15 December 2008

[US] Petition Seeks to Ban Imports of Swordfish

This article is extracted from the 15 December 2008 edition of “WorldTrade Interactive”.

The National Marine Fisheries Service is inviting public comments by Jan. 29 on a petition asking NMFS to initiate a rulemaking that would ban certain imports of swordfish.

The Marine Mammal Protection Act requires the government to ban the importation of commercial fish or products from fish that have been caught with commercial fishing technology that results in the incidental kill or serious injury of ocean mammals in excess of U.S. standards. For the purposes of such action the DOC is required to insist on reasonable proof from the government of any nation from which fish or fish products will be exported to the U.S. of the effects on ocean mammals of the commercial fishing technology in use for such fish….