Colombo, Feb 5 (IANS): The European Union (EU) Thursday said the ban on fish import from Sri Lanka has not been lifted.
The ban came into force Jan 14, Xinhua reported.
The European Commission (EC) held very constructive meetings last week with Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera in Brussels on the issue of illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU), the EU office in Colombo said.
The EU said it was agreed that Sri Lanka would take a range of measures to strengthen management and control of its fisheries sector.
"Once the EC is satisfied that these measures have been taken by Sri Lanka, it would propose the lifting of the fisheries trade measures to the EU member states. Until then, the fisheries ban stays in place," the EU said.
The EU noted that it takes the global problem of illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing very seriously, and it encourages others to do the same.