A
Accessible: For information to be accessible it must be freely available, published online by national authorities and is easy to find. For information to be accessible, it should also be judged whether it is comprehensible. While ultimately subjective, the FiTI Report should highlight where information published by authorities is ambiguous, or complex, meaning non-expert members of the public are unlikely to understand it. Information is not accessible if it is only available in hard copy, or if access to an online source is restricted on condition of payment or justification by the person requesting the information. Furthermore, information is not accessible if it is released in proprietary format.
B
Best available: Some of the transparency requirements of the FiTI Standard include information that necessarily is based on estimates and can therefore be produced through different methods of data gathering. For example, information on stock assessments (A.6) will be based on sampling, extrapolation of data and the identification and control of variables in order to assess historical trends in stocks of fish. The inclusion of the concept “best available” information in the FiTI Standard is to address instances where information used by national authorities is clearly misleading. In such cases, the role of the National Multi-Stakeholder Group is to judge whether information used by the public authorities could be improved by considering alternative sources of information, which may include studies by non-governmental organisations, the private sector or
academic institutions.
C
Complete: For information published by national authorities to be judged complete, there must be no reasonable evidence that it contains missing information. For example, a public registry of fishing vessels would not be considered complete if there was evidence that one or more authorised fishing vessels were not included in this registry. Also, information cannot be considered complete if it is missing for the reporting period.
Coordinating authority: The government must designate a national authority as the principal and continuous contact to coordinate and facilitate the implementation of the FiTI in the country. This authority must ensure that the government is actively and effectively engaged in the national FiTI implementation process.
E
Enabling environment: A government of a country seeking to join the FiTI must ensure that there is an enabling environment for business and civil society participation with regard to relevant laws, regulations, and administrative rules as well as actual practice. This includes, inter alia, a sincere commitment to work with civil society and business on the implementation of the FiTI, as well as ensuring that the National Multi-Stakeholder Group can engage in public debates related to the FiTI, express their opinions about the FiTI without restraint, coercion or reprisal, and speak freely on fisheries governance issues.
Extension: A FiTI country can apply for an extension if it is unable to meet the required deadlines of FiTI implementation (i.e. publication of FiTI Report, Workplan, as well as undergoing validation) due to exceptional or unforeseen circumstances. Extension requests are assessed by the FiTI International Board against a number of criteria, as outlined in section G.1.2 of the FiTI Standard.
F
FiTI Committed Country: The implementation of the FiTI Standard is voluntary. The intention to do so must come from a country’s national government, for example by signing a written partnership agreement with the FiTI to establish a mutually beneficial collaboration framework
between both parties. After signing such an agreement, the country will be referred to as a FiTI Committed Country.
FiTI Implementing Country: National authorities of a FiTI Committed Country must establish an enabling environment for stakeholder participation (in accordance with section C of the FiTI Standard section A) and submit a standardised application to the FiTI International Board. If the application is approved, the country will be referred to as a FiTI Implementing Country.
FiTI Compliant Country: A FiTI Implementing country is declared a FiTI Compliant country by the FiTI International Board, if the country’s independent assessment (i.e. validation) demonstrated certain performances regarding enabling environment for stakeholder participation, multi-stakeholder oversight and individual transparency requirements. This status is maintained if the country continues to adhere to the FiTI Standard throughout subsequent validations. Consequently, the status as a FiTI Compliant country can also be lost if the country fails to follow the FiTI Standard, including a failure to publish existing information for the transparency requirements or where there is evidence that multi-stakeholder participation is not being achieved effectively.
FiTI Standard: The only internationally recognised framework that sets out requirements that countries must follow to be part of the FiTI. It defines for the first time what information on fisheries should be published online by public authorities! It also outlines clear procedures for countries seeking to join the FiTI and for the initiative’s international governance.
FiTI Report: An annual report, produced jointly by the FiTI International Secretariat and the country’s Multi-Stakeholder Group, that demonstrates whether the transparency requirements of the 12 thematic areas of the FiTI Standard have been fulfilled, i.e. if the information published by national authorities is accessible and complete, and represents the best available information.
Fisheries Information Report: In case where national authorities are unable to publish existing information regarding the country’s fisheries sector (according to section A of the FiTI Standard) on government websites, the country’s National MSG must collate and publish this information in an annual Fisheries Information Report. However, such a report must be used only as an interim measure until a FiTI Implementing Country reaches validation eligibility. The FiTI International Secretariat supports National MSGs in producing such temporary Fisheries Information Report, if requested.
Foreign fishing access agreement: A contractual arrangement that is entered into between a coastal state and a foreign party that allows for fishing vessels to operate in the country’s marine jurisdictional waters (i.e. Territorial Sea and Exclusive Economic Zone). The FiTI Standard covers agreements that allow access for foreign vessels to fish in the country’s marine jurisdictional waters, as well as those that allow the coastal state’s flagged vessels to fish in a third country. Agreements can be signed between governments, between a coastal state and a union of foreign governments (such as the European Union), or between coastal states and private corporations, or associations of private companies.
H
Hiatus: A temporary pause of an FiTI implementation, in case the country faces political instability, conflicts, or natural disasters. Hiatus requests are assessed by the FiTI International Board against a number of criteria, as outlined in section G.1.3 of the FiTI Standard.
I
International Board: The global oversight body of the FiTI. Its main responsibilities are, inter alia, to assess assess candidate applications of countries; to evaluate the performance of countries against the FiTI Standard based on regular validations; to establish mechanisms to collect and address complaints, resolve disagreement, and sanction non-compliant countries; to oversee and guide the work of the FiTI International Secretariat; to enhance the FiTI Standard over time; and promote transparency and multi-stakeholder participation in fisheries governance. The Board is presided and represented by its Chair.
International Secretariat: The executive body of the FiTI. Its main responsibilities are, inter alia, to raise awareness and conduct communication activities among national, regional and global stakeholders; provide technical advice and training regarding the implementation of the FiTI Standard; monitor progressive improvements of countries; and provide support to the FiTI International Board. The Secretariat is led by the Executive Director.
J
M
Multi-Stakeholder Group: A group made up of government, company, and civil society representatives that oversee the implementation of the FiTI in a country. The Multi-Stakeholder Group (short MSG) develops the country’s work plans, oversees the production of the FiTI Report and ensures that the FiTI contributes to public debate.
N
National Focal Point: A senior government official from the country’s Coordinating Authority, appointed to initiate and oversee the FiTI implementation process and act as the government’s permanent focal point. This official must have the confidence of all stakeholders, the authority and freedom to coordinate actions on the FiTI implementation across relevant ministries
and agencies, and be able to mobilise resources for the FiTI implementation.
National waters: The maritime zones under national jurisdiction are the following: internal waters, territorial sea, contiguous zone, exclusive economic zone (EEZ), and continental shelf. Beyond the maritime zones under national jurisdiction are the High Seas and the international seabed area.
P
R
S
Suspension: A temporary status of non-compliance that expresses that one or more aspects of the FiTI requirements, particularly reporting deadlines and other technical requirements, are not adhered to by a country. The country will have up to 12 months to address the reasons for suspension. During the period of suspension, a country carries the status “Suspended”.
T
Tenure Arrangement: How people gain access to land, fisheries, forests and other natural resources; in other words who can use which resources, for how long, and under what conditions. Fisheries tenure arrangements refers to the manner in which the relationships between people are defined and negotiated in the context of the utilization of fishery and related resources, i.e. tenure defines who is a user and, therefore, who has a legitimate right to a resource and who does not.
V
Validation: An essential part of the safeguarding the FiTI by verifying compliance of all participating countries against the FiTI Standard. This covers the transparency aspect (i.e. FiTI Reports), procedural requirements, including the meaningful involvement of stakeholders, as well as the impact of the FiTI in the country. It also helps promote dialogue and learning at the country level.
Validation eligibility: Countries that seek to obtain the status of a FiTI Compliant Country must first reach validation eligibility in accordance with section H.1 of the FiTI Standard. This relates primarily to demonstrating adherence to the Standard’s transparency requirements under section A of the FiTI Standard. If deemed as eligible by the FiTI International Board, an independent Validation Assessment will be conducted on the country.