Mexico - NMFS Supports Change Dolphin Safe Definition

martes 18 de noviembre de 2003

Mexico, November 18, 03

The Mexican Commissioner of Aquaculture and Fishery, Ramón Corral Avila, recently informed that the Navy Marine Fishery Services (NMFS) of the United States supports Mexican request to change the jurisdiction of the tuna embargo litigation.

Corral Avila, during an official visit to Washington, told Mexican press sources that the Vice-Administrator to Bill Hogarth's informed them that they will appeal before the Justice Department to change court location for the current dolphin safe court case, from San Francisco to New York.

The Mexican "dolphin-safe" tuna embargo commenced in 1990 and although it was lifted during the George W. Bush administration, it is in fact still blocking the entrance of Mexican tuna into the USA market.

The legal proceedings on the Mexican tuna are handled before judge Thelton Henderson in the US Court 9th District of San Francisco. The "Dolphin Safe"
label guarantees that no dolphins have been killed during the fishing of the tuna, a factor that is taken into account by the U.S. consumers. But Henderson has ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, Earth Island Instituted
(EII) in all the previous cases, reason why Mexican delegates consider that the hearings would be more balanced before the International Trade Court in New York.

The U.S. Justice Department will decide shortly whether it supports this change of jurisdiction, as well as the request from representatives of the private tuna sector of several countries to take part in the litigation.
Although the U.S State Department supports the change of jurisdiction, it is not yet clear what the Justice Department's position is.

The topic was discussed during a recent visit to Washington of the Mexican secretary of Foreign Relations, Luis Ernesto Derbez, with the solicitor John Ashcroft. The head of Conapesca, organization of the Secretary of Agriculture, announced that the topic "the tuna sector" was scheduled for a meeting, which will take place between Ashcroft and Rafael Macedo de la Concha. The subject was also discussed during the 20th Meeting of the Binational Commission Mexico-United States. The tuna embargo matter is also expected to be discussed during a forthcoming meeting between Corral Avila and the NMFS, which will take place next March 2004 in Mazatlan or Los Cabos.