Fishery products: additional costs due to remoteness of Azores, Madeira, Canary islands, French Guiana

OBJECTIVE: to compensate the Azores, Madeira, the Canary Islands and Guiana for the additional costs (particularly transport costs) incurred in marketing certain fishery products from these regions as a result of their remoteness. SUBSTANCE: The Azores, Madeira, the Canary Islands and Guiana, which are very remote, face considerable difficulties in the fisheries sector, which is one of main sources of income for local people. These difficulties are particularly aggravated by additional costs arising from transport of fisheries products due to their isolation and remoteness. In order to compensate for loss of income to local producers and preserve their competitiveness in relation to Community producers, the Community introduced a compensation scheme with effect from 1992 (to 1997). These measures have been so successful that the Commission proposes extending the existing arrangements from 01.01.1998 for certain fishery products, namely: -tuna and demersal species from the Azores, -tuna, black scabbardfish and mackerel from Madeira, -tuna, sardines, mackerel, aquaculture products, cephalopods, sole and sea-bream from the Canary Islands, -shrimps from Guiana. The scheme provides for different amounts of compensation to be paid per type of fish and region. The measures are financed from the Guarantee Section of the EAGGF. A report on the implementation of the Regulation must be submitted to all the Community institutions every 3 years as from 01.01.2001, together with any proposals for altering the scheme.�