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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The meeting for the preparation of the High-level meeting on small-scale fisheries was held on 2 March 2018 at the FAO headquarters in Rome, Italy. The meeting served as an occasion to prepare the High-level meeting on small-scale fisheries in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, to be held 25-26 September 2018 in Malta. In this regard, a draft Regional Plan of Action for Small-Scale Fisheries in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea (RPOA-SSF) was presented and participants exchanged their expert views on its contents. It was agreed that the RPOA-SSF would be reorganized so that the preamble constituted the ministerial declaration to be signed on the occasion of the High-level meeting, while the technical actions put forth through the RPOA-SSF would be annexed to the declaration. A timeline was established for providing further comments on the document, with a view to finalizing the RPOA-SSF by late April / early May and thus allowing adequate time for contracting parties and cooperating non-contracting parties to coordinate with their relevant ministers to ensure signature during the High-level meeting. Furthermore, the meeting defined practical and organizational aspects of the High-level meeting. Participants discussed the preliminary elements for a draft programme and unanimously agreed that it should include both a day of technical discussions, as well as a day of high-level discussions. It was agreed that 25 September 2018 would be dedicated to stakeholders and showcasing cases of best practice in the region, while 26 September 2018 would be dedicated to the ministers and the official signature ceremony. It was agreed that a template would be produced for the proposal of best practices cases in the region. The GFCM Secretariat was charged with coordinating, together with partner organizations, the logistical and organizational arrangements of the meeting.