R E P O R T for biennial period, 2006-07 PART I (2006) - Vol ... - Iccat

ICCAT REPORT 2006-2007 (I)
Secretariat” (attached as Appendix 2 to ANNEX 8), presented by the Secretariat. He pointed out the major
points of the Committee’s discussion, and stressed the need for the Secretariat to continue its contacts with the
United Nations as regards joining the UN Pension Fund.
Mr. Jones pointed out that the Committee had provisionally approved the budget prepared for 2007, including
the proposals contained therein, pending the inclusion of possible financial repercussions that could result from
the work of Panel 2. The budget approved foresees an increase of 6.94% with respect to 2006.
The Secretariat presented an estimate of the costs that would be involved in the management of VMS data (STF-
137) foreseen in the proposal by Algeria, Croatia, European Community, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia and Turkey
for a Recommendation by ICCAT for a Multi-Annual Recovery Plan for Bluefin Tuna in the Eastern Atlantic and
Mediterranean (see ANNEX 5 [Rec. 06-05]), adopted by Panel 2.
The STACFAD Chairman also informed on the adoption of the amendment of the ICCAT Rules of Procedure on
Mail Voting and the payment plans for past due contributions presented in the document on the “Review of
Payment Plans of Arrears ”. With regard to the payment of past due contributions, Mr. Jones indicated that the
delegation of Libya had presented a proposal (STF-108) on the cancellation of the debts of developing countries,
on occasion of ICCAT’s 40 th anniversary and that no consensus was reached by the Committee on this proposal.
The Commission adopted the amendment of the ICCAT Rules of Procedure (attached as ANNEX 7.1) and the
payment plans of the past due contributions (attached as ANNEX 7.2), presented by the Committee. As concerns
Libya’s proposal, the Chairman together with various delegations, considered that the cancellation of debts was
not foreseen in the ICCAT Convention and that, under the current circumstances, discussion of this matter was
not warranted. There was a similar response to the proposal submitted by the Delegation of Libya to adopt the
Arabic language as an official language of ICCAT. It was explained that this adoption would have to be done by
a change to the Convention, would involve high costs, and that given views of Parties and time remaining in the
meeting, the issue could not be resolved at the 2006 meeting.
In relation to the budget, the Delegate of the EC pointed out that the data which, in accordance with the adopted
Recommendation by ICCAT to Establish a Multi-Annual Recovery Plan for Bluefin Tuna in the Eastern Atlantic
and Mediterranean (ANNEX 5 [Rec. 06-05]), should be managed by the Secretariat would not be available until
2008. Therefore, it was not necessary to include this expense in the 2007 budget. The Commission adopted the
budget and the Contracting Party contributions for 2007 (see Tables 1 to 5 of ANNEX 8).
The STACFAD Report was adopted and is attached as ANNEX 8.
Prior to closing this plenary session, the Chairman informed that, after consulting with the Heads of Delegations
and taking into account the encouraging results obtained by Mr. Driss Meski’s management since his
appointment as Executive Secretary, it is proposed that his contract be extended for a second five-year term,
upon completion of his current term.
This proposal was unanimously accepted and adopted
Mr. Meski appreciated the Commission’s confidence and recalled that his work was possible thanks to the
excellent team he has behind him at the Secretariat.
10. Reports of Panels 1 to 4 and consideration of any proposed recommendations therein
The Reports of Panels 1, 2, 3 and 4 were presented by their respective Chairpersons during the final Plenary
Session. The Commission reviewed the Reports and the Recommendations and Resolutions proposed by the
Panels and adopted the following measures:
Panel 1
Panel 1 did not propose any management measures to the Commission.
The Panel supported the SCRS Work Plan, including the meeting to assess bigeye tuna and a meeting to update
and monitor the various skipjack and yellowfin fishery indicators.
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