The Expert Consultation on International Fish Trade and Food Security met in Casablanca, Morocco, from 27 to 30 January 2003. After review and assessment of the issue, the consultation recommended to: a) conduct a background study on the normative framework for fish trade and food security; b) organize a consultative process on the normative framework; c) prepare technical guidelines on the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries, fish trade and food security; d) train and improve capacity of policy-makers and technical personnel on international issues dealing with fish trade and food security; e) integrate the fish trade and food security issues into the proposed "FAO Technical Cooperation Project - WTO"; f) expand FAO work on the distribution of costs and benefits in the fishing industry; g) prepare an analytical framework taking into account conflicting interests with specific illustrative case studies; h) conduct studies on the impact of fish trade on household food security; i) develop medium- and long-term projections on the impact of fish trade on food security. In this respect: a) gender aspects and marginalized groups should be taken into account; b) FAO Fisheries Department should continue to seek further synergies through collaboration with other FAO departments and other competent international agencies (e.g. International Food Policy Research Institute and World Fish Centre); c) FAO should disseminate widely the results of the work programme, including to the private sector using the FISHINFO network, which was recognized as an important tool for this purpose; and d) promote regional trade for food security.
