EU proposes global eel trade curbs despite Japan's opposition
KYODO NEWS - 11 hours ago - 22:37 | All, World
The European Union on Friday submitted a proposal to impose export restrictions on all eel species under an international treaty regulating endangered species trade, despite strong opposition from Japan.
If adopted at the conference of the parties to the Washington Convention in Uzbekistan later this year, the proposal, set to take effect in June 2027, would require proof of legal capture and an export permit issued by the exporting country for Japanese eel and other species.
"We have sufficient numbers of Japanese eels, and there is no risk of extinction," Japan's farm minister Shinjiro Koizumi said at a press conference earlier Friday in Tokyo, adding that the move by the EU was "extremely regrettable."
To be approved, the proposal must be accepted by at least two-thirds of the voting parties at the conference, which will be held from late November to early December. While proposals typically take effect about three months after approval, the EU is seeking to delay implementation by 18 months.
Japan plans to work with China, on which it relies heavily for eel imports, and South Korea to oppose the proposal, sources close to the matter said Thursday. The three countries and Taiwan held informal talks in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, on June 19-20 to coordinate their response.
While the EU argues that Japanese eel populations have declined sharply, Japan contends that numbers have been recovering since the 1990s and that advances in aquaculture have reduced the need for glass eels -- juvenile eels used to stock farms.
It is also warning that regulation could drive up prices for glass eels, increasing the risk of poaching and smuggling.
Under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, species listed in Appendix I are prohibited from international trade for commercial purposes in principle, while those in Appendix II are deemed as species that could become endangered if trade is not strictly regulated.
The EU is seeking to list all 19 eel species and subspecies in Appendix II, including the Japanese eel, American eel and Southeast Asia's Anguilla bicolor. The regulations would apply not only to live glass eels but also to processed products, such as "kabayaki," a type of grilled eel.
The European eel has already been subject to such restrictions following an EU proposal to list the endangered species under Appendix II of the convention approved in 2007.
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