Fourth meeting of the Technical Working Group on Information Exchange held to discuss initial stages of GIES operationalization
30 Parties and 4 non-parties to the FAO Agreement on Port State Measures (PSMA) together with regional fishery bodies met for the first time since the operationalization of the PSMA Global Information Exchange System (GIES), at the fourth Technical Working Group on Information Exchange (TWG-IE).
The TWG-IE meeting was held to, amongst others, discuss the first steps in the operationalization of the GIES.
The meeting was held in Panama City, in Panama, between the 18 – 22 March 2024.
The TWG-IE is a working group established by the Parties to the PSMA to provide guidance on elaborating information exchange mechanisms and other technical matters, in the implementation of the Agreement. The TWG-IE is in charge of guiding the implementation of the GIES.
The PSMA is a binding international agreement that targets illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing. Its objective is to prevent, deter and eliminate IUU fishing by preventing vessels engaged in IUU fishing from using ports and landing their catches.
During the fourth meeting of the TWG-IE, the participants discussed the initial stages of the operationalization, the status of connectivity to GIES, the implementation work plan, and the use of GIES in the monitoring of the implementation of the Agreement among other matters.
The fourth meeting, held with the financial support of the European Union, convened a total of 64 technical experts from 33 States and the European Union, and representatives from intergovernmental organizations and non-governmental organizations.
The fifth meeting of the TWG-IE is expected to take place in early 2025.