FAO.org

The Thirty-fifth Session of the Committee on Fisheries (COFI) has considered the outcome of the Technical Consultation on Voluntary Guidelines for Transshipment, held earlier this year, and endorsed the Voluntary Guidelines for Transshipment as a new instrument within the framework of the FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries.

COFI has further called for the implementation of the Voluntary Guidelines, including through regional fishery management organizations and arrangements (RFMO/As).

The new Voluntary Guidelines seek to assist States, RFMOs, and other intergovernmental organizations, by providing standards they should apply when developing or reviewing policies and regulations governing transshipment.

Regulating, monitoring and controlling transshipment supports sustainable fisheries and further closes loopholes for fish derived from illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing from entering the markets.

In earlier Sessions, COFI had tasked the FAO Secretariat with undertaking global studies on transshipment to support the development of these Voluntary Guidelines, the results of which confirmed that a lack of regulation, monitoring and control increases the risk of fish caught through IUU fishing entering the seafood supply chain, undermining sustainable fisheries.

FAO's current work on transshipment is funded by the European Union and Germany. 

Read more on FAO's work on Transshipment, here.