(1)

On 28 January 2014, the Council adopted Decision 2014/146/EU on the conclusion of the Fisheries Partnership Agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Mauritius (2) (‘the Agreement’).

(2)

The first Protocol (3) to the Agreement set out, for a period of three years, the fishing opportunities granted to Union vessels in the fishing zone under the sovereignty or jurisdiction of the Republic of Mauritius (‘Mauritius’) and the financial contribution granted by the Union. The period of application of that Protocol expired on 27 January 2017.

(3)

In accordance with Council Decision (EU) 2017/1960 (4), a new Protocol setting out the fishing opportunities and the financial contribution provided for by the Fisheries Partnership Agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Mauritius (5) (‘the Protocol’) was signed on 8 December 2017, subject to its conclusion at a later date.

(4)

The Protocol has been applied on a provisional basis since the date of its signature.

(5)

The objective of the Protocol is to enhance cooperation between the Union and Mauritius to promote a sustainable fisheries policy and sound exploitation of fisheries resources in Mauritius waters and to support Mauritius in the development of its sustainable ocean economy.

(6)

The Protocol should be approved.

(7)

Article 9 of the Agreement establishes the Joint Committee responsible for monitoring the application of the Agreement (‘the Joint Committee’). Furthermore, in accordance with Article 5, Article 6(2) and Articles 7 and 8 of the Protocol, the Joint Committee is able to approve certain amendments to the Protocol. In order to facilitate the approval of such amendments, the Commission should be empowered, subject to specific conditions, to approve them under a simplified procedure,

(1)

Commission Directive 2003/39/EC (2) included propyzamide as an active substance in Annex I to Council Directive 91/414/EEC (3).

(2)

Active substances included in Annex I to Directive 91/414/EEC are deemed to have been approved under Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 and are listed in Part A of the Annex to Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 540/2011 (4).

(3)

The approval of the active substance propyzamide, as set out in Part A of the Annex to Implementing Regulation (EU) No 540/2011 expires on 31 January 2019.

(4)

An application for the renewal of the approval of propyzamide was submitted in accordance with Article 1 of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 844/2012 (5) within the time period provided for in that Article.

(5)

The applicant submitted the supplementary dossiers required in accordance with Article 6 of Implementing Regulation (EU) No 844/2012. The application was found to be complete by the rapporteur Member State.

(6)

The rapporteur Member State prepared a renewal assessment report in consultation with the co-rapporteur Member State and submitted it to the European Food Safety Authority (‘the Authority’) and the Commission on 31 July 2015.

(7)

The Authority communicated the renewal assessment report to the applicant and to the Member States for comments and forwarded the comments received to the Commission. The Authority also made the supplementary summary dossier available to the public.

(8)

On 12 July 2016 the Authority communicated to the Commission its conclusion (6) on whether propyzamide can be expected to meet the approval criteria provided for in Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009. The Commission presented the draft renewal report for propyzamide to the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed on 22 March 2018.

(9)

The applicant was given the opportunity to submit comments on the draft renewal report.

(10)

It has been established with respect to one or more representative uses of at least one plant protection product containing propyzamide that the approval criteria provided for in Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 are satisfied. It is therefore appropriate to renew the approval of propyzamide.

(11)

The risk assessment for the renewal of the approval of propyzamide is based on a limited number of representative uses, which however do not restrict the uses for which plant protection products containing propyzamide may be authorised. It is therefore appropriate to remove the restriction for use only as a herbicide.

(12)

The Commission however considers that propyzamide is a candidate for substitution pursuant to Article 24 of Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009. Propyzamide is a persistent and toxic substance in accordance with points 3.7.2.1 and 3.7.2.3 respectively, of Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009, given that the half-life in freshwater is greater than 40 days and the long-term no-observed effect concentration for freshwater organisms is less than 0,01 mg/L. Propyzamide therefore fulfils the condition set in the second indent of point 4 of Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009.

(13)

It is therefore appropriate to renew the approval of propyzamide as a candidate for substitution.

(14)

In accordance with Article 14(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 in conjunction with Article 6 thereof, and, in the light of current scientific and technical knowledge, it is, however, necessary to include certain conditions and restrictions. It is, in particular, appropriate to require further confirmatory information.

(15)

The Annex to Implementing Regulation (EU) No 540/2011 should therefore be amended accordingly.

(16)

Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/84 (7) extended the approval period of propyzamide to 31 January 2019 in order to allow the renewal process to be completed before the expiry of the approval of that substance. However, given that a decision on renewal has been taken ahead of this extended expiry date, this Regulation should apply from 1 July 2018.

(17)

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed,

(1)

On 31 January 2018, the Commission announced, by a notice published in the Official Journal of the European Union (2) (‘the notice of initiation’), the initiation of an anti-subsidy proceeding with regard to imports into the Union of biodiesel originating in Argentina following a complaint lodged on 18 December 2017 by the European Biodiesel Board (‘the complainant’) on behalf of producers representing more than 25 % of the total Union production of biodiesel.

(1)

Council Regulation (EC) No 1563/2006 (2) concerns the conclusion of the Partnership Agreement in the fisheries sector between the European Community and the Union of the Comoros (‘the EU-Comoros FPA’).

(2)

One of the objectives of the EU-Comoros FPA is to ensure that the measures for the conservation and management of fish stocks are effective, and that illegal, undeclared or unregulated (‘IUU’) fishing is prevented.

(3)

Pursuant to Article 11 of the EU-Comoros FPA, the Agreement applies for seven years from the date of its entry into force and is renewable for additional periods of seven years, unless notice of termination is given by either Party.

(4)

Pursuant to Article 12 of the EU-Comoros FPA, the Agreement may be terminated by either Party in the event of serious circumstances such as the failure to comply with undertakings made with regard to combating IUU fishing. The Party concerned is to notify the other Party of its intention to withdraw from the Agreement at least six months before the date of expiry of the initial period of seven years or of each additional period. The dispatch of such notification is to open consultations between the Parties.

(5)

Pursuant to Article 31 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008 (3) (‘the IUU Regulation’), the Commission is to identify the third countries that it considers as non-cooperating third countries in fighting IUU fishing. A third country may be identified as a non-cooperating third country if it fails to discharge the duties incumbent upon it under international law as flag, port, coastal or market State, to take action to prevent, deter and eliminate IUU fishing.

(6)

In accordance with a decision adopted by the Commission on 1 October 2015 (4), the Union of the Comoros was notified of the possibility of being identified by the Commission as a non-cooperating third country in fighting IUU fishing because of the flag of convenience policy pursued by the Comorian authorities, evidence of illegal fishing activities by the Comorian fleet, the poor or inexistent monitoring and control capacities of the Comorian authorities, and the outdated Comorian legal fisheries framework.

(7)

By that decision, the Commission opened a dialogue process with the Union of the Comoros which was carried out in accordance with the procedural requirements laid out in Article 32 of the IUU Regulation. The Union of the Comoros failed to take the necessary remedial action within reasonable time.

(8)

In view of the Union of the Comoros' persistent failures to discharge its duties under international law as a flag, port, coastal or market State and to take action to prevent, deter and eliminate IUU fishing, the Union of the Comoros has been identified in accordance with Article 31 of the IUU Regulation as a non-cooperating third country in fighting IUU fishing by Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2017/889 (5). After that identification, the Union of the Comoros still failed to take the necessary remedial action.

(9)

In accordance with Article 33 of the IUU Regulation, Council Implementing Decision (EU) 2017/1332 (6) added the Union of the Comoros to the list of non-cooperating third countries established by Council Implementing Decision 2014/170/EU (7).

(10)

Pursuant to Article 38(8) of the IUU Regulation, the Commission is to propose the denunciation of any standing bilateral fisheries agreement or fisheries partnership agreement with a non-cooperating third country, where that agreement provides for termination where that country failed to comply with undertakings with regard to combating IUU fishing.

(11)

It is therefore appropriate to denounce the EU-Comoros FPA.

(12)

The Commission, on behalf of the European Union, should notify the Union of the Comoros of the denunciation.

(13)

The denunciation should take effect six months after that notification.

(14)

However, if the Union of the Comoros is withdrawn from the list of non-cooperating third countries under Article 33 of the IUU Regulation by the Council before the denunciation takes effect, the denunciation should be withdrawn and the Commission should immediately notify this withdrawal to the Union of the Comoros,

(1)

African swine fever is an infectious viral disease affecting domestic and feral pig populations and can have a severe impact on the profitability of pig farming causing disturbance to trade within the Union and exports to third countries.

(2)

In the event of a case of African swine fever in feral pigs, there is a risk that the disease agent might spread to other feral pig populations and to pig holdings. As a result, it may spread from one Member State to another Member State and to third countries through trade in live pigs or their products.

(3)

Council Directive 2002/60/EC (3) lays down minimum measures to be applied within the Union for the control of African swine fever. In particular, Article 15 of Directive 2002/60/EC provides for certain measures to be taken following the confirmation of one or more cases of African swine fever in feral pigs.

(4)

Hungary has informed the Commission of the current African swine fever situation on its territory, and in accordance with Article 15 of Directive 2002/60/EC, it has taken a number of measures including the establishment of an infected area, where the measures referred to in Article 15 of that Directive are applied, in order to prevent the spread of that disease.

(5)

In order to prevent any unnecessary disturbance to trade within the Union and to avoid unjustified barriers to trade by third countries, it is necessary to identify at Union level the infected area for African swine fever in Hungary in collaboration with that Member State.

(6)

Accordingly, pending the meeting of the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed, the infected area in Hungary should be listed in the Annex to this Decision and the duration of that regionalisation fixed.

(7)

This Decision is to be reviewed at the next meeting of the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed,