Conservation of Antarctic marine living resources: control of vessels flying the flag of non-contracting parties

AIM: To approve, on behalf of the Community, certain measures for the conservation of fish stocks adopted by the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR). COMMUNITY MEASURE: Council Regulation (EC) No 1721/1999 laying down certain control measures in respect of vessels flying the flag of Non-Contracting Parties to the Convention of the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources. CONTENT: The Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), to which the Community and some Member States belong as Contracting Parties to the Convention, is responsible for the management of fishing activities in the Antarctic. At its annual meeting in November 1997, CCAMLR adopted a conservation scheme designed to discourage the growth of illegal fishing in the area it regulates; it took this action in response to a rapid growth in fishing for Antarctic cod or toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides). This measure is targeted more specifically at vessels flying the flags of countries that are not Contracting Parties to the Convention, vessels which continue to fish illegally in Antarctic waters and which are not required to comply with the applicable regulations. The mechanism which CCAMLR has introduced and which the Community wishes to implement by means of the new Regulation provides for a mandatory inspection of any vessel that has been sighted in the Convention area when it voluntarily puts into port in a state that is a Contracting Party to the Convention. If a vessel is found to have taken its catch in contravention of conservation and enforcement measures enacted by CCAMLR, the authorities of the port state will prohibit the landing or transshipment of the catch. Moreover, provision has been made for additional standardised measures at the Community level to control access to Member States' ports by fishing vessels flying the flags of non-Contracting Parties in cases where these vessels have been sighted in the waters of the Convention area. The purpose of these measures is to guarantee the effectiveness of the conservation measures adopted by CCAMLR. ENTRY INTO FORCE: 10 August 1999. �