
Removes the economic incentives for IUU fishing
Entered into force on 5 June Ratified by 46 countries (includes European Union) as of May 2017.
FAO provides capacity building for countries to implement the agreement: Legal framework, Enforcement, Infrastructure, Human capital

10. Promoting sustainable fish supply chains
Monitoring, control and surveillance (MSC) of IUU vessels
International cooperation, such as information sharing on IUU vessels (Global Record)
Denying access to ports of IUU vessels (PSMA)
National legislation to allow prosecution of IUU vessels
Market Measures:
Harmonize CD procedures to reduce costs of trade
Certify products from verifiably managed fisheries
 Traceability of legally caught fish along the
chain of custody from vessel to consumer

11. Ecolabelling: 14% of global fish production
(5.7% MSC; 6.2% FOS; 1.3% GLOBALG.A.P)
Certified vs. conventional seafood production, Between 2003 and 2015, certified sustainable seafood (both aquaculture and wild catch) grew from 2.2 million mt (1.7% of global production) to 23 million mt (14% of global production) at a rate of 30% per annum (10 times faster than the growth of global seafood production over the same time period). Retail value in 2015 was $11.5 billion.
SOURCE: Standards and the Blue Economy, ISSD, 2016 Geneva.

12. Five countries account for 65 percent of certified seafood production
Global Distribution of Certified Seafood Production (2015) vs. Conventional Seafood Production (2013),
by volume
Source: IISD 2016

13. Role of FAO – Instruments and Guidelines

14. Benchmarking to the FAO Guidelines
GSSI is a public-private partnership which aims to:
increase consumer confidence in certified seafood;
reduce duplication of supply chain costs;
Increase transparency and comparability among eco-labels; and
drive improvements in seafood certification schemes.

15. WTO and Eco-labels - Voluntary standard or regulation
BACKGROUND:
World Trade Organization (WTO) - multi-lateral rules based trading system - applies to government regulations
Voluntary standards and 3rd party certification fall outside WTO rules and agreements
Fish eco-labelling has entered WTO disputes
EXAMPLE: The US – Tuna II (Mexico) (21.5) Compliance Dispute
Ruling by WTO, the tuna label is a regulation and not a voluntary standard
Sets a precedent for other national eco-labels to enter WTO dispute settlement
Eco-labels entering disputes under the WTO, are they voluntary standards or govt regulations.
National certification schemes are stepping over the line according to WTO rulings.

16. THANK YOU