[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 24 (Tuesday, March 8, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[Congressional Record: March 8, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
UNWARRANTED ACTION BY THE GOVERNMENT OF FRANCE
Mr. HOLLINGS. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the
Foreign Relations Committee be discharged from further consideration of
Senate Resolution 183, a resolution condemning the actions of the
Government of France and their effect on United States seafood
producers; that the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration, that
the resolution and the preamble be agreed to; that the motions to
reconsider be laid on the table en bloc and any statements thereon
appear at the appropriate place in the Record as though read.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. KENNEDY. Madam President, I join in expressing my strong
disapproval of the continuing actions by the French Government against
United States seafood imports. There is no justification for France's
protectionist actions against these imports. The actions clearly
violate the international trade agreements that we have negotiated in
good faith with both France and the European Union.
The continued harassment by France has resulted in serious damage to
American fishermen. The United States fishing industry exports
thousands of dollars worth of fresh seafood each day to France. New
England fisherman have already been hard hit by the recent recession,
and they certainly cannot afford to suffer further economic loss as a
result of unjust French trade policies.
Although France recently added the United States to its list of
countries from which seafood products can be imported, France continues
to harass our products by requiring them to undergo rigorous and
unwarranted inspections. In addition, certain ports of entry into
France remain closed to our imports. These unnecessary obstructions,
restrictions, and needless delays have resulted in the spoilage of many
fresh seafood products.
The trade barriers that France continues to impose on these imports
must be eliminated immediately. The Senate resolution that we are
introducing today urges France to comply with international trade
regulations and end its harassment of United States seafood imports. It
also asks restitution to the American fishing industry for the damage
that has been suffered, and it urges the President to identify
appropriate countermeasures to be taken against France if this
distressing situation is not resolved immediately.
government of france disruption of seafood imports
Mr. KERRY. Madam President, I would like to report on the recent
events in France where French fishermen strikes demanding higher prices
for their products turned into angry riots. The Government of France,
in an attempt to prevent its rebellious fishermen from taking further
violent actions initiated a ban of United States Seafood Products on
February 5, 1994, followed 4 days later by the lifting of the ban and
the imposition of an arduous and unjustified 100-percent United States
seafood inspection program. Accompanying these actions was the closure
of the primary point of entry of fresh seafood products, Charles de
Gaulle Airport, to U.S. products. These actions were in direct
contravention of French and European international trade obligations.
The immediate effect of France's actions was striking. Approximately
25 to 30 tons of fresh fish, valued at $250,000, was stranded without
refrigeration at the customs office at Charles de Gaulle Airport where
began to rot and had to be destroyed. The long-term effects of these
policies were just as significant since the United States fishing
industry, especially the portion that deals in fresh products, expects
to lose $200,000 per month as the actions of the French continue.
I applaud the swift and firm actions of U.S. Trade Representative
Ambassador Michael Kantor, the State Department, the Department of
Commerce, and the rest of the Federal agencies that are working to
resolve this urgent problem. The administration quickly convened all
the concerned agencies with the Trade Representative taking the lead.
The Trade Representative began a series of communications with the
Government of France in an effort to resolve the problems. This
coordination and communication process with another country normally
could take weeks or months. However, the Federal agencies involved have
recognized the urgency of this problem and the process was completed in
a few days. Most significantly, Ambassador Kantor's letter of March 3,
1994, advised the Government of France of the seriousness of its
actions and the unacceptability of its responses and warned that
retaliatory measures were imminent if it did not properly address the
situation and restore free trade.
Up to this point things did not look good for those involved in the
industry of exporting U.S. fish products. The main point of entry for
fresh seafood products, Charles de Gaulle Airport, remained closed and
all products were being subjected to 100 percent testing under obsolete
standards that were established in 1979 and, until now, had not been
recently enforced. This had disastrous affects on the seafood
producers, especially in Massachusetts. I have heard from the owners of
fresh fish processing and exporting companies in New England that have
closed down operations, one employing 65 people, since their markets
have been closed. Other exporters using alternate routes through other
European Union countries have been operating at little or no profit in
order to keep their customers in France supplied with products. Many
companies are hurting badly since France is the only market for many so
called underutilized species or alternate species, including dogfish,
skate and monkfish. Other companies dealing in frozen products are
taking a chance and continuing to ship their products by ships, hoping
that these cargoes will pass the ambiguous inspection standards and
will be allowed to enter, even though it may take weeks longer than
before. But despite this severe damage already caused to the United
States seafood industry, it is an uncertainty about what standards the
Government of France is applying and what steps it is going to take
next that is really worrying the industry.
The actions of France and uncertainty of the availability of markets
are compounding the problems of the New England fishing industry that
is bracing itself for the implementation of Commerce Department
regulations that are reducing fishing of traditional groundfish species
including cod and haddock by half over the next 5 years. The new
regulations alone are expected to have disastrous effects on
traditional fishing communities like New Bedford and Gloucester.
I have been in continuous contact with the Secretary of Commerce, the
United States Trade Representative, the State Department, and the
National Marine Fisheries Service and they have done a good job of
briefing Congress and affected industry representatives, formally and
informally, about the progress of negotiations with France. Senator
Kennedy, Congressman Frank, and I have personally encouraged Secretary
Brown to continue efforts to lift the de facto French embargo. I have
continued to provide the Trade Representative and the State Department
with examples of the impact these restrictions are having on the New
England fishing industry. Senator Kennedy and I, along with Senators
Pell, Mitchell, Cohen, Stevens, and Murkowski introduced the resolution
now before the Senate to call upon the Government of France to stop its
harassment of U.S. seafood imports and to ask for President Clinton to
identify areas for retaliatory trade sanctions against France. In the
House, Representatives Frank, Studds, and Torkildsen introduced a
resolution with a similar purpose. These resolutions send a message to
the Government of France about the seriousness of its actions.
Additionally, letters have been sent, signed by a number of Members of
both houses, to the French Ambassador to the United States and the
appropriate French Ministries urging the Government of France to take
immediate action to end its harassment of United States seafood
importers so that the need for such countermeasures is avoided.
I was encouraged by the recent developments on March 4, 1994 when
Ambassador Kantor advised that he had reached preliminary
understandings with French officials in order to resolve
their differences and restore the normal flow of U.S. seafood exports
to France. Ambassador Kantor also advises that the French authorities
have reopened Charles de Gaulle Airport to fish trade and have resumed
normal spot inspection procedures as of Monday, March 7, 1994. However,
the reinstitution of normal inspection procedures applies only to those
exporters whose prior shipments were found not to raise any concerns. I
also am glad to hear that the French officials have advised that future
seafood testing will be conducted in a manner that does not lead to any
deterioration of the products tested nor cause commercial harm to the
companies involved. I realize that there are several technical
questions remaining and that to resolve these a team of United States
health experts has flown to France and is meeting with the French to
discuss the inspection standards and methodologies employed by the
French. I look forward to their report.
Many of my congressional colleagues and I are not satisfied that the
situation is resolved. For this reason we are continuing action on this
resolution. Congressman Studds, who chairs the House Merchant Marine
and Fisheries Committee, has scheduled a hearing on the matter on
Thursday, March 10, 1994, before the Subcommittee on Fisheries
Management to be chaired by Congressman Manton. I look forward to
testifying at the hearing and listening to the agencies' up-to-date
reports on the situation.
I join Ambassador Kantor in welcoming the commitments made by French
authorities to remove the impediments to trade they imposed. However,
in light of the comments by French Premier Edouard Balladur on March 5,
1994, that American threats to retaliate for French restrictions on
fish imports amount to a breach of international trade rules, I will
not be satisfied that this trade problem has been resolved until I
confirm that the technical problems have been worked out, the United
States fishing and exporting industry is back to normal, and the flow
of free trade has been restored.
I hope that this problem is, indeed, moving to a quick conclusion.
But if the Government of France reneges, I believe the United States
will have no choice except to carry out the actions called for in the
Senate and House resolutions and implement appropriate trade sanctions
against France.
I want to thank the distinguished chairman of the Foreign Relations
Committee and the ranking member, and the staff of the majority and the
minority, for their assistance in moving this resolution to passage
today. I also want to express special appreciation to Penny Dalton of
the Commerce Committee's national ocean policy study staff, Steve
Metruck, a fellow in my office, and Kate English and Sarah Woodhouse of
my staff for their work on this issue and the resolution.
I yield the floor, and urge speedy adoption of the resolution.
So the resolution was agreed to.
The preamble was agreed to.
The resolution (S. Res. 183), with its preamble, is as follows:
S. Res. 183
Whereas the United States sells over $100 million of fresh
and frozen seafood products to France annually;
Whereas the actions of the Government of France are
adversely affecting the United States fishing industry;
Whereas this adverse effect is particularly severe on those
parts of the industry that harvest, process, and market fresh
``underutilized species'' such as dogfish, monkfish and
skate, and causes disruptions to the normal flow of commerce
for developed United States fisheries such as salmon and
groundish;
Whereas the French markets for these species and other
species are important since Europeans, particularly the
French, value fresh seafood products highly;
Whereas the Government of France is continuing to require
inspections and testing, despite accepting the existing
United States seafood certification programs of the National
Marine Fisheries Service and the Food and Drug
Administration;
Whereas the Government of France's additional inspections
and testing are continuing without adequate justification or
evidence of human health risks;
Whereas the unsubstantiated additional inspections and
testing required by the Government of France, which can take
up to four days, delay the delivery of fresh seafood products
to the point where they begin to spoil and thus have
effectively closed the French market to fresh United States
seafood products; and
Whereas the harassment by the Government of France of
seafood producers and products from the United States
violates international agreements and raises serious
questions about the usefulness of entering into agreements
with the European Union and France: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate--
(a) calls upon the Government of France to stop immediately
its harassment of United States seafood producers and
products;
(b) demand that the Government of France compensate United
States companies that have had seafood products damaged by
its actions; and
(c) calls upon the President of the United States to
identify appropriate forms of sanctions that can be taken
against the Government of France for its egregious violation
of international agreements.
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