WRITTEN QUESTION E-0402/00 by Camilo Nogueira Román (Verts/ALE) to the Commission. Arrest of the skipper of a fishing vessel on Réunion.
28. 12. 2000 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 374 E/67 Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission (24 March 2000) Regulation (EEC) No 2081/92 (1) introduced a Community registration and protection scheme for the geographical designations of agricultural products and certain foodstuffs. Wine sector products are not covered. Meat-based products such as pork pies are among the types of foodstuff to which the scheme applies. Application for inclusion in the scheme is a voluntary matter. It would be up to a group of the relevant producers to launch the procedure for registration of the name Melton Mowbray Pork Pies under Regulation (EEC) No 2081/92. Article 4 of the Regulation requires submission of a specification exactly defining the product and geographical area concerned and showing how the two are linked. Compliance with the criteria set for registering the name as a ágeographical indicationí or those for registering it as a ádesignation of originí must be demonstrated. A decision on conformity of the application with the Regulationís requirements would not be possible unless all the necessary information had been transmitted to the Commission through the agency of the United Kingdom authorities. A Community procedure for objection to the protection of any particular name is designed to protect the interests of other producers. This involves a notice in the Official Journal. (1) OJ L 208, 24. 7. 1992. (2000/C 374 E/078) WRITTEN QUESTION E-0402/00 by Camilo Nogueira RomÆn (Verts/ALE) to the Commission Subject: Arrest of the skipper of a fishing vessel on RØunion (15 February 2000) The Galician citizen JosØ Ramón Hombre Sobrido, skipper of the fishing vessel Camouco, was arrested more than two months ago on RØunion, where he is still being detained. The Commissionís Director-General for Fisheries did not give a specific reply to my question on the subject in Parliamentís Committee on Fisheries. Is the Commission aware of the situation, and does it know on what grounds this European citizen is being detained by the authorities of France, an EU Member State? Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission (3 April 2000) In September 1999 Mr Hombre Sobrido, the master of the fishing vessel Camouco, which flies a Panama flag and is owned by Merce Pesca sa, was arrested by a French frigate for alleged unlawful fishing of toothfish in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of the Crozet Islands (Reunion). Mr Hombre Sobrido was later released from arrest, but is still confined to the island as the authorities took away his passport. On 14 January 2000 Panama requested the release of the vessel and its master in the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea in Hamburg. This is a tribunal which has been established by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. It delivered its judgement on 7th February 2000 ordering the prompt release on the deposit of a financial security of FRF 8 million. So far the French authorities did not follow the judgement and claim to be not satisfied with the conditions of the deposit. A trial date was scheduled at the Court of Appeals in RØunion for 24 March 2000 for the court to look into the matter of the return of Mr Sobridos passport. A trial on the merits has been convened for 4 April 2000