Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/05/15
By: Yang Su-min and Evelyn Kao
Taipei, May 15 (CNA) The government is working to change its legal framework to comply with
An event held by Greenpeace in Taipei
European Union (EU) demands to tighten controls on illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing by Taiwan’s large distant-water fishing fleet to avert EU trade sanctions on Taiwanese seafood, according to the Council of Agriculture, which oversees the fishing industry.
The move came after the European Commission issued a yellow card to Taiwan on Oct. 1, 2015 following the discovery of a Taiwanese fishing vessel violating shark finning laws in international waters, after a long series of discussions between the EU and Taipei over the elimination of illegal fishing practices.
In particular, the EU pointed to Taiwan’s inadequate monitoring, control, and surveillance of long-distance fleets.
It gave Taiwan six months to improve its legal framework and take corrective measures. Those six months have passed, and Taiwan has not yet received a “red card” — which would entail Taiwan being banned from exporting seafood to the EU, a potential loss of an estimated NT$7 billion in trade, according to Greenpeace. [FULL STORY]
