Agriculture Minister, EU Commissioner Discuss Illegal Fishing
EU agriculture ministers debated in Brussels on Wednesday measures to combat illegal fishing, with Slovenia's Iztok Jarc also holding a short meeting with EU Fisheries and Maritime Affairs Commissioner Joe Borg on the issue.
Jarc said that the subject would also be dealt with by Slovenia during its half-year stint at the helm of the EU in the first half of 2008.
He said Slovenia had experienced cases of illegal fish imports through its seaport in Koper, however, no such cases were registered recently. According to Jarc, this was the result of increased cooperation between various services and tighter security on the entry points to the EU market.
The Agriculture Ministry has said that the increased control already prevented a shipment of illegally-caught swordfish from being offloaded in the Slovenian port of Koper "a short time ago".
Borg meanwhile presented a draft strategy for fighting illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing that the commission is to present after the summer.
The ministers also discussed eco-labels for fish and fish products. The introduction of the labels should depend on individual member states and should be simple as well as not hindering exports from developing countries, Jarc said.
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