FAO Fisheries Report No. 708

Report of the
EXPERT CONSULTATION ON INTERNATIONAL FISH TRADE AND FOOD SECURITY

Casablanca, Morocco, 27-30 January 2003

FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS
Rome, 2003

The designations employed and the presentation of material in this information product do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations concerning the legal or development status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.

FAO.
Report of the Expert Consultation on International Fish Trade and Food Security. Casablanca, Morocco, 27 - 30 January 2003
FAO Fisheries Report. No. 708. Rome, FAO. 2003. 213p.

Abstract

The Expert Consultation on International Fish Trade and Food Security met in Casablanca, Morocco, for four days starting 27 January 2003. Nine experts from eight countries, invited in their individual capacity, attended the meeting. Mr Driss Meski, President of INFOSAMAK, was elected as Chair. Recommendations were made as follows: a) conduct a background study on the normative framework for fish trade and food security; b) organize a consultative process on the normative framework; c) prepare technical guidelines for the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries (CCRF) on fish trade and food security; d) train and improve capacity of policy makers and technical personnel on international issues dealing with fish trade and food security; e) integrate the fish trade and food security issues into the proposed “FAO Technical Cooperation Project - WTO”; f) expand the FAO work on the distribution of costs and benefits in the fishing industry; g) prepare an analytical framework taking into account conflicting interests with specific illustrative case studies; h) conduct studies on the impact of fish trade on household food security; i) develop medium and long-term projections on the impact of fish trade on food security. In this respect: a) gender aspects and marginalized groups should be taken into account; b) FAO Fisheries Department should continue to seek further synergies through collaboration with other FAO departments and other competent international agencies (e.g. IFPRI and World Fish Centre, etc.); c) FAO should disseminate widely the results of the work programme, including the private sector using the FISHINFO network, which was recognized as an important tool for this purpose; and d) promote regional trade for food security.