TMT is working in close collaboration with the Fisheries Committee for the West Central Gulf of Guinea (FCWC) and its West Africa Task Force, to assist the implementation of the FAO Port States Measure Agreement (PSMA) in the FCWC member countries. These efforts are part of the ‘Intelligence-led Port Controls’ programme, also being implemented with Global Fishing Watch.
In Cote d’Ivoire, collaborative efforts started in 2020, and focus primarily on the implementation of an Advanced Request for Access to Port (AREP), the associated use of intelligence and tools to conduct the required risk assessment, and the use of the risk assessment to plan and execute inspections, with a priority on reefers. These activities are being coordinated with FAO PSMA support activities in the country.
TMT is providing a mentor to Cote d’Ivoire to support Cote d’Ivoire in these efforts. Recent activities have reviewed the AREP process in place and its practical implementation, including which national agencies are involved in the process, and the authority process to grant access or entry to port. This was reviewed both at the procedural level, as well as a review of its implementation in practise in port.
While currently most of the processes in place are not yet fully formalised and harmonised, they have begun to be operationally implemented, and inter-agency agreement on further formalisation of the AREP has now been achieved.