Fisheries, Inter-American tropical tuna Commission ICCAT: temporary adhesion of Spain to the Convention

PURPOSE: temporary accession of the Kingdom of Spain to the Convention establishing the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission. CONTENT: The Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC)is a regional fisheries organisation responsible for the central eastern Pacific. Since fishing activites are carried out in this geographical area by the Community fleet, and currently by Spanish vessels, the Community is negotiating to join the IATTC. However, it would appear that accession will not be possible in the near future, mainly because the IATTC statutes will have to be amended to permit the accession of regional organisations pursuing economic integration, such as the European Community. To defend the interests of the Community fleet, therefore, Spain has applied to join the IATTC on a temporary basis as a sovereign state, until the European Community becomes a member. In view of Spain's commitments above all to recognise Community competence on issues relating to regional fisheries organisations and withdrawals effective from the date of Community accession to the IATTC, its request should, exceptionally, be approved by the Council. For this reason, the Commission proposes that the Council should adopt this draft decision.�