The European Union has lifted the four-year fishing exports ban imposed on Sri Lanka after the country reformed its fisheries governance system.
"The European Union (EU) announced that it has lifted the ban on Sri Lankan fishing imports," Minister of Fisheries Mahinda Amaraweera said.
The 28-nation bloc said in a statement that "after a lengthy dialogue process Sri Lanka has now successfully reformed its fisheries governance system".
"By today it has amended its legal framework, strengthened sanctions and improved its fleet control," the statement said.
With this decision Sri Lanka joins the growing list of countries (Ghana, Papua New Guinea, Korea, the Philippines, Fiji, Belize, Panama, Togo and Vanuatu) that have reformed their systems, following action by the EU.
Sri Lanka was issued with a yellow card in 2012 and listed by the Council in February 2015. This was the result of a long standing failure to address serious shortcomings in the implementation of control measures, a lack of deterrent sanctions, as well as the failure to comply with international and regional fisheries rules.
Sri Lanka was the second biggest exporter of fresh and chilled swordfish and tuna to the EU. The import value in 2013 was 74 million Euro.
The decisions are based on the EU's 'IUU Regulation', which entered into force in 2010. This key instrument in the fight against illegal fishing ensures that only fisheries products that have been certified as legal can access the EU market.
