Pacific islands rejected a proposal made by Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) at the annual meeting in Fiji, which would have given distant water fishing fleets an unfair competitive advantage in negotiating fishing access agreements. The proposal was submitted by the European Union (EU) as a “conservation and management measure on fisheries access agreements information” to increase transparency of fisheries access agreements. It would have required the filing with the WCPFC of detailed access agreement information by all Commission members that allow foreign-flagged fishing fleets to fish in their waters for species managed by the Commission.

Finance and Public Service Minister, Hon. Audley Shaw, has expressed the Government’s heartfelt gratitude for the European Union’s (EU) continued relationship and ongoing support. Noting that organization’s inputs have been consistent, Mr. Shaw says the EU has “proactively” sought to channel its support to Jamaica’s development objectives, and that its provisions have been aligned with the country’s long-term National Development Plan, Vision 2030 Jamaica, and the Medium Term Socio-economic Policy Framework.

The 2016 South African citrus season has come and gone. The 2016 crop was down 8%, largely due to drought. The export to Europe increased by 5.1% in a total of an 8% lower crop.

European Parliament

12-15 December: European Parliament plenary session
12-15 December: Committee Meetings

Council of the EU and European Council

12 December: Foreign Affairs Council
12-13 December: Agriculture and Fisheries Council
13 December: General Affairs Council
15-16 December: European Council

European Investment Bank

13 December: European Investment Bank (EIB) standards on climate action: Update on climate finance tracking and carbon footprinting

European Economic and Social Committee

14-15 December: 521st European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) plenary session

Other events

13 December: InfoPoint Lunchtime Conference "Monitoring multi-sectoral interventions for diverse diets and nutrition"
15 December: "InfoPoint Lunchtime conference: From Evidence to Action- Lessons Learned and Future Directions of Social Protection and Cash Transfers in Africa"

Samoa will advance its agritourism development through a policy setting workshop taking place from 13 to 16 December in Apia. This event will bring together over 70 experts, notably national stakeholders representing the fields of tourism, agriculture, trade and health, private sector representatives as well as Samoa’s foremost development partners. The Workshop is being organised by Government of Samoa and the ACP-EU Technical Centre for Agriculture and Rural Cooperation (CTA) in collaboration with the Pacific Islands Private Sector Organisation (PIPSO) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). The main objectives are to develop and validate elements of the national strategy/policy on agritourism, to establish a national platform promoting linkages between the relevant ministries and stakeholders and to identify key public private partnerships supporting agribusiness development.