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Statement by Mr Guðni Bragason, Permanent Representative of Iceland to FAO, at the 27th Session of the FAO Committee on Fisheries, 5 – 9 March 2007 COFI agenda item no. 6: Decisions and Recommendations of the Tenth Session of the COFI Sub-Committee on Fish Trade. Mr Chairman. Allow me to express Iceland´s satisfaction with the Tenth Session of the SubCommittee on Fish Trade, and its decisions and recommendations. The issues discussed at the meeting are of vital importance to fisheries world-wide and to the global fish trade. In the last decades the FAO has asserted itself as the most important knowledge organization in the field of fisheries and fish trade. The work of the Organization is of enormous importance to Member States and all fisheries related issues of global dimension. These complicated issues need to be discussed thoroughly, especially with regard to the interests of all players, be they fishermen, health inspection authorities, fishing companies, merchants or the consumers. In order to further this dialogue, the Icelandic Government, in cooperation with the FAO, supported a Symposium on International Seafood Trade, its challenges and opportunities, held by the University of Akureyri in Northern Iceland last month. The Symposium also provided a venue for the exchange of views with representatives from the private sector, banks financing fisheries activities and fisheries companies. Mr Chairman, allow me to recall that the at the Symposium the Icelandic Minister for Fisheries, Einar K. Guðfinnsson, emphasized that more free trade would benefit all, and that fish trade was of great importance for economic growth. Free trade agreements, bilateral and multilateral, which take into account Parties’ diverse level of development, are of great importance to fish trade. Those considerations were an integral part of the Free Trade Agreement signed last year between the member countries of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), Iceland among them, and the member countries of the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) (Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa and Swaziland), covering fish and other marine products. EFTA, and Iceland bilaterally, is in the process of facilitating new free trade agreements. Recalling the discussion here earlier today, we would also welcome more input of the FAO into the Doha round. At the WTO talks Iceland has emphasized that market access for non-agricultural goods is crucial for developing and developed countries alike. The documentation at the meeting of the Sub-Committee demonstrated clearly the importance of fish trade for the developing countries. Fish is one of the most valuable source of nutrition and income for these countries. Ninety-five per cent of those who live from fisheries are in the developing world and a billion people depend on fisheries for their main intake of protein. The share of the developing countries in the export of fish and fishery products is over 50%, with the net income of more than 20 billion USD. This trade is a significant source of foreign currency earnings for the countries in question. It shows the high value of fishery products that the earnings from these products for the developing countries exceed the foreign exchange revenues earned from any other major traded food commodity. At the Symposium in Iceland last month the Icelandic Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mrs Valgerður Sverrisdóttir, emphasized the fact that the developing countries are, and will be, important players in this trade. Their needs will have to be considered, also in terms of food security and hunger reduction. The fish trade sector is vulnerable and needs financing and investment in infrastructure, not least in the developing world. The business aspect has changed considerably, with very few companies controlling the buying and selling of seafood world-wide, thus being in the position of setting standards and labeling the product. On the consumer end of the chain there is health and food safety to consider, as well as trends in taste and demand. Food safety and health aspects are of vital importance to fish trade and to the consumers. In discussions at the Seminar participants from the developing countries emphasized the difficulties several countries have in meeting the standards and changing requirements set by the developed countries. These problems demonstrate the need for continued technical assistance and capacity building in fields such as food quality and safety and traceability. Through the Icelandic International Development Agency (ICEIDA) we have facilitated such cooperation in several countries. We also laud the constructive work of the sub-committee on cooperation with the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which was an important step toward finalizing the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), signed by the FAO and CITES, on reviewing and consulting together on the scientific, legal and technical evaluation of commercially exploited aquatic species, listed or proposed for listing in the CITES Appendices. This cooperation is especially important in view of attempts to use trade restrictions to hinder sustainable utilization of living marine resources There are important issues to be followed-up on, such as the draft text of Technical Guidelines for Responsible Fish Trade. I believe that the recent Expert Consultation on the Guidelines for Responsible Fish Trade in Washington made significant progress in that resepct.