§ Mr. Heddleasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the adoption of commission document 8000/86 concerning the NAFO joint international enforcement scheme and commission document 8001/86 concerning a scientific observation programme in the NAFO regulatory area.
§ Mr. JoplingCommission document 8000/86 contains a draft decision concerning the scheme of joint international enforcement of the North-West Fisheries Atlantic Organisation and commission document 8001/86 contains a draft decision on the arrangements in the form of an exchange of letters between the Community and the Government of Canada on the establishment of a scientific observation programme in the regulatory area of the NAFO convention. In both cases the draft decisions were intended to authorise the Commission to withdraw from or terminate the existing schemes which had not in the Commission's view been working satisfactorily and to renegotiate successor arrangements.
At the meeting of the Fisheries Council on 25 June it was agreed these two international agreements should be renegotiated. Exceptionally, I agreed to the adoption of the two decisions in advance of the deposit of the documents in both Houses and the completion of the normal scrutiny procedures, so as not to delay the required notice of withdrawal from the current NAFO joint enforcement scheme by 30 June 1987 and termination of the scientific observation programme by 31 December 1986, as requested by the Commission.