After losing a case to Mexico at the World Trade Organization over U.S. standards that require the labeling of tuna as “dolphin-safe,” U.S. officials are now trying to take the case to a North American Free Trade Agreement tribunal.

However, the Mexican government is actively trying to block that from happening, according to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

The Mexican government, though, has avoided appointing a dispute panel. Nor has the government agreed to transfer the case.

“Mexico has dragged out this dispute more than 20 years – 20 years when the Mexican government could have been helping their fishermen transition to tuna fishing methods that would save dolphin lives,” a press release from the Earth Island Institute says.

“At the behest of a handful of tuna millionaires, the Mexican government has thrown up every legal and political roadblock imaginable – methods that US courts described as flagrant meddling. Their refusal to even respond to this legal inquiry shows that they follow the letter of their international obligations only when it suits them. Meanwhile, dolphins are paying the ultimate price.”

Since 1991, the U.S. has refused to accept imports of yellow-finned tuna from Mexican fishers. The U.S. alleges that Mexico does not follow the strict standards that allow it to receive the “dolphin safe” label common in the U.S.

Mexico, however, claimed that their standards may not meet those of the U.S. but that they are in line with international standards.

“The issue is important in that Mexico won a preliminary decision in the WTO that says the Dolphin Safe tuna label in the US is “trade restrictive,” the press release reads.

“Had the issue come up in NAFTA where it belongs, the dolphins would have won. Hence, Mexico is refusing to abide by NAFTA. (The US will likely appeal the WTO decision, so it ain’t over yet.) What Mexico wants is to be allowed to chase, net, and kill dolphins in fishing for tuna and still claim such tuna is “Dolphin Safe” and export it to the US.”

November 11, 2011

Source: Economy in Crisis

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