S.I. No. 72 of 2003

European Communities (Safety of Fishing Vessels) (Amendment) Regulations 2003

I, DERMOT AHERN, Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 3 of the European Communities Act 1972 ( No. 27 of 1972 ), and for the purpose of giving further effect to Council Directive 97/70/EC of 11 December 1997¹ setting up a harmonised safety regime for fishing vessels of 24 metres in length and over, as amended by Commission Directive 1999/19/EC of 18 March 1999² and Commission Directive 2002/35/EC of 25 April 2002³ , hereby make the following Regulations:

1.          These Regulations may be cited as the European Communities (Safety of Fishing Vessels) (Amendment) Regulations 2003.

2.         The European Communities (Safety of Fishing Vessels) Regulations 2002 are amended:

(1)       in Regulation 3--

 (a)       (i)         by substituting for subparagraph (ii) the following:

“(ii)     is landing its catch in a port in the State, or”, and

(ii)        by inserting the following subparagraph:

“(iii)    is in a port in the State and flying the flag of another Member State,”.

 (b)       (i)         by substituting for subparagraphs (2)(b) the following:

“(b)     is landing its catch in a port in the State, or”, and

(ii)        by inserting the following subparagraph:

“(c)    is in a port in the State and flying the flag of another Member State,”.

(2)       in Regulation 4--

(a)     by substituting for subparagraph (b) the following:

“(b)     is landing its catch in a port in the State, or”, and

(b)     by inserting the following subparagraph:

“(c)     is in a port in the State and flying the flag of another Member State,”.

(3)       in Regulation 5--

(a)     by substituting for subparagraph (b) the following:

“(b)     is landing its catch in a port in the State, or”, and

(b)     by inserting the following subparagraph:

“(c)     is in a port in the State and flying the flag of another Member State,”.

(4)       in Regulation 7--

(a)     by substituting for subparagraph 9(a)(ii) the following:

(ii)     is landing its catch in a port in the State, or”, and

(b)     by inserting the following subparagraph:

“(iii)    is in a port in the State and flying the flag of another Member State,”.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(THIS NOTE IS NOT PART OF THE INSTRUMENT AND DOES NOT PURPORT TO BE A LEGAL INTERPRETATION)

These regulations amend the European Communities (Safety of Fishing Vessels) Regulations 2002 by substituting the wording in Regulations 3, 4, 5, and 7 in order to clarify the requirements of Directive 97/70/EC on setting up a harmonised safety regime for fishing vessels of 24 metres in length and over.

¹ O.J. No. L34 of 9.2.1998, p.1.

² O.J. No. L93 of 27.3.1999, p.48.

³ O.J. No. L112 of 27.4.2002, p.21-33.