Study on China's accession to the Agreement on Port State Measures_Vol. 1 No. 3 (JEL 2024)_Journal of Economics and Law (ISSN: 3005-5768)

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Study on China's accession to the Agreement on Port State Measures

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.62517/jel.202414324

Author(s)

Cai Yunlei

Affiliation(s)

Wuhan University China Institute of Boundary and Ocean Studies, Wuhan, Hubei, China

Abstract

The Port State Measures Agreement adopted by the Food and Agriculture Organization aims to adopt and implement effective port state measures to prevent, deter, and eliminate illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing activities, thereby ensuring the long-term conservation and sustainable use of marine living resources. After the entry into force of the Agreement, China has made a statement to actively study and join the Agreement. However, joining the Agreement also faces problems such as lack of coordination in domestic institutional mechanisms, mismatched port capabilities, lack of uniformity and universality in port measures, and inherent deficiencies in the Agreement have constrained China's accession. In this regard, China should actively follow up and study the interpretation and implementation dynamics of the Agreement, review and construct domestic legislative frameworks, enhance the soft power of implementing port state measures, and seize the opportunity of joining the Agreement on Port State Measures to strive for authority in the field of port state measures and even in the management and conservation of marine fishery resources.

Keywords

Agreement on Port State Measures; Illegal Unreported and Unregulated Fishing; Port State Jurisdiction; Flag State Jurisdiction

References

[1] Agnew DJ, Pearce J, Pramod G, Peatman T, Watson R, Beddington JR, et al. (2009) Estimating the Worldwide Extent of Illegal Fishing. PLoS ONE 4(2), 2009. [2] Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing, FAO, 19 August 2023, https://www.fao.org/iuu-fishing/background/links-crimes/en/. [3] The full name in English：Agreement on Port State Measures to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing in short, PSMA. [4] FAO IUU Agreement Set to Enter into Force, CMS, World Bank, Others Promote Action on Sustainable Fisheries, SDG KNOWLEDGE HUB, 19 August 2023, https://sdg.iisd.org/news/fao-iuu-agreement-set-to-enter-into-force-cms-world-bank-others-promote-action-on-sustainable-fisheries/. [5] The five annexes are: Annex A - Information Required to be Submitted in Advance by Incoming Fishing Vessels; Annex B - Port State Inspection Procedures; Annex C - Reports of Inspection Results; Annex D - Information System on Port State Measures; and Annex E - Guidelines for the Training of Inspectors. [6] Tony Long, Port State Measures Agreement: Stopping Illegally Caught Fish at Ports. https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/articles/2016/03/03/port-state-measures-agreement-stopping-illegally-caught-fish-at-ports, 2016. [7] The 23 countries are: Angola, Australia, Benin, Brazil, Canada, Chile, the European Union, France, Gabon, Iceland, Indonesia, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, Russia, Samoa, Sierra Leone, Turkey, the United States of America and Uruguay. [8] The European Union joined the Agreement as a whole, bringing the number of countries that have acceded to the Agreement to 102 in fact. 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[15] Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, National Pelagic Fisheries Development Plan for the 13th Five-Year Plan. http://www.yyj.moa.gov.cn/yyyy/201904/t20190428_6248320.htm, 2017. [16] Bureau of Fisheries and Fisheries Administration, Highlights of Fisheries and Fisheries Administration Work in 2018. http://www.moa.gov.cn/govpublic/YYJ/201802/t20180223_6137354.htm, 2018. [17] The 2019 Key Points of Fisheries and Fisheries Administration Work states that it is necessary to "promote accession to the South Indian Ocean Fisheries Agreement and the Agreement on Port State Measures"; in June 2019, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and seven other ministries and commissions jointly released the National Strategic Plan for Quality Agriculture (2018-2022), stating that it is necessary to "increase efforts to to promote accession to the Agreement on Port State Measures"; and the Key Points for Fisheries and Fisheries Administration Work in 2020 states that it is necessary to "push forward the implementation of the goals of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and promote accession to the Agreement on Port State Measures". [18] Permanent Mission of the People's Republic of China to the United Nations, Statement by Ambassador Geng Shuang at the 77th session of the General Assembly under the topic "Oceans and the law of the sea". http://un.china-mission.gov.cn/hyyfy/202212/t20221210_10988286.htm, 2022. [19] Todd Woody, China is key to closing ports to illegally caught fish. https://chinadialogueocean.net/en/fisheries/11135-china-《Agreement-illegal-fishing/，2019. fishing/, 2019. [20] Article 2 of the Law on Ports [21] Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, National Coastal Fishing Port Construction Plan (2018-2025). https://www.gov.cn/zhengce/zhengceku/2018-12/31/content_5434021.htm, 2018. [22] The main certificates that the vessel needs to upload in the vessel profile form required for inspection are: nationality certificate, international tonnage certificate, international load line certificate, international certificate for the prevention of oil pollution, minimum safe manning certificate, CLC certificate, certificate of compliance of the shipping company, safety management certificate, security certificate, ship safety inspection (PSC, FSC) report and wreck removal liability insurance or other financial assurance The certificates are all related to ship safety and navigation safety, and there are no certificate requirements for IUU fishing inspections. [23] Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, White Paper on China's Pelagic Fisheries Compliance (2020). http://www.yyj.moa.gov.cn/gzdt/202011/t20201120_6356632.htm, 2020. 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