This document contains the report of the third meeting of the Part 6 Working Group established by the Parties to the Agreement on Port State Measures to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing, held in Santiago, Chile, on 7 June 2019. The Part 6 Working Group discussed the Terms of Reference for the funding mechanisms under Part 6 of the PSMA, which were adopted at the Second Meeting of the Parties to the PSMA, and made concrete recommendations for its use to support national and regional efforts to implement the PSMA. The Part 6 Working Group elected Mr Bjarne Garden from Norway and Ms Desri Yanti from Indonesia as the two official representatives from the Parties to join the FAO Secretariat on the panel to review applications and make recommendation on the assistance to be granted under the Part 6 Assistance Fund. The Part 6 Working Group welcomed the proposed design and content of the Global Portal for Capacity Development to combat IUU fishing being developed by FAO, and encouraged FAO to continue its development.

This document contains the report of the fourth meeting of the Part 6 Working Group established by the Parties to the Agreement on Port State Measures to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing (hereinafter referred to as the Agreement or the PSMA), held in Rome, Italy, on 4 April 2023. The Part 6 Working Group discussed the requirements of developing States in the implementation of the PSMA, and made concrete recommendations on priority areas for technical assistance and capacity development. The Part 6 Working Group also discussed the status of implementation of the Terms of Reference for the Funding Mechanisms under Part 6 of the PSMA, and noted the need to increase funding to assist developing States in the implementation of the Agreement through, among others: (i) earmarked contributions to FAO for specific project(s) and programme(s); (ii) contributions to the multilateral partner PSMA Part 6 Trust Fund administered by FAO.

This document contains the report of the second meeting of the Part 6 Working Group established by the Parties to the Agreement on Port State Measures to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing, held in Rome, Italy, from 5 to 6 July 2018. The Part 6 Working Group reviewed outcomes of its first meeting, noting with respect to the funding mechanisms to be put in place to assist developing States with the implementation of the PSMA that further clarity is required in terms of the criteria and priorities that will be used to review applications for assistance. The Part 6 Working Group discussed at length the requirements of developing States for the implementation of the PSMA, noting legal, operational, and technical challenges and identifying where existing tools are already available to address these challenges. The Working Group received a detailed update of FAO’s Global Capacity Development Programme in support of the PSMA, as well as heard from other international organizations, non-governmental organizations, States and other entities on their respective capacity development initiatives in support of the PSMA. Finally, the Part 6 Working Group discussed the necessary functionalities of the capacity development portal that is to be developed and hosted by FAO under the PSMA global programme.

The Parties discussed the results of the questionnaire for the review and assessment of the effectiveness of the PSMA, agreeing that the questionnaire was a useful tool, whilst noting the need for further improvements. The Parties tasked the FAO to review the questionnaire, and agreed that the questionnaire would be completed every four years. Parties noted that whilst progress has been made in effectively using the PSMA to combat IUU fishing, a number of challenges remain. Parties welcomed the useful information provided by Regional Fishery Bodies (RFBs) related to progress made in the implementation of the PSMA, and agreed that a standardized questionnaire for RFBs is needed. Parties tasked FAO to develop a first draft of this questionnaire. The Parties welcomed the prototype of the global information exchange system (GIES) and agreed that it should enter a pilot phase. They also reiterated the importance of the availability of information related to the national contact points for the PSMA. The Parties expressed the importance of receiving support on the implementation of effective monitoring, control and surveillance, enforcement and the implementation of GIES. The Secretariat announced the launch of the Global Capacity Development Portal. The Parties requested that discussions around developing a strategy to improve the effectiveness of the PSMA be deferred to an ad hoc working group, and approved the terms of reference of the PSMA Strategy Ad Hoc Working Group.

The Parties reviewed the status of the FAO Agreement on Port State Measures (“the Agreement” or PSMA) and recalled the decisions of the Third Meeting of the Parties. Progress and challenges in the implementation of the Agreement by Parties were discussed and the important role of regional fisheries bodies (RFBs), in particular regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs), in supporting the implementation of the Agreement was highlighted. The Parties agreed on the operationalization of the Global Information Exchange System by the end of 2023 and adopted the Terms of Reference for the Technical Working Group on Information Exchange. The Parties emphasized that assistance to developing States Parties is critical for the effective implementation of the Agreement, and reiterated the need to make the multilateral-partner PSMA Part 6 Trust Fund administered by FAO operational. The Parties adopted A Strategy to Improve the Effectiveness of the Agreement on Port State Measures to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing (the “Bali Strategy”). The Parties also agreed that the Terms of Reference of the PSMA Strategy ad hoc Working Group be modified to include the task of monitoring the effective implementation of the Agreement. The amended questionnaire for the Parties for the review and assessment of the effectiveness of the PSMA, together with the new questionnaire for RFBs and other international organizations, were adopted. The programme of work was discussed and the Parties agreed on a schedule of PSMA meetings.

This first meeting covered the concerns of developing states in implementing the Port State Measures Agreement. It emphasized the need to link individual and institutional capacity building, and to ensure that funding mechanisms include contribution schemes toward an Assistance Fund.

This document contains the report of the first meeting of the Parties to the Agreement on Port State Measures to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing held in Oslo, Norway, from 29 to 31 May 2017. The Parties agreed that FAO assumes the role of Secretariat for the meeting. The need for concerted action by port States, flag States and other States in the implementation of the Agreement, together with the important role of FAO, regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs) and other international organizations and bodies, was recognized. The Parties noted the value of drawing lessons from existing relevant initiatives of RFMOs and other international organizations. The Parties agreed that a staged approach should be adopted with regards to data exchange and called for the establishment of an open-ended technical working group to provide guidance on the development of data exchange mechanisms. FAO was tasked with developing templates for reporting of information on national contact points, designated ports and other relevant information for the implementation of the Agreement, and to publish the information through a dedicated section within the FAO website. The Parties established the Working Group under Part 6 of the Agreement and its terms of reference were adopted. The Parties called upon the Secretariat to develop a specific web-based questionnaire for the purpose of monitoring implementation of the Agreement, as well as recording challenges faced, which is to be completed every two years initially. The Secretariat was also requested to prepare draft Rules of Procedure for meetings of the Parties and any subsidiary working groups based on the General Rules of the FAO, and relevant rules of the Committee on Fisheries, for consideration at the next meeting of the Parties. The Parties agreed to hold meetings every two years along with supplementary technical meetings as required.