MANILA, Philippines—The Tuna Canners Association of the Philippines (TCAP) said it would ask the European Commission to postpone a certification program for fishery products entering the European Union (EU) starting Jan. 1, 2010.

TCAP executive director Francisco J. Buencamino said in an interview that the scheme against illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing would make it more expensive for tuna canners to export to EU.

With the scheme, he said, their cost would go up by about 15 percent.

Buencamino said it would add to the difficulties of local tuna canners since they had increased their tuna imports by 30 percent.

He said canners resorted to importation as local tuna became more expensive and “traceability is a concern.”

He said TCAP would submit a formal request to the EU through the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) and the Department of Trade and Industry.

BFAR Director Malcolm I. Sarmiento had yet to receive the request but said he would support it.

“If they say they will have problems with the timeframe, I’ll endorse their call for a delay in the implementation of the EU regulation,” Sarmiento said.

The EU is one of the top export destinations of local canned tuna. In 2008, it imported $388 million worth of tuna products from the Philippines.

The EU Agriculture and Fisheries Council adopted last year a rule providing that canned tuna exports must be accompanied by the processor’s statement containing information on the link between the processed products and the fish used as raw materials.

The raw material should be accompanied by the catch certificates validated by the flag state of the fishing vessel that caught the fish.

The number of health certificates and the approval number of the processing plant will have to be mentioned on the statement to ensure the link between the finished products and the raw materials.
The rule aims to prevent the entry of illegally caught fish products into the EU.