Herring And Salmon

Herring and salmon in Global Commerce Policy

In this regard, herring and salmon is: a case brought by the United States against Canada in 1987 concerning Canadian regulations prohibiting the export or sale for export of unprocessed herring and pink and sockeye salmon. The facts were that Canada had proclaimed a regulation under the authority of the Fisheries Act of 1970 that “no person shall export from Canada any sockeye or pink salmon unless it is canned, salted, smoked, dried or frozen and has been inspected in accordance with the Fish Inspection Act”. The entries on trade policy are here. A similar provision applied to the export from the Province of British Columbia of food herring, roe herring, herring roe or herring spawn. Canada had also maintained since the early decades of the twentieth century governmental measures for the conservation, management and development of salmon and herring stocks in the waters off British Columbia. These measures included intergovernmental agreements and conventions. The entries on trade policy are here. At the time of this dispute, sockeye and pink and herring fisheries dominated commercial fishing of the Canadian West Coast. They gave employment to almost five- sixths of the workers in the British Columbia fish processing industry. Canada stated that the measures concerned were an integral and long- standing component of its West Coast fisheries conservation and management regime. They were therefore completely justified under GATT Article XX(g) which gives members the right not to apply the provisions of the Agreement if this necessary to conserve exhaustible natural resources, but only in conjunction with domestic restrictions on production and consumption. Canada also said that its strict quality and marketing regulations for the three species were necessary to maintain its reputation for safe, high-quality fish products. The entries on trade policy are here. In making its findings, the panel noted that Canada prohibited the export of fish not meeting its standards, but that it banned the export of certain unprocessed herring and salmon even if they met Canadian export standards. The panel therefore found that the export prohibitions were not necessary to maintain standards. The panel agreed that salmon and herring stocks were “exhaustible natural resources” and that harvest limitations were “restrictions on domestic production” as intended by Article XX(g). The entries on trade policy are here. It considered, however, that while a trade measure did not have to be essential to the conservation of an exhaustible natural resource, it had to be aimed primarily at conservation. The panel concluded finally that Canada’s export prohibitions could not be considered as aimed primarily at the conservation of salmon and herring stock because they only related to the export of these species in their unprocessed form. Canada only limited the purchases of unprocessed herring and salmon stocks by foreign processors and consumers, but not those by domestic processors and consumers. The panel therefore decided that the export prohibitions were not justified by Article XX(g) also. See also general exceptions and trade and environment.[1]

Herring and salmonin the wold Encyclopedia

For an introductory overview on international trade policy, see this entry.

Resources

Notes and References

1. Dictionary of Trade Policy, “Herring and salmon” entry (OAS)

See Also