Panama will implement the FAO information exchange

The General Manager of the Water Resources Authority of Panama (ARAP), Flor Torrijoswithin the framework of the fourth meeting of States party to the Agreement on Port State Measures under the aegis of FAO, indicated that the implementation Port State Measures (AMERP) it is a key element in the fight against illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

In her speech at the meeting, the head of ARAP said that in the last 3 years, Panama has invested more than 8 million dollars in the training, employment and training of a new team of fisheries analysts and inspectors who will cover all ports authorized in the country 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, with an inspection rate that gives 100 percent coverage.

Torrijos also pointed out that the country has a new Center for the supervision and control of fishingwhich remains operational 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, which monitors catch and transshipment operations in real time, is dedicated to the fight against illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, and most importantly transparency in fisheries management.

Flower Torrijos assured that during the year 2022, Panama experienced a significant drop in the number of fishing boats entering the country’s ports compared to 2021, due to the implementation of the measures, but he is aware that these vessels use other ports that are not part of the AMERP agreement, and even some are, but have poor implementation.

Panama representative before IV Meeting of the Parties to the FAO Agreement on AMERP, he explained that the exchange of information sometimes becomes a challenge, given that some signatory countries to the convention do not have their contact points updated on the FAO website.

Likewise, the Panamanian envoy indicated that the coordination of inspections in third countries has also become a challenge, especially with regard to the unloading of reefer ships, to the extent that “we have eliminated more than 40 ports from our list of the number of authorized ports for unloading or transshipment in order to guarantee DGMARE green cards until the end of 2023.

As an example of the implementation of AMERP, Torrijos pointed out that Panama applied fines in the amount of 3.2 million dollars. He used the opportunity to call on countries to make efforts not only in ratification, but also in implementation Measures of the port administration.

On the other hand, he emphasized that it is time to move from the pilot plan to the implementation phase of the Global Information System (GIES), and interested countries can do this voluntarily, as he proposes Uruguay, Ecuador and the European Union, among others. He added that the European Union believes that this is the only way to monitor the implementation The agreement on port state measures is to launch the GIES program.

This Tuesday, May 9, all foreign members agreed to move from the GIES pilot plan to voluntary implementation by all parties, starting in January 2024.