Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-01-13-Speech-2-215"
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"en.20040113.10.2-215"2
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"Madam President, may I firstly say that I do not blame you personally, but many colleagues have not been able to speak in the debate because they have left the Chamber while we wait for another Commissioner. Commissioner Fischler is sitting patiently, listening to our debate, and half our colleagues have been unable to contribute to it. This is no way to organise business. This debate should now be finished and persons on the list should be recalled to speak. Before I make my points to the rapporteur, I would ask you to deduct the 38 seconds I have just spoken for.
I should like to begin by thanking the rapporteur for his comprehensive report. Many of the points he raises are certainly to be welcomed. I was particularly pleased with the emphasis placed on the need to prevent incidental mortality among dolphins and other species associated with tuna fisheries. Aside from tuna fishing, many dolphins are being washed up dead in my own area of the South-West because of pair trawling. This is therefore an important issue.
I was also happy to hear the rapporteur insisting that products from third countries should meet the same food safety and quality standards as our own. This is something for which we on the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development have campaigned hard with regard to farm products. The same should naturally apply to fisheries products. Our consumers have a right to safe food, and third-country imports must be of the same high standard.
Commissioner Fischler spoke about third-country agreements. I am always worried about these agreements because, although many new agreements include conservation measures, there is little conservation to be seen in reality. What is happening off the coast of Africa is much more than exploitation of waters. I believe we are threatening the indigenous fisherman. If there are going to be third-country agreements, they will have to be much better monitored and we must be sure that fish are being caught safely and that our money is being spent wisely.
My final point is that, with regard to labelling catches as tuna-friendly and purchasing dolphin-friendly tuna, we must be sure that practices are genuinely tuna- and dolphin-friendly, that there is no huge by-catch with caught tuna and that people do not purchase such products because they think they are both conservation-friendly and by-catch-friendly, when, in fact, a large number of turtles, sharks and dolphins are evidently being caught. This is misleading, and we have to be very careful when using the 'friendly' label."@en1
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