Mexico Tries to Crush "Dolphin Safe" Tuna Label Via WTO
By Mark J. Palmer
The Animal Welfare
Institute (AWI), Earth Island Institute (EII)
and a coalition of supportive groups have been
crying foul since the government of Mexico
demanded late in October that the World Trade
Organization (WTO) overturn U.S. law and
federal legal decisions that protect
dolphins.
In the tropical Pacific Ocean
off Latin America, dolphins swim with schools
of yellowfin tuna. Though the reason for the
close association is still unexplained,
fishermen learned early on that wherever the
dolphins swim, the commercially-hunted tuna
follow beneath.
AWI and EII have
successfully fought for years to reduce the
drowning of dolphins in tuna nets, which have
caused the deaths of more than seven million
dolphins since the introduction of purse seine
tuna fishing in the late 1950s. One hundred
thousand dolphins were being killed annually in
the fishery before our boycott and lawsuits led
to the adoption of the "Dolphin Safe" tuna
label in 1990. Congress then established
standards for use of the label that require no
dolphins be chased or netted.
But
Mexico's tuna fleet, rejecting these
restraints, kills more dolphins than any other
tuna fleet in the world. Despite Mexico's
efforts to weaken U.S. standards, with support
from both the Clinton and Bush administrations,
AWI, EII and our coalition have blocked these
efforts in Congress and federal
courts.
Since Mexico's latest challenge
to the label in the fall, it has up to a year
to request a full trade dispute panel from the
WTO. Unfortunately, these panels are made up of
people who have no knowledge of dolphins or
environmental laws—they are essentially trade
bureaucrats. Yet the panel could rule that the
U.S. law is a barrier to free trade and must be
repealed. This is often the case with the WTO,
which has time after time ruled against the
environment in the name of so-called free
trade. If the U.S. refuses to adhere to its
policies, the WTO can impose expensive trade
sanctions against the nation.
Mexico
claims the "Dolphin Safe" label is a trade
barrier, when in fact, Mexico can legally
export dolphin-deadly tuna to the United
States. Major U.S. tuna companies and
consumers, however, refuse to buy tuna that is
not truly dolphin safe; Mexico therefore wants
to change U.S. standards to allow their
tuna—stained by the blood of thousands of
dolphins—to be falsely labeled "Dolphin
Safe."
AWI and EII are seeking to
intervene in the WTO dispute on behalf of
dolphins. Our groups have already submitted
research to government lawyers with the U.S.
Trade Representative's office, proving that
Mexican tuna fishing methods kill
dolphins.
For now, American consumers
can buy "Dolphin Safe" tuna knowing that
dolphins are not chased or netted during
fishing operations. But the WTO challenge by
Mexico still looms as the most serious threat
thus far to the otherwise successful "Dolphin
Safe" label.
For further information,
visit http://www.dolphinsafe.org/.
The World Trade Organization and Mexico's virulent tuna fleet are threatening a deadly blow for the Dolphin Safe tuna label and current U.S. laws.
