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Exchange of Notes between the Government of Canada and the Government of the French Republic Concluding Amendments to the Procès-verbal Applying the March 27, 1972 Agreement between Canada and France on Their Mutual Fishing Relations

E105412

The Ambassador of Canada to the Minister of Foreign Affairs for the Republic of France

Paris, France

I have the honour to refer to the proposed amendments to the Procès-verbal Applying the March 27, 1972 Agreement between Canada and France on their Mutual Fishing Relations, done at Paris, France on 02 December, 1994, as developed between the Canadian and French delegations, which follow in their entirety and which shall replace the existing paragraphs as indicated.

Article 1. Paragraph 2 of Article III of the Procès-verbal Applying the March 27, 1972 Agreement between Canada and France on their Mutual Fishing Relations (“Procès-Verbal”) is deleted and replaced by the following:

“2. It is agreed that the fishing vessels of each Party may fish the shares set out in Annex I in the maritime areas of the other Party, provided that the total catches of the vessels of each Party in the maritime areas of both Parties, including by-catches, do not exceed the shares set out in Annex I for the relevant Party.  It is agreed that the Parties may decide on an annual basis to transfer between them all or part of the shares set out in Annex I and Annex II.  The Parties will jointly decide in writing, before October 1 of each year, on the transfers that are made in accordance with this paragraph.”

Article 2. Paragraph 1 of Article IV of the Procès-Verbal is deleted and replaced by the following:

“1. Concerning the French share of the T.A.C. for cod in division 3Ps and the share of the TAC for cod allocated to France in the Gulf of St. Lawrence (N.A.F.O. divisions 4Rs, 3Pn, and 4TVn), it is agreed that 70% of these shares (calculated together or separately across these divisions), taking into account the transfers effected in accordance with Article III, shall be fished by Canadian fishing vessels that hold fishing licences for the stocks concerned, subject to two conditions:

• all catches corresponding to this 70% of French shares shall be landed in St-Pierre and Miquelon for processing there;
• an agreement is concluded before October 1 of each year between the Canadian enterprise or enterprises that operate the vessels fishing 70% of the French shares and the French enterprise or enterprises processing the fish in St. Pierre and Miquelon.”

Article 3. A new paragraph 3 is inserted in Article IV of the Procès-Verbal and the paragraphs that follow are renumbered:

“3. Notwithstanding paragraph 1, the Parties may jointly decide for a given year that all or part of the catches corresponding to 70% of the French share of cod may be captured in one or both of the following manners:

• by Canadian vessels that hold a fishing licence for the relevant stocks landed in Canada for processing;
• by French vessels that are registered in St. Pierre and Miquelon that holds a fishing licence for the relevant stocks landed in Canada or in St-Pierre and Miquelon for processing.”

Article 4.  The former paragraph 3 of Article IV becomes paragraph 4 and reads as follows:

“4. If the Canadian enterprise or enterprises and the French enterprise or enterprises referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article are unable to conclude an agreement before October 1 of a given year, the Canadian enterprises, for the subsequent 12 months, may no longer fish 70% of the French shares as provided in paragraph 1.  All of these shares shall then be fished entirely by the French enterprise or enterprises, without prejudice to paragraph 2 of Article III regarding transfers between the Parties.”

Article 5.  The former paragraph 4 of Article IV becomes paragraph 5 and reads as follows:

“5. The date mentioned in paragraphs 1 and 4 can be modified jointly by the Parties through an exchange of notes.”

Article 6. Paragraph 3(c) of Article VII is deleted and replaced by the following:

“observes that the enterprises that have entered into an agreement referred to in Article IV have not respected the terms of this Procès-Verbal.”

Article 7: In the French version, the term “reconductible” in Article IX of the Procès- verbal is deleted and replaced by “reconduit”.

If the above proposals are acceptable to the Government of the Republic of France, I have the honour to propose that this Note, and your Excellency's affirmative Note in reply, which are equally authentic in the English and French versions, shall constitute an Agreement between our two Governments, which shall enter into force on the date of the second note that is part of a subsequent exchange of notes confirming the completion by each Party of all internal procedures necessary for its entry into force.

Please accept, the assurances of my highest consideration.

Lawrence Cannon
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
of Canada to the French Republic

(Translation)

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Paris, 5 March 2014

No. 210/DGP/AME/NORD

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has the honour to acknowledge receipt of your note no456, dated 5 March 2014, which reads as follows in its entirety:

“I have the honour to refer to the proposed amendments to the Procès-verbal Applying the March 27, 1972 Agreement between Canada and France on their Mutual Fishing Relations, done at Paris, France on 02 December, 1994, as developed between the Canadian and French delegations, which follow in their entirety and which shall replace the existing paragraphs as indicated.

Article 1: Paragraph 2 of Article III of the Procès-verbal Applying the March 27, 1972 Agreement between Canada and France on their Mutual Fishing Relations (“Procès-Verbal”) is deleted and replaced by the following:

“2. It is agreed that the fishing vessels of each Party may fish the shares set out in Annex I in the maritime areas of the other Party, provided that the total catches of the vessels of each Party in the maritime areas of both Parties, including by-catches, do not exceed the shares set out in Annex I for the relevant Party.  It is agreed that the Parties may decide on an annual basis to transfer between them all or part of the shares set out in Annex I and Annex II. The Parties will jointly decide in writing, before October 1 of each year, on the transfers that are made in accordance with this paragraph.”

Article 2: Paragraph 1 of Article IV of the Procès-Verbal is deleted and replaced by the following:

“1. Concerning the French share of the T.A.C. for cod in division 3Ps and the share of the TAC for cod allocated to France in the Gulf of St. Lawrence (N.A.F.O. divisions 4Rs, 3Pn, and 4TVn), it is agreed that 70% of these shares (calculated together or separately across these divisions), taking into account the transfers effected in accordance with Article III, shall be fished by Canadian fishing vessels that hold fishing licences for the stocks concerned, subject to two conditions:

• all catches corresponding to this 70% of French shares shall be landed in St-Pierre and Miquelon for processing there;
• an agreement is concluded before October 1 of each year between the Canadian enterprise or enterprises that operate the vessels fishing 70% of the French shares and the French enterprise or enterprises processing the fish in St. Pierre and Miquelon.”

Article 3: A new paragraph 3 is inserted in Article IV of the Procès-Verbal and the paragraphs that follow are renumbered:

“3. Notwithstanding paragraph 1, the Parties may jointly decide for a given year that all or part of the catches corresponding to 70% of the French share of cod may be captured in one or both of the following manners:

• by Canadian vessels that hold a fishing licence for the relevant stocks landed in Canada for processing;
• by French vessels that are registered in St. Pierre and Miquelon that holds a fishing licence for the relevant stocks landed in Canada or in St-Pierre and Miquelon for processing.”

Article 4: The former paragraph 3 of Article IV becomes paragraph 4 and reads as follows:

“4. If the Canadian enterprise or enterprises and the French enterprise or enterprises referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article are unable to conclude an agreement before October 1 of a given year, the Canadian enterprises, for the subsequent 12 months, may no longer fish 70% of the French shares as provided in paragraph 1. All of these shares shall then be fished entirely by the French enterprise or enterprises, without prejudice to paragraph 2 of Article III regarding transfers between the Parties.”

Article 5: The former paragraph 4 of Article IV becomes paragraph 5 and reads as follows:

“5. The date mentioned in paragraphs 1 and 4 can be modified jointly by the Parties through an exchange of notes.”

Article 6: Paragraph 3(c) of Article VII is deleted and replaced by the following:

“observes that the enterprises that have entered into an agreement referred to in Article IV have not respected the terms of this Procès-Verbal.”

Article 7: In the French version, the term “reconductible” in Article IX of the Procès-verbal is deleted and replaced by “reconduit”.

If the above proposals are acceptable to the Government of the Republic of France, I have the honour to propose that this Note, and your Excellency's affirmative Note in reply, which are equally authentic in the English and French versions, shall constitute an Agreement between our two Governments, which shall enter into force on the date of the second note that is part of a subsequent exchange of notes confirming the completion by each Party of all internal procedures necessary for its entry into force. ”

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has the honour to inform you of its Government’s agreement to the above provisions. Therefore, your note, together with this note in reply, which are equally authentic in the French and English languages, shall constitute an agreement between our two governments, which shall enter into force on the date of the second note that is part of a subsequent exchange of notes confirming the completion by each Party of all internal procedures necessary for its entry into force.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs avails itself of this opportunity to renew to the Embassy of Canada in France the assurances of its highest consideration.

MB
Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs