Bridges Trade BioRes / by Andrew Aziz / 15 April 2013
SOURCE: http://ictsd.org/i/news/biores/159967/
[ok, so not strictly trade-climate change, but a line of interest stemming from my master’s thesis]
A proposal by the United States to reform its dolphin-safe tuna label rules to comply with a WTO ruling is receiving praise from environmentalists, who say the initiative would result in fewer dolphin deaths related to the tuna fishing industry. However, because the move would use tighter regulations to comply with the WTO ruling, Mexican tuna would still be locked out of the US tuna market.
A World Trade Organization appellate panel ruled last year that the US dolphin-safe labelling scheme violated core trade rules and discriminated unfairly against Mexican tuna products (see Bridges Trade BioRes, 17 May 2012). The ruling found that the labelling system was discriminatory because tuna caught with “purse-seine” nets – encircling nets that temporarily set on dolphins to attract the tuna that swim below – are ineligible. Because the nets are today used almost exclusively by Mexican fisheries, due to specific conditions in the Eastern Tropical Pacific (ETP), the majority of Mexican tuna is effectively blocked from the US marketplace.
The purse-seine rule applies even where independent veterinarians certify that no dolphins were killed or injured during the specific catch. Outside the ETP – where purse seine nets are largely not effective – importers are not obliged to prove that no mortalities or serious injuries occurred. The May 2012 ruling found that the label did not sufficiently address dolphin bycatch outside the ETP, where dolphins are harmed by fishing techniques other than purse-seine nets.
The Mexican tuna fleet invested heavily to comply with international standards – namely the Agreement on the International Dolphin Conservation Programme (AIDCP) – which have reduced observed dolphin mortality in the ETP by around 99 percent since 1990. However, the US argues that the law is designed to prevent non-observed injuries and mortalities, which occur most frequently with purse-seine nets. The WTO found the US objectives legitimate, but still ultimately concluded that the scheme was unnecessarily trade restrictive.
But rather than relaxing the labelling requirements within the ETP to comply with the ruling, as expected, the new US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) proposal expands the rules to require ETP and non-ETP fisherman to certify that no dolphin mortalities or serious injuries occurred. Outside the ETP, the captain of the vessel would need to issue a statement that no dolphins were killed or seriously injured in order to comply.
Mark Robertson, a spokesman for the Campaign for Eco-Safe Tuna, which represents Mexico’s tuna industry says the proposed system would be unfair because non-ETP captains would be able to essentially self-certify compliance with the law, while Mexican fisheries would still be subject to an elaborate third-party observation, verification, and tracking system.
While the dolphin-safe label is not technically required for access to the US market, the market is effectively closed for non-certified tuna. But Mexico has argued that the consumers are not being given enough information to make an informed choice about purchasing their tuna.
Indeed, the WTO expressed concern in its initial ruling that American consumers could be misled by dolphin-safe labels affixed to tuna sourced outside the ETP, where it did not necessarily mean that the tuna was caught without mortality or serious injury to dolphins. Mexico has argued that its methods are actually safer than alternative methods, namely the use of Fish Aggregating Devices (FADs), which are employed frequently outside the ETP and have higher incidences of “bycatch”, the unintentional deaths of dolphins and other animals. Nevertheless, the NOAA proposal has seen support from US policymakers.
“As the author of the original 1990 US Dolphin-Safe tuna label law, I am pleased that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has reaffirmed its commitment to protecting the integrity of this label that consumers have come to trust and rely on,” US Senator Barbara Boxer said in a statement.
The proposal is open for comments until May 6, and the deadline for the US to comply with the WTO ruling is 13 July.
ICTSD Reporting; “U.S. tuna plan pleases conservationists, upsets Mexican industry,” REUTERS, 10 April 2013.