[Title] Paracas Declaration: Third APEC Oceans-Related Ministerial Meeting
We, the APEC Oceans-Related Ministers, met on October 11-12, 2010 in Paracas, Peru, under the theme "Healthy Oceans and Fisheries Management towards Food Security".
Acknowledging that we met at a time of economic challenge as the global economy continued to recover from a recession, in the wake of a spike in food prices that drew attention to food-insecure and undernourished populations and served as a wake up call about the vulnerabilities of long term food security, in the face of intensifying effects of climate change on ecosystems, economies and societies alike, and when marine ecosystems were under increasing stress due to a growing range of activities, and in some cases have been damaged by catastrophic events;
Considering that in the 2008 Leaders Statement on the Global Economy and in the 2009 Leaders Declaration, APEC Leaders expressed their determination to resist protectionism, their support for the multilateral trading system and for the 1994 Bogor Goals of free and open trade and investment, and their commitment to respond to food security challenges in the region, and requested the implementation of a long-term strategy for economic growth that is balanced within and across economies, inclusive of all citizens, environmentally sustainable, innovative, and supportive of the economic and physical security of our citizens;
Reaffirming the 2002 Seoul Oceans Declaration, adopted at the first AOMM held in the Republic of Korea, as our commitment to domestic and collective action for the sustainable development of our oceans, seas and coasts, including their resources;
Taking into account that at the second AOMM in 2005 in Bali, Indonesia, we adopted the Bali Plan of Action (BPA) "Towards Healthy Oceans and Coasts for the Sustainable Growth and Prosperity of the Asia Pacific Community," which stated our collective determination to work towards ensuring the sustainable management of the marine environment and its resources, providing for sustainable economic benefits from the oceans, and enabling sustainable development of coastal communities; and the subsequent assessment undertaken by the MRCWG and FWG of the implementation of this Plan of Action, which revealed areas for further attention, in particular ecosystem- based management and climate change;
We the APEC Oceans-Related Ministers will focus our efforts on the following four sub-themes:
1. Sustainable Development and Protection of the Marine Environment. Marine ecosystems are being used for an increasing variety and intensity of activities, resulting in more stress on these systems through, among other issues, habitat damage, marine and land-based pollution and invasive species. Studies on the state of the marine environment and its resources show a continuous degradation of the ecosystem's health. Eighty per cent of the fish populations are considered over-exploited or fully exploited. There is a worrying decline of marine biodiversity caused by ineffective management practices, climate change and marine pollution among other things.
Conserving the integrity of marine ecosystems requires our urgent attention. We recognize that the greatest possible benefits from marine environments can be obtained if we acquire a better understanding of oceans and their associated economic, social and environmental benefits, and improve our ability to sustainably manage marine ecosystems, particularly through better understanding and implementation of ecosystem- based management.
2. Impact of Climate Change on the Oceans. The oceans and the benefits derived from them are being threatened by climate change through temperature increases, changing distributions of living marine resources, sea level rise, increasing variability in ocean conditions, more frequent catastrophic weather events and ocean acidification. Many of these effects are already occurring and will likely intensify in the coming years. We also note that many of these changes will occur more quickly and be more pronounced in polar regions. We require a better understanding of the nature and magnitude of these changes and their effects and insights on what policy approaches will best allow our people and economies to adapt to these changes.
3. Promote Free and Open Trade and Investment. Export earnings of APEC economies from fisheries and aquaculture products were 46 billion USD in 2007, including 37 billion USD in trade between APEC member economies. Trade and investment in sustainably managed fisheries and aquaculture contribute to economic growth, poverty alleviation and food security, and create employment in all economic sectors in the region while relying on healthy marine ecosystems. However, we are concerned by the growing adoption of unilateral measures that can create unjustified barriers to trade of fisheries products if inconsistent with international obligations. We, therefore, reaffirm our commitment to free and open trade and investment in a transparent, rules-based multilateral trade system.
4. The Role of Oceans in Food Security. The APEC region accounts for more than two-thirds of the world's capture fisheries and aquaculture production, and our populations consume 70% of the world's fish products. Per capita supply of fish in the APEC region is 65% higher than the world average, and fish provides a significant portion of animal protein consumption in the region, especially in low-income food-deficit economies. However, food security is threatened by fishing overcapacity, lllegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing, maritime crime and piracy, marine invasive species, climate change and other stressors. These activities must be addressed through effective measures including sustainable resource management, while processing, distribution and trade systems must be oriented in such a way as to maximize and balance these economic, social and nutritional benefits.
In light of these four priorities, we endorse the attached Paracas Action Agenda, and instruct the appropriate APEC working groups, as necessary, to carry out those actions in coordination with relevant APEC bodies and other institutions.
We look forward to conveying the outcomes of our meeting to the first APEC Ministerial Meeting on Food Security, to be held October 16-17, 2010 in Niigata, Japan, which has a goal of developing strategies of cooperation in food security among the APEC economies and we applaud the attention given to the vital contribution of marine resources and fisheries and aquaculture products to food security in the APEC region.
We underscore the need to continue to consider the vital contribution of marine resources and fisheries and aquaculture products to food security in all relevant dialogues and note that this can be a particular contribution by APEC given that ocean products are overlooked in many such discussions.
We express our appreciation to Peru for hosting the Third Oceans-related Ministerial Meeting and for the excellent arrangements that have been provided in Paracas.
Finally, we will bring the outcomes of this meeting to the attention of our Leaders at their meeting in November 2010 in Yokohama, Japan.
End.
PARACAS ACTION AGENDA
Third APEC Oceans-Related Ministerial Meeting – AOMM3
Healthy Oceans and Fisheries Management Towards Food Security
Given the Paracas Declaration, in which we focus on four main areas: sustainable development and protection of the marine environment; impact of climate change on the oceans; free and open trade and investment; and the role of oceans in food security to address key oceans-related challenges and reaffirming the commitments made in the 2002 Seoul Ocean Declaration and reaffirming and extending the 2005 Bali Plan of Action, we manifest our commitment to strengthen their implementation through the following actions:
1. SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND PROTECTION OF THE MARINE ENVIRONMENT
1.1 Understanding of the Marine Environment
We ask the appropriate APEC working groups, as necessary, to seek ways to promote cooperation among APEC economies to contribute towards regional assessments in the APEC region and understanding the marine ecosystem.
We request the appropriate APEC working groups, as necessary, to consider cooperation on activities related to the monitoring and control of marine invasive species, building on existing initiatives and previous APEC projects.
1.2 Sustainable Management of the Marine Environment We encourage and promote capacity building, information sharing and experience dissemination on implementing Ecosystem Based Management (EBM) approaches among APEC economies in order to protect human health, provide economic and social benefits, and contribute to food security in the APEC region.
To that end, we promote and support activities regarding domestic marine and coastal spatial planning, improving the management and effectiveness of existing Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and their connectivity in networks and the creation of new MPAs based on the best scientific information available and in collaboration, as appropriate, with relevant international organizations including Regional Fisheries Management Organizations and Arrangements (RFMO/As), in order to protect and prevent significant adverse impacts to marine biodiversity, habitats and ecosystems and to promote sustainability of fisheries and other marine resources.
We support efforts by APEC economies to develop programs for the conservation of marine biodiversity such as the implementation, as appropriate, of the Program of Work on Marine and Coastal Biodiversity of the Convention on Biological Diversity, as well as the measures agreed in FAO, RFMO/As and other relevant fora which aim to reduce the continuing loss of biodiversity.
We encourage partnerships with UNEP's Regional Seas Programs, and other relevant fora in the Pacific, as appropriate, such as the Coral Triangle Initiative, to promote coordinated and effective protection of the marine environment throughout the APEC region.
We welcome the establishment of the "APEC Research and Training Center for Marine Biodiversity Conservation and Ecosystem Management" (APEC RTC-EBM), addressing the capacity building needs in managing and understanding marine biodiversity.
1.3 Pollution
We encourage APEC economies to reduce both sea and land-based sources of marine pollution and marine debris, both domestically and regionally, by inter alia implementing, as appropriate, the UNEP's Global Program of Action (UNEP-GPA) for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-based Activities, and in addressing these issues consider partnerships with stakeholders and the use of market-based incentives, and other activities and initiatives.
We support greater efforts towards regional cooperation to prevent and combat marine pollution in cases of emergency, particularly for releases of noxious and hazardous substances and oil spills, and encourage the appropriate APEC working groups, as necessary, to determine the feasibility of developing a regional or sub-regional contingency plan for combating marine pollution by oil and other hazardous substances.
2. IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON THE OCEANS We support initiatives by APEC economies to cooperate in the gathering and sharing of scientific knowledge on climate change and its impacts on coastal and marine ecosystems, fisheries, and aquaculture.
We encourage APEC economies to promote greater cooperation on climate change mitigation and adaptation, with other APEC economies and more broadly.
We also encourage increased efforts by APEC economies to improve the capacity of coastal communities, fishing industries, and resource managers to respond and adapt to climate change.
We promote an increase in stakeholder participation and public awareness about the impacts of climate change on the oceans and their resources.
We express our strong and active support for the ongoing UNFCCC process.
We recognize the contribution of the 2009 World Ocean Conference in elevating attention to the role and importance of oceans in climate change, and welcome the Manado Oceans Declaration.
We will pursue efforts through appropriate APEC working groups and other APEC fora to improve understanding of the role of the oceans in climate change through dedicated research and observations and work together to support community resilience and planning for adaptation to the adverse effects of climate change.
3. PROMOTE FREE AND OPEN TRADE AND INVESTMENT
We stress the importance of the fisheries subsidies negotiations as part of the World Trade Organization Doha Development Agenda and urge the APEC economies to actively commit to a successful and effective outcome of these negotiations, in line with the 2005 WTO Hong Kong Ministerial mandate to strengthen disciplines on subsidies in the fisheries sector, taking into account the importance of the fisheries sector for poverty reduction, job creation, and food security.
We recognize the efforts of the relevant international organizations such as FAO, Codex Alimentarius Commission, the International Office of Epizootics and other international and regional organizations to promote within these organizations the development of standards, guidelines, and recommendations with respect to sanitary and phytosanitary issues in fisheries.
We support the further development and implementation, as appropriate, of traceability tools (e.g. trade tracking, other trade-related tools, port state measures related to traceability), including in RFMOs/As, in order to address challenges associated with effective conservation and management of fisheries and oceans resources such as IUU fishing.
We encourage APEC economies to support regional and global efforts to harmonize traceability tools and to minimize as much as possible the costs of their implementation. To further such harmonization efforts, we support the development of FAO best practice guidelines for catch documentation schemes and traceability in an effort to avoid differing unilateral import requirements.
We support trade and investment facilitation measures that are consistent with sustainable resource management.
4. THE ROLE OF OCEANS IN FOOD SECURITY
Given the importance of fisheries and aquaculture products to food security in APEC economies, we promote the sustainable management of fisheries and aquaculture resources both domestically and internationally through, inter alia, application of science to management, implementation of ecosystem approaches, and a precautionary approach to fisheries, and ensuring that sufficient institutional capacity is in place. Recognizing that productive fisheries and aquaculture require healthy, well-managed ecosystems, we note that the priorities and actions proposed under "Sustainable development and protection of the marine environment" will also support food security.
We support initiatives by APEC economies that incorporate sustainably managed small pelagic fish for human consumption. These initiatives contribute to the achievement of a more competitive and stable supply of fish and fisheries products, and thus food security, in the region.
We further support initiatives by APEC economies regarding information sharing about research and technology related to the sustainability of fisheries and capacity building on safety of the aquaculture supply chain.
We support ongoing cooperative and sustainable management of international fisheries, including within the framework of relevant RFMO/As. In this regard, we welcome the adoption of the "Convention on the Conservation and Management of High Seas Fishery Resources in the South Pacific Ocean" and encourage APEC economies, as appropriate, to take the necessary steps to become party to the convention and participate in the work of the RFMO to be established by that Convention. At the same time, we encourage the early completion of negotiations for the creation of the North Pacific RFMO.
We call upon all APEC economies to improve cooperation internationally and with competent international organizations to eliminate IUU fishing and piracy activities, recognizing the damages and losses they inflict upon the fisheries sector and food security in the APEC region; and to consider ratification and implementation of the "Agreement on Port State Measures to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate IUU Fishing".
We commit to align the capacity of the world's fishing fleets with the productivity of their target fish stocks, recognizing the special circumstances and requirements of developing economies and their interests in developing their fisheries consistent with relevant international instruments.
We support initiatives by APEC economies that aim at increasing efficiencies and reducing losses in the supply chain (for example, from improper handling and storage), in order to maximize the economic, social and nutritional benefits to the people of the region.
We support free and open trade in a transparent, rules-based multilateral trading system which contributes to food security, both directly by allowing efficient movement of safe fisheries and aquaculture products to where they are most needed, and indirectly by contributing to economic growth, poverty alleviation, and employment.
5. COOPERATION
As a common theme for action across all of these areas, we support wherever possible mechanisms for cooperation, collaboration, and the sharing of knowledge and best practices, both among APEC economies and more broadly. This includes, inter alia, the establishment of networks of cooperation in research and development of sustainable marine resources, fisheries, and aquaculture within the APEC economies and the establishment of associative links with RFMO/As and other relevant fora.