[JURIST] The first legally binding international treaty aimed at combating ships involved in illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing has been approved [press release] by the UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) [official website] governing Conference. The Agreement on Port State Measures to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing [text, PDF] is a landmark treaty aimed at efficient prevention of IUU fishing, a widespread global problem that has been a serious detriment on the legitimate fishing industry. Eleven FAO members - Angola, Brazil, Chile, the European Commission, Indonesia, Iceland, Norway, Samoa, Sierra Leone, the US, and Uruguay – signed the treaty immediately following its approval Wednesday, and the treaty will take effect once it has been ratified by 25 countries. Under the terms of the treaty, governments will be responsible for conducting regular port inspections and providing ports with proper equipment and inspectors. In addition, foreign fishing ships will be required to request permission to dock at designated ports ahead of time. The measures apply only to foreign vessels, but governments can elect to enforce the measures on their own ships as well. Assistant Director-General of FAO's Fisheries Department Ichiro Namura praised the treaty calling it a "milestone achievement" and saying, "[n]ow countries are committing to taking steps to identify, report and deny entry to offenders at ports where fishing fleets are received. That's a key back-door that will be slammed shut with the new international treaty."

An agreement [JURIST report] on the final text of the treaty was first reached by 91 FAO countries in September. Environmental groups have estimated that nearly 20 percent of landed fish were caught illegally [Reuters report], posing a detrimental global problem in the fishing industry. The US State Department [official website] called the treaty "a step forward in the fight against illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing." The International Ocean Governance Director of the Pew Environment Group [advocacy website] Stefan Flothmann has stated that "the treaty's effectiveness relies heavily upon its broad ratification, successful implementation and the willingness of nations to share enforcement information."

[JURIST] A Beijing court on Friday began hearing the first civil lawsuit by a family of an infant sickened during last year's melamine-tainted milk scandal [JURIST news archive]. Ma Xuexin brought suit against the bankrupt dairy company Sanlu and a Beijing supermarket that sold the contaminated milk, seeking damages for his son's medical expenses that are not covered [China Daily report] under the government's victim fund [JURIST report]. The hearing, which ended without a verdict, is one of only six milk scandal civil suits [AP report] accepted by Chinese courts. Judge Zhang Nan requested more evidence for the trial, which will resume on December 9. According to Beijing lawyer Xu Zhiyong, many of the affected families filed individual civil lawsuits [BBC report] after the Hebei Supreme Court rejected a class action suit [JURIST report] filed last year against the Sanlu dairy company by the families of children who died or were harmed by the tainted milk.

In January, lawyers for the victims' families petitioned [JURIST report] the Supreme People's Court [official website, in Chinese], China's highest court, to hear a class action lawsuit against 22 dairy companies involved in the contamination. The petition seeks more than $5 million in compensation [Shanghai Daily report] from the companies, including individual amounts more than double those provided for in the government fund. It is still unclear whether the court will accept the case. Currently, 21 people have been sentenced [Times report] in connection with the scandal, including two men executed last week [JURIST report] and the former Sanlu chairwoman, who was sentenced to life imprisonment and has since appealed [JURIST report].