A government official accused the European Union (EU), Monday, of ignoring progress Korea has made in addressing grievances about illegal fishing.
“Since November last year, we have reported to the EU each time we made a corrective action,” an official of the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries told The Korea Times.
“It did not respond, but has now sent a delegation,” the official said on condition of anonymity.
He indicated that the EU was using its superior position as a key destination of fish products to put pressure on Korea.
A group of EU officials are here until Wednesday for on-spot investigations, the results of which will determine whether the economic block finalizes the illegal fishing nation status it imposed on Korea last November.
Korea was designated as a preliminary illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) country along with Ghana and Curacao in the Netherlands Antilles.
Cesar Deben, director general for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (MARE), is leading the delegation. The ministry refused to identify the three other delegates.
An official from a state-run research organization said that Korea had done everything it could to accommodate EU grievances, going to the point of changing related regulations.
“We took it as recommendation,” he said. “We wonder why the EU is pushing so hard on it. ” He added that Korea has fulfilled most of 12 demands.
He recalled that Korea made a legislative change in July last year to comply with the demands but the EU slapped Korea with the IUU designation anyway.
Industry sources say that full designation is imminent and that the probe is just a formal procedure.
“It is especially so, since we are in dispute with China over illegal fishing,” said an industry watcher. “If the EU and U.S. , where we have seen increased exports in recent years, ban imports of Korean fishery products, our companies will face grave financial difficulties.”
Another source said the situation is biased. “Frankly, Chinese vessels do more illegal fishing. I cannot understand why the EU pinpoints Korean vessels and tries to impose punitive measures,” he said.
Once officially designated as an IUU country, the nation will have to face substantial disadvantages in trade. All fishery exports to EU nations will be banned and Korean vessels’ access to EU ports limited.
The designation would likely be followed by U.S. sanctions.
Meanwhile, the environmental watchdog Greenpeace held a press meeting Monday and said the government’s response was not enough.
“For years Korea has carried out illegal fishing activities overseas, which made the United States classify the nation as an illegal fishing country in January last year, followed by the EU’s move to include it on the list of IUU countries,” it said.
“Although the government revised related fishing laws to prevent illegal fishing, there are many loopholes and it didn’t effectively reflect international agreements and laws,” it added.
Greenpeace said that the current laws still more put weight on quantitative industry growth than sustainable fishing.
It suggested heavier penalties and prison terms for offenders and delivered its own recommendations to the ministry.
The Korea Times