Since the imposition of the ban, the government has taken several steps to address the shortcomings that led to the ban, the Spokesperson of the Foreign Affairs Ministry said at a recent press briefing.
The European Commission in October 2014 proposed to ban imports of fisheries products from Sri Lanka, the second biggest exporter to the bloc, due to Sri Lanka's failure to demonstrate that it sufficiently addressed illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing. The ban went into effect from 14 January 2015.
The steps taken by the government relate to the spheres of compliance, monitoring control and surveillance, as well as legal and administrative aspects, the Spokesperson said.
In the area of Compliance in Monitoring, Control and Surveillance, measures have been taken to fit Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) transponders on to high seas fishing vessels. So far the transponders have been fitted on 488 vessels and another 1000 vessels are to be fitted. A Fisheries Monitoring Centre has been set up to monitor and analyze the data received from the transponders.
Several steps have also been taken to address issues related to the legal and administrative framework.
A National Plan of Action to counter Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing has been submitted to the office of the Director General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries of the European Commission and progress reports outlining the steps that have been taken towards revocation of the formal listing of Sri Lanka as a non-cooperating third country under the EU-IUU regulations.
Action has been taken to delist the 8 purse seiner (large) vessels that were flying the Sri Lankan flag on 12th February 2015. In future, no Purse seiners (vessels over 24 m in length) will be authorized to fish in the High Seas.
The office of the Director General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries in Brussels has expressed interest in sending a technical evaluation mission to Sri Lanka in October to discuss the results of steps taken by Sri Lanka and future steps required to be taken to lift the ban, the Spokesperson said.
The actual dates of the visit and the details are currently being discussed and a final decision will be taken by the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, the Foreign Affairs Ministry said.
