Conservation of fishery resources: tuna tracking and verification system, dolphin conservation

The committee adopted the report by Salvador JOVÉ PERES (EUL/NGL, E) amending the report under the consultation procedure. As it had done in recent reports on regional fisheries organisations (RFOs), it pointed out that the development of a genuine common fisheries policy demanded that the powers of monitoring fishing activity be assigned to the Commission, which represents the Community in these organisations. MEPs argued that it followed from this that monitoring activities should be financed from the Community budget. In its amendments, the committee stressed that monitoring activities under the RFOs were currently delegated to the Member States on a transitional basis while the necessary human, material and budgetary resources were lacking in the Commission. In line with the principle of ensuring that the cost of taking part in such organisations was borne by the Community, it therefore proposed that Member States' expenditure on monitoring operations under the Regulation be reimbursed from the Community budget. Other amendments emphasised the Commission's responsibility for guaranteeing compliance with the commitments entered into and ensuring that the information submitted met the criteria of quality, accuracy and regularity. MEPs also wanted to ensure that Parliament was able to exercise its powers of scrutiny by being duly informed of the decisions taken. Lastly, the committee called for the scope of the Regulation to be expanded to include all tuna from the AIDCP Area circulating in the Community, which should be clearly identified as dolphin-safe or non-dolphin-safe as appropriate, until the time it is ready for retail sale. �