8. In pursuit of the instructions of the FAO governing bodies, the draft Code was formulated in such a course as to be consistent with the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, taking into account the 1992 Declaration of Cancún, the 1992 Rio Declaration and the provisions of Agenda 21 of UNCED, the conclusions and recommendations of the 1992 FAO Technical Consultation on High Seas Fishing, the strategies endorsed by the 1984 FAO World Conference on Fisheries Management and Development, and other relevant instruments including the outcome of the then ongoing United Nations Conference on Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks which, in August 1995, adopted an agreement for the implementation of the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982 concerning straddling fish stocks and highly migratory fish stocks.
19. The hundred and eighth session of the Council was presented with a revised edition of the Code of Conduct. The Council established an open-ended technical committee, which held its first session from 5 to 9 June 1995, with broad regional participation of Members and observers. A number of intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations also participated.
11. This technical consultation took place in Rome from 26 September to 5 October 1994 and a draft for the whole Code and a first draft of technical guidelines to support most of the thematic articles of the Code were presented. Following a thorough review of all the articles of the complete draft Code of Conduct, an alternative Secretariat draft was then prepared on the basis of comments made during the discussions in plenary and characteristic drafting changes submitted in writing during the consultation.
1. This annex describes the process of elaboration and negotiation of the Code, which led to its submission for adoption to the twenty-eighth session of the FAO Conference. It has been felt useful to annex this section as a reference to the origin and the development of the Code and accordingly reflect the interest generated and the spirit of concession of all the parties involved in its elaboration. It is hoped that this will contribute to the enhancement of the commitment necessary for its implementation.
9. The FAO Conference, at its twenty-seventh session in November 1993, adopted the Agreement to Promote Compliance with International Conservation and Management Measures by Fishing Vessels on the High Seas and recommended that the general principles of the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries be prepared on a "fast track" in order to guide formulation of thematic articles. Accordingly, a draft text of the general principles was reviewed by an informal working group of government-nominated experts, which met in Rome in February 1994. A revised draft was widely circulated to all FAO Members and Associate Members as well as intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations. Comments received on the second version of the general principles were incorporated in the draft Code together with proposals for an alternative text. This document was also the subject of informal consultations with non-governmental organizations on the occasion of the fourth session of the United Nations Conference on Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks, held in August 1994 in New York.
12. The consultation was able to elaborate one consolidated draft for 3 of the six thematic articles of the Code, i.e., Article 9 "Integration of Fisheries into Coastal Area Management", Article 6 "Fisheries Management", Article 7 "Fishing Operations", besides for those principles which were likely to be affected by the outcome of the ongoing UN Conference on Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks. A brief administrative report was prepared and presented to the FAO Council and to COFI.
6. The twentieth session of COFI, held in March 1993, examined general principles for such a Code, including the preparation of guidelines and endorsed a timetable for the further elaboration of the Code. It also requested FAO to prepare, on a "quick track" basis, as part of the Code, proposals to discourage reflagging of fishing vessels which affect conservation and management measures on the high seas.
7. The further development of the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries was therefore carried out in consultation and collaboration with relevant United Nations agencies and other international organizations including non-governmental organizations.
22. A revised version of the Code as approved by the open-ended technical committee at its first session (5-9 June 1995) and endorsed by the one hundred and eighth session of the Council was issued, both as a conference document (C 95/20) and as a working document for the second session of the technical committee. Elements pending agreement were clearly identified.
17. The Committee supported the suggestion endorsed by the hundred and seventh session of the Council on mechanisms to finalize the Code. The final wording of those principles dealing chiefly with issues concerning straddling fish stocks and highly migratory fish stocks, which formed only a small part of the Code, should be re-examined in the light of the outcome of the UN Conference. The group also recommended that once agreement was reached on the material, it would be necessary to harmonize legal, technical and linguistic aspects of the Code, in order to facilitate its final acceptance.
4. The Cancún Declaration was brought to the attention of the UNCED Rio Summit in June 1992, which supported the preparation of a Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries. The FAO Technical Consultation on High Seas Fishing, held in September 1992, further recommended the elaboration of a Code to address the issues regarding high seas fisheries.
5. The one hundred and second session of the FAO Council, held in November 1992, discussed the elaboration of the Code, advising that priority be given to high seas issues and requested that proposals for the Code be presented to the 1993 session of the Committee on Fisheries.
21. The Council approved the work carried out by the technical committee and endorsed its recommendation for a second session to be held from 25 to 29 September 1995 to complete the revision of the Code once the Secretariat had harmonized the text linguistically and juridically, taking into account the outcome of the UN Conference on Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks.
13. The technical consultation proposed to the Council at its hundred and seventh session, 15-24 November 1994, that the final wording of those principles dealing mainly with high seas issues be left in abeyance pending the outcome of the UN Conference. The Council generally endorsed the proposed procedure, noting that subsequent discussions at the next session of COFI, a final draft of the Code would be submitted to the FAO Council in June 1995 which would then decide upon the need for a technical committee to meet in parallel to that session of the Council in order to elaborate further the detailed provisions of the Code if required.
15. The Committee on Fisheries was also informed that the UN Conference was expected to conclude its work in August 1995. It was proposed that principles left in abeyance in the chart text of the Code could then be reconciled with the language accepted above by the UN session in accordance with a mechanism to be decided upon jointly by the Committee and the Council, before submission of the complete Code for its adoption at the twenty-eighth session of the FAO Conference in October 1995.
10. In order to facilitate consideration of the full text of the draft Code, the Director-General proposed to the Council at its hundred and sixth session in June 1994, that a technical consultation on the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fishing be organized, open to all FAO Members, interested non-members, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, in order to provide an opportunity for the widest involvement of all concerned parties at an early stage of its elaboration.
16. The Committee was informed of the various threads the Secretariat had undertaken in preparing the draft Code of Conduct. The Committee established an open-ended working group in mandate to review the draft text of the Code. The working group, which met from 10 to 14 March 1995, undertook a detailed revision of the draft Code continuing the work carried out by the technical consultation. It completed and agreed the text of Articles 8 to 11. In view of the time limitations, the working group gave instructions to the Secretariat to redraft Articles 1 to 5. It was also suggested that the elements of research and cooperation as well as aquaculture be included in Article 5, Common Principles, to reflect issues amplified in the thematic articles of the Code.
24. A second session of the open-ended technical committee of the Council met from 25 to 29 September 1995, with broad representation of regions and interested organizations. The committee, working in a full spirit of collaboration, successfully concluded its task, finalizing and endorsing all articles and the Code as a whole. The technical committee agreed that the negotiations of the text of the Code were finalized. An open-ended informal group on language harmonization held an additional session and, together with the Secretariat, completed the harmonization on the basis of the text as adopted at the closing session. The technical committee instructed the Secretariat to submit the finalized version as a revised conference document to the hundred and ninth session of the Council and to the twenty-eighth session of the Conference for its adoption. The Council endorsed the Code of Conduct as finalized by the technical committee. The Secretariat was requested to prepare the necessary draft resolution for the Conference, including also a call on countries to approve, as a matter of urgency, the compliance agreement adopted at the last session of the Conference. The twenty-eighth session of the Conference adopted on 31 October 1995, by consensus, the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries and the related resolution.
23. In order to facilitate the finalization of the entire Code, the Secretariat prepared the document "Secretariat Proposals for Article 6, Fisheries Management, and Article 7, Fishing Operations, of the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries", taking into account the Agreement relating to the Conservation and Management of Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks, adopted by the UN Conference in August 1995. The Secretariat also completed proposals for the harmonization of the text on legal and linguistic aspects and made this available to the committee in three languages for the session (English, French and Spanish).
20. The Council was informed by the technical committee that it had undertaken a thorough review of Articles 1 to 5 including the preamble. It had also examined, amended and approved Articles 8 to 11. The Council was also informed that the committee had started the revision of Article 6.
14. Based upon the actual comments and careful suggestions received at the technical consultation, the Secretariat elaborated a mended draft of the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries, which was submitted to the twenty-first session of the Committee on Fisheries, held from 10 to 15 March 1995.
Background to the Origin and Elaboration of the Code
3. Subsequently, the Government of Mexico, in collaboration with FAO, organized an international conference on responsible fishing in Cancún, in May 1992. The Declaration of Cancún endorsed at that conference further developed the concept of responsible fisheries, stating that "this concept encompasses the sustainable utilization of fisheries resources in harmony with the environment; the use of capture and aquaculture practices which are not harmful to ecosystems, resources or their quality; the incorporation of added value to such productions through transformation processes meeting the required sanitary standards; the conduct of trade practices so as to provide consumers access to agreeable quality products."
2. At various international fora, concern had long been expressed regarding the clear signs of over-exploitation of major fish stocks, damage to ecosystems, economic losses, and issues affecting fish trade - all of which threatened the long-term sustainability of fisheries and, in turn, impaired the contribution of fisheries to food supply. In discussing the present state and prospects of world fisheries, the nineteenth session of the FAO Committee on Fisheries (COFI), held in March 1991, recommended that FAO should develop the concept of responsible fisheries and detail a code of conduct to this end.
18. The report of the open-ended working group was presented to a ministerial meeting on fisheries, held on 14 and 15 March 1995, in conjunction with the COFI session. The Rome Consensus on World Fisheries emanating from this meeting urged that "governments and international organizations take urgent action to complete the international code of conduct for responsible fisheries with a view to submitting the final text to the FAO Conference in October 1995."