The EU at FAO’s Committee on Fisheries (COFI) week in Rome
Since six decades, the Committee on Fisheries (COFI) of the UN’s FAO in Rome, is the key global forum for fisheries and aquaculture. Today, Ambassador Martin Selmayr had the honour to speak at the 37th Session of FAO’s Committee on Fisheries, on behalf of the European Union and its 27 Member States, with Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Ukraine aligning with our statement.
For the European Union, sustainable fisheries and aquaculture are essential contributors to food security, livelihoods and sustainable development. As largest single importing market for aquatic food, the EU is committed to using trade policy to drive sustainability and traceability improvements in a fully WTO compliant manner. We also have committed climate finance and scientific capacity that can directly support climate-informed stock modelling. Together with Canada, we are launching the OceanEye International Alliance for strengthening the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS), and we invite all governments and partners to step up their commitment and support GOOS.
It was great to see Catherine Chabaud as France’s Minister Delegate for the Sea and Fisheries underlining the importance of the Port State Measures Agreement PSMA, the first binding international agreement against illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.