*EPF507 05/14/2004
Text: Thai Wild Shrimp Embargoed over Turtle Conservation
(State Dept. issues notice of April 30 decision) (780)

Thailand has been dropped from the list of countries eligible to export wild shrimp to the United States because of concerns about conservation of endangered turtles, a notice from the State Department says.

The notice in the May 14 Federal Register details the department's April 30 decision, effective May 14, that imposes an embargo on wild shrimp imports from uncertified countries. It lists the countries whose exports are certified as eligible because those countries' practices pose no harm to endangered sea turtles.

Thailand joins a few other countries lacking State Department certification that otherwise could export wild shrimp to the U.S. market. Those countries include Bangladesh, Haiti, India, Indonesia, Nigeria and Venezuela; some were rejected for certification, and others never sought certification.

The department is working with rejected countries to make certification possible. Uncertified countries are still eligible to export to the United States shrimp raised by aquaculture.

The State Department certified 14 countries, most of them around the Caribbean, that require their shrimpers to employ turtle-excluder devices to protect the turtles, measures comparable to requirements imposed on U.S. shrimpers.

The department also certified 16 countries whose shrimpers ply cold waters where the threat to turtles is negligible. Eight countries plus Hong Kong were certified because their shrimpers employ manual rather than mechanical means to harvest shrimp or conduct the harvest in ways not harmful to turtles.

The United States defeated a challenge to its shrimp-turtle law in the World Trade Organization.

Following is the text of the Federal Register notice:

(begin text)

Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs; Certifications Pursuant to Section 609 of Public Law 101-162

SUMMARY: On April 30, 2004, the Department of State certified, pursuant to Section 609 of Public Law 101-162 ("Section 609"), that 14 nations have adopted programs to reduce the incidental capture of sea turtles in their shrimp fisheries comparable to the program in effect in the United States. The Department also certified that the fishing environments in 24 other countries and one economy, Hong Kong, do not pose a threat of the incidental taking of sea turtles protected under Section 609. Shrimp imports from any nation not certified were prohibited effective May 1, 2004 pursuant to Section 609.

EFFECTIVE DATE: May 14, 2004.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: James Story, Office of Marine Conservation, Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, Department of State, Washington, DC 20520-7818; telephone: (202) 647-2335.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 609 of Public Law 101-162 prohibits imports of certain categories of shrimp unless the President certifies to the Congress not later than May 1 of each year either: (1) That the harvesting nation has adopted a program governing the incidental capture of sea turtles in its commercial shrimp fishery comparable to the program in effect in the United States and has an incidental take rate comparable to that of the United States; or (2) that the fishing environment in the harvesting nation does not pose a threat of the incidental taking of sea turtles. The President has delegated the authority to make this certification to the Department of State. Revised State Department guidelines for making the required certifications were published in the Federal Register on July 2, 1999 (Vol. 64, No. 130, Public Notice 3086).

On April 30, 2004, the Department certified 14 nations on the basis that their sea turtle protection programs are comparable to that of the United States: Belize, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Panama, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago.

The Department also certified 24 shrimp harvesting nations and one economy as having fishing environments that do not pose a danger to sea turtles. Sixteen nations have shrimping grounds only in cold waters where the risk of taking sea turtles is negligible. They are: Argentina, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Russia, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and Uruguay. Eight nations and one economy only harvest shrimp using small boats with crews of less than five that use manual rather than mechanical means to retrieve nets, or catch shrimp using other methods that do not threaten sea turtles. Use of such small-scale technology does not adversely affect sea turtles. The eight nations and one economy are: the Bahamas, China, the Dominican Republic, Fiji, Hong Kong, Jamaica, Oman, Peru and Sri Lanka.

The Department of State has communicated the certifications under Section 609 to the Office of Trade Program of the United States Customs Service.

Dated: May 5, 2004.
David A Balton,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Oceans and Fisheries, Department of State.

(end text)

(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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