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Senior officials and technical experts from Asia, representing intergovernmental organizations and Parties and non-Parties to the FAO Agreement on Port State Measures (PSMA), are meeting in Japan in the fourth of a series of PSMA Regional Coordination Meetings.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is convening several Regional Coordination Meetings in 2024 that will discuss, on a regional level, the implementation of the PSMA and follow up on the ‘Bali Strategy’ adopted by the Parties to the Agreement in May 2023. The meeting for Asia is taking place in Tokyo between the 10 – 14 June 2024, with delegates from 11 countries and 2 regional fishery bodies.

The PSMA is the first binding international agreement designed to prevent, deter and eliminate illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing. Entering into force in 2016, the PSMA has the highest rate of adherence of all international fisheries instruments. Currently, the PSMA has 78 Parties including the European Union which is considered as one Party on behalf of its Member States. Papua New Guinea and Comoros are the latest States to adhere to the PSMA, in April 2024, bringing the total number of States bound by the Agreement to 104.

The PSMA Regional Coordination Meetings were called for by the Parties themselves at the first Meeting of the Parties held in Oslo in 2017. Specifically, this meeting is taking stock of the status of the Agreement and its application in the region, addressing challenges in the implementation of the PSMA and the usage of the PSMA Global Information Exchange System. At the same time, the meeting is discussing regional port State measures implementation strategies and is drawing up recommendations, including on improving the effectiveness and monitoring the implementation of the PSMA, for consideration by the PSMA Strategy and Monitoring Working Group.

Addressing the fourth Regional Coordination Meeting, Eriko Hibi, Director of the FAO Liaison Office in Japan stated that “this meeting for Asia is very important also in view of the latest data showing that Asian countries account for about 60% of world marine capture production and about 70% of world fishing vessels.”

Matthew Camilleri, Leader of the FAO Fisheries Global and Regional Processes Team said that “these Regional Coordination Meetings represent a great opportunity for progressing on the coordination and implementation of the PSMA at regional level whilst advancing discussions on various aspects of the Bali Strategy”.

The fourth PSMA Regional Coordination Meeting is being held with co-funding by the Kingdom of Norway.

More information on the PSMA and FAO’s work is available here.