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Beijing, 22 April 2002 - Negative environmental
impacts of fish farming, consumers' concern for product
safety and trade barriers for aquaculture products from
developing countries were some of the important topics addressed
at the first session of FAO's Sub-Committee on Aquaculture,
which took place in Beijing 18-22 April.
"Aquaculture plays a crucial role in rural
development and in the fight against hunger, but as in any other
sector there are also problems," according to Mr Rohana
Subasinghe, Secretary of the Sub-Committee on Aquaculture and
FAO's focal point for the meeting. "During our
meeting the problems got on the table and, more importantly, a
wealth of suggestion on how to move ahead were put forward. It
was very constructive and promising for the future
work," he said.
When discussing
the implementation of aquaculture-related provisions of the Code
of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries*, the 100 delegates from
governments, and inter-governmental organizations, UN agencies
and international non-governmental organizations recognized that
good environment and consumer health are key factors that need
to be addressed to develop a sustainable aquaculture industry.
"We discussed proper use of
chemicals and antibiotics in fish farming and the need for
better resource management. Many participants stressed the
importance of food quality and product safety," said Mr
Subasinghe. To address the problems the meeting suggested
carrying out a series of environmental, social, economic risk
assessment studies of the aquaculture sector to gather reliable
information on the risks that apply to aquaculture operations.
If such information was available, it could encourage more
governments to engage in aquaculture and prevent the current
misinformation of consumers.
The meeting
acknowledged that aquaculture, including culture-based
fisheries, makes an important contribution to poverty
alleviation and food security, and the delegates also
acknowledged the increasing importance of international trade in
aquaculture products. In 1999, aquatic products (including
plants) valued at US$ 53.5 billion were produced, and
aquaculture contributed almost a third of global fisheries
production. Since fish supply from marine capture fisheries in
most countries is expected to remain constant or even to
decline, aquaculture will play a major role in meeting the
predicted growing demand for fish.
It was
pointed out by several delegates that a "certification
system of best practices" for aquaculture production
could facilitate an expansion of global trade in aquaculture
products, as it most probably would increase consumers'
trust in the products. Other delegates argued that such a system
could be seen as a trade barrier and have negative consequences
for developing countries' access to foreign markets. Many
delegates called for harmonization of import and export
standards on food quality in order to avoid non-tariff trade
barriers and ensure free access to international markets. The
meeting suggested that FAO, as an impartial third party, should
develop guidelines for an elaboration of a transparent and
non-discriminatory "certification of best
practices" procedure. It was also emphasized that
developed countries should provide technical assistance to
developing countries to assist them in meeting food safety
certification obligations.
With an overall
growth rate of 11 percent a year since 1984, aquaculture is the
world's fastest growing food-producing sectors. 90 percent
of the total aquaculture production comes from developing
countries, particularly countries in Asia. "In Africa
and Latin America the potential is far from fully
reached," Mr Subasinghe said. But both he and the
report from the Sub-Committee point out the urgent need for
capacity building, training, technology transfer and information
exchange. "It is crucial that developed countries
assist developing countries in this process, but there is also a
huge potentialfor south-south cooperation between those
developing countries which already have a well functioning
aquaculture sector and those which are yet to get
started," Mr Subasinghe said, adding:
"Cooperation and support at all levels - both
technically and financially, within countries and between
countries, bilaterally and multilaterally - are key elements if
we want to implement the suggestions put forward by this meeting
and to ensure a sustainable development of
aquaculture".
The Sub-Committee on
Aquaculture was established by the 24th meeting of FAO's
Committee on Fisheries (COFI) in 2001. The aim is to provide a
neutral forum for consultation and discussion on aquaculture and
to advise COFI on technical and policy matters related to
aquaculture and on the work to be performed by the FAO in the
subject matter field of aquaculture. The next meeting of the
Sub-Committee will be held in Norway in August 2003.
*The Code of Conduct for Responsible
Fisheries, brought into effect in 1995, sets out principles and
international standards of behaviour for responsible practices
with a view to ensuring the effective conservation, management
and development of living aquatic resources, with due respect to
ecosystem and biodiversity
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