Today's decision highlights that these countries are not doing enough to fight illegal fishing and that they do not currently fulfil their duties as flag, coastal, port or market State in line with international law.

The Commission has identified concrete shortcomings, such as a lack of a sanction system to deter IUU activities or lack of actions to address deficiencies in monitoring, controlling and surveillance of fisheries. For instance, the countries need to amend their legal framework to combat IUU fishing, improve control and monitoring actions and take a proactive role in complying with international law rules, such as the ones agreed by Regional Fisheries Management Organisations.
 
The Commission made the following assessments of each country's systems:

Solomon Islands - weak traceability and catch certification system.

Tuvalu - lack of control on the fishing activities taking place in waters under its sovereignty

Saint Kitts and Nevis - lack of control on the fishing activities by its flagged vessels”

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines - lack of control on the fishing activities by its flagged vessels

What does it mean in practice and what next?

The pre-identification is only a warning sign and the Commission will now work in a formal way with the four countries to address the issues which have led to the yellow cards being issued.

The Commission will propose actions, and ensure that suitable measures are implemented to remedy the situation. It will then evaluate each country's progress on an individual basis. The first progress evaluation is expected within 6 months of the publication of the Commission's Decision.

The decision does not, at this stage, entail any measures affecting trade. However, should the situation not improve within six months, the EU could take further steps which could entail, among others, trade sanctions on fisheries imports, as was recently the case with Sri Lanka.

If the situation does improve the four countries could be given "green cards" as was the case recently with four countries who took the necessary steps to improve their control systems.

What is happening with other countries under investigation?

Korea, Ghana, and Curacao, who all received formal warnings from the Commission in November 2013, are currently working towards addressing their shortcomings and developing the appropriate legislation. As a result, the process of dialogue and cooperation is still on-going and has been formally extended to January 2015.

The Philippines and Papua New Guinea received a formal warning from the Commission in June 2014. The Commission will evaluate each country's progress on an individual basis. The first progress evaluation is expected within 6 months of the decision being taken.

In March 2014, the Council adopted trade measures against Cambodia and Guinea, for their lack of commitment in tackling illegal fishing. The situation has remained unchanged as regards these two countries. Fisheries products caught by vessels from these two countries are therefore still banned from being imported into the EU.

In October 2014, the Council adopted trade measures against Sri Lanka. Fisheries products caught by vessels from this country will be banned as from 14 January 2015 from being imported into the EU.

In October, the Commission gave ‘green cards’ to Fiji, Vanuatu, Panama and Togo, after these countries completed significant progress in their fisheries management systems in order to curb illegal fishing. They have adopted new legislation and improved their monitoring, control and inspection systems. 

How much is illegal fishing worth globally?

The estimated global value of IUU fishing is approximately 10 billion euros per year. Between 11 and 26 million tonnes of fish are caught illegally a year, which corresponds to at least 15% of world catches.
 
What are the EU rules in place to fight illegal fishing?

The 2008 EU IUU Regulation entered into force on 1 January 2010. The Regulation applies to all landings and transhipments of EU and third-country fishing vessels in EU ports, and all trade of marine fishery products to and from the EU. It aims to make sure that no illegally caught fisheries products end up on the EU market.

To achieve this, the Regulation requires flag States to certify the origin and legality of the fish thereby ensuring the full traceability of all marine fishery products traded from and into the EU. The scheme ensures countries comply with their own conservation and management rules.

In addition to the certification scheme, the Regulation also addresses the issues of port state control and of mutual assistance. Moreover it introduces an EU alert system to detect the most suspect cases of illegal practices.

What has been achieved so far?

Since its entry into force in 2010, the IUU Regulation's reach and impact on the fight against IUU fishing has increased year-on-year.

The IUU Regulation has had far-reaching impacts, leading to:

• investigations on presumed IUU vessels and the subsequent imposition of sanctions by flag or coastal States;
• the enforcement of EU market State responsibilities and the strengthening of the system of mutual assistance messages for the exchange of information on IUU activities;
• the refusal of imports into the EU;
• the pre-identification and identification of non-cooperating countries;
• the implementation of flag and coastal State responsibilities, with the adoption of measures by third countries of IUU legislation and acceptance of the EU catch certification system;
• the promotion of international cooperation against IUU fishing (1)
• cooperation with other stakeholders, in particular Member States and NGOs, who have created real public awareness about the problems of IUU fishing.

So far, 91 third countries have notified the Commission that they have in place the necessary legal instruments, the dedicated procedures, and the appropriate administrative structures for the certification of the catches by vessels flying their flag.

Since 2010, the Commission has investigated more than 200 cases with vessels from 27 countries. As a direct consequence of these actions, sanctions against almost 50 vessels have been imposed by flag and coastal states for an amount of roughly 8 million euros.

The Commission has focused its enforcement action on geographic areas where IUU fishing activities are most widespread and have the most disastrous impact - not only on the marine resources, but also on the livelihoods of local communities, like West Africa or the Pacific Region.

How does the EU cooperate with Member States to enhance control and compliance?

The IUU Regulation can only be effective with proper control and compliance, both within the EU and in third waters. In EU waters the obligations resting on EU vessels stem from the Control Regulation (1224/2009 EU). More than 130 alert messages were sent to EU Member States' authorities to direct their controls, check situations of risk, and to request investigations on presumed IUU fishing activities and serious infringements.

The Commission has also promoted more widely the exchange of information and cooperation between the competent authorities in EU Member States so that they can fight IUU fishing in EU waters more effectively. As a consequence numerous imports to the EU have been rejected by EU Member States.

With third countries, daily cooperation with flag States' authorities as well as evaluation missions by the EU have contributed to improved traceability from the fishing grounds to the EU market (i.e. from net to plate).

More information:

EU rules to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing

(1)  In particular through joint statements on combatting IUU fishing with the US and Japan, catch certification schemes in Regional Fisheries Management Organisations and cooperation with the INTERPOL Fisheries Crime Working Group.