Colombian high-level delegates meet to discuss next steps related to the PSMA
High-level delegates from the Fisheries, Foreign Affairs, Navy, Maritime, Port and Customs authorities of Colombia met with experts of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) today, to take stock of progress made by Colombia to adhere to the 2009 FAO Agreement on Port State Measures (PSMA) to prevent, deter and eliminate illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.
During the Third Meeting of the Parties to the PSMA, held virtually in 2021, Colombia expressed its commitment to combat IUU fishing and to continue working on strengthening the national capacity to implement the provisions of the PSMA.
Today’s meeting, organized jointly by FAO, the National Fisheries Authority and the Colombian Ocean Commission, and funded by the European Union, aimed to recap the national level initiatives implemented in the last years related to the PSMA with the support of FAO, and to provide an update on the status of the national procedure to adhere to the PSMA.
The drafting of a legal instrument establishing the interagency procedures to implement port State measures to combat IUU fishing was highlighted as an important activity in the last year, as once finalized and adopted, this instrument will provide the legal basis for the effective implementation of the PSMA.
Authorities participating in the meeting agreed on the importance of adhering to the PSMA and made a commitment to work collaboratively to achieve this goal, as well as to work together with FAO to review the draft proposal of the legal instrument to setup the interagency procedure to implement Port State measures to combat IUU fishing and adopt it before the end of the year.
See photos from the meeting, here.