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The Diplomatic Conference
on the Safety of Fishing
Vessels conducted by the
United Nations International
Maritime Organization (IMO)
from October 9 to 11 in Cape
Town, South Africa has adopted
a new agreement on fishing
vessel safety, to be known as the
“Cape Town Agreement of 2012
on the Implementation of the
Provisions of the 1993 Protocol
Relating to the Torremolinos
International Convention for the
Safety of Fishing Vessels, 1977”.
The diplomatic conference
was attended by 62 Member-
States of the IMO, the specialized
agency of the UN with
responsibility for maritime safety
and security and the prevention
of pollution from ships.
The Philippine delegation
was headed by H.E. Enrique
Manalo, Ambassador of the
Philippines to the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and
Permanent Representative to
the IMO. He was joined by
assistant head of the delegation,
Atty. Francisco Noel Fernandez
III, Political Affairs Minister,
Embassy of the Philippines
in London, and Alternate
Permanent Representative of
the Philippines to the IMO.
The advisers in the Philippine
delegation was composed of DA
delegates, namely, Director Asis
Perez of the Bureau of Fisheries
and Aquatic Resources (BFAR);
Dr. Jonathan Dickson, Chief
of BFAR Capture Fisheries
Division; Sarah Bales, Chief
of the NAFC’s Fisheries and
Aquaculture Section; as well as
Engr. Jose Venancio Vero, Jr.
Director of the Maritime Safety
Office of the Maritime Industry
Authority (MARINA) under the
Department of Transportation
and Communication (DOTC).
The observers, on the other
hand, were Rosanna Bernadette
Contreras, Executive Director of
SOCSKSARGEN Federation of
Fishing and Allied Industries, Inc.
(SFFAI); Earl Edgardo Alonso,
Attaché, Philippine Embassy
in South Africa; and Steven
Chaimowits, Honorary Consul,
Philippine Honorary Consulate
in Cape Town, South Africa.
6
UN maritime conference adopts new
agreement on fishing vessel safety
NAFC representative among Philippine delegates
October to December 2012
The Diplomatic Conference on the Safety of Fishing Vessels
was held to consider a new agreement on the implementation
of the Torremolinos Protocol of 1993 Relating to the
Torremolinos Convention, 1997 for the Safety of Fishing
Vessels.
In his opening remarks,
IMO Secretary-General Koji
Sekimizu addressed the need
to come up with an agreement
that will help boost the
state of the fishing industry.
“The significant changes
in the fishing industry globally
in the last twenty years call
for renewed regulatory efforts,
and the time is now ripe for an
Agreement to be concluded such
that its objectives be met on an
international basis,” he said.
“The Agreement reflects our
renewed commitment and good
hope that the provisions of the
1993 Toremolinos Protocol will
come into force, this time, in the
very near future. I encourage all
IMO member states and those
which have a large number of
fishing vessels, in particular,
to ratify the Agreement
without delay,” he added.
The 1977 Torremolinos
Convention was adopted in
Torremolinos, Spain on April
2, 1977 to provide uniform
principles and rules concerning
construction, equipment,
stability, radio communications
and other safety of new decked,
seagoing fishing vessels of
24 meters in length and over.
Due to technical difficulties,
however, the Convention did not
enter into force. As an alternative
solution, a Protocol was
adopted in 1993 amending the
Convention 16 years after. The
Torremolinos Protocol updates,
amends and absorb the parent
Convention, taking into account
the technological evolution in the
intervening years and the need
to take a pragmatic approach
to encourage ratification of
the instruments. The Protocol
covers fishing vessels of 24
meters in length and over.
The DA, through
BFAR and NAFC, took an
active role in consolidating
the commercial fisheries
sector in crafting a position
paper, which was presented
during the said conference.
As urged by the Ocean
Concerns Office of the
Department of Foreign Affairs
(OCO-DFA), NAFC convened
a stakeholders’ meeting on June
1, 2012, which officially formed
the Task Force on Torremolinos
Convention and Protocol (TF-
TCP) led by BFAR, together with
the MARINA, with members
composed of the representatives
from OCO-DFA, NTC, NAFC
and industry organizations,
namely, Alliance of Philippine
Fishing Federations, Inc.,
Inter-island Deep Sea Fishing,
Inc., SFFAII, and Southern
Philippines Deep Sea Fishing
Association, Inc.. This initiative
recognized the need to assess
the impacts of the Torremolinos
Protocol on the Philippine
fisheries industry for compliance
with the Protocol’s standard
requirements for fishing vessels.
The task force prepared
the Philippine position that
was submitted to the IMO.
The Cape Town Agreement
of 2012 will enter into force 12
months after the date, on which
22 States having an aggregate
number of 3,000 fishing vessels
of 24 meters in length or 300 gross
tons capacity and over operating
on the high seas, have expressed
their consent to be bound by it.
The Agreement will be open
for signature at IMO Headquarters
from 11 February 2013 to 10
February 2014 and thereafter
remain open for accession.
The inter-agency technical
working group led by the DA
will conduct follow-through
consultations to report the result
of the Cape Town Conference and
to solicit stakeholders’ positions
on the Philippine ratification
to the Cape Town Agreement
on the implementation of the
1993 Torremolinos Protocol.
The Philippine delegation in the IMO diplomatic conference in
Cape Town, South Africa, with Sarah Bales (fifth from left), Chief of
the Fisheries and Aquaculture Section, representing NAFC.