Last week the government of Faroe Islands decided to launch the fishing restrictions dispute through World Trade Organization (WTO).
Political representatives of Faroe Islands want to challenge European Union´s (EU) ban on importing Faroese mackerel and herring and restrictions on the island nation´s ships entering EU ports.
The Prime Minister of Faroe Islands Kaj leo Holm Johannesen said that the EU+s actions are being done against basic provisions of the WTO Agreement.
It is worth mentioning that EU banned imports from the Faroe Islands in August in an ongoing dispute about alleged over-fishing on the islands' part, and EU officials warned that they will take similar action against Iceland.
Atlanto-Scandian herring stock was controlled jointly by Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Norway, Russia and the EU until this year. The Faroese claim the herring stock allocation is an issue for on-going negotiations between the five states.
The Faroese state that the EU has not accepted its 105,230-tonne catch limit, and wants it reduced to 31,000 tonnes.
This is the first WTO dispute the island group has been involved in. the EU now has 60 days to resolve the dispute. If it fails to do so, the Faroese could request that the WTO adjudicates.
Source: IceNews