Rio de Janeiro – Brazil was the first country to sign the new agreement of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), named Port State, whose objective is to prevent illegal fishing vessels from entering the country’s ports.
The Brazilian minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture, Altemir Gregolin, stated that the agreement sets forth two fundamental issues. First off, it defines as a sovereign right of the country to decide whether or not to allow its ports to be used by vessels from other nations to unload their fish.
"In the case of Brazil, this is important because for approximately 15 years now, countries such as Spain and Japan have expressed intentions of having an international fishing port in Brazil. We have always opposed that, and this agreement grants Brazil the right to either uphold this position or not," he said.
Gregolin regards the FAO initiative as a great accolade for Brazil, because there used to be pressure for this clause to be dropped. The Port State also provides that the countries which allow other nations to unload fisheries will be forced to monitor the product.
"In other words, these countries will be required to ascertain whether the fish is a product of legal or illegal fishing. This is very important, because we will be able to monitor and fight illegal fishing in international waters in a more efficient manner," he claimed. The minister stated that some developing countries fish all around the world, and therefore they use fishing ports in other nations.
According to Gregolin, the agreement reaffirms the Brazilian commitment with the sustainability of fishing across the world. Ten FAO member countries have already signed the document (Brazil, Chile, the European Community, Indonesia, Iceland, Norway, Samoa, Sierra Leone, the United States and Uruguay). It is an adherence agreement, so the minister believes that there should be no obstacle to its being ratified by all of the 25 FAO members.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
