The VIII Assembly of the sardina pilchardus international committee (CISAP) will meet on 15th September at the National Association of Canned Fish and Shellfish (ANFACO) headquarters,

as part of a series of activities planned for the World Fishing Exhibition VIGO 2003. The recent controversy which arose during agreement of future Community regulations will be the main focus of the meeting, according to the ANFACO General Secretary, Juan Vieites.
The European canned food sector will study which strategy to adopt regarding the European Trade Commissioner, Pascal Lamy’s intention to make changes to the regulations project which was passed on the 17th March by the Management Committee for fishing products. Community canned food manufacturers are criticising these changes, which they say will prevent the consumer from differentiating sardina pilchardus products from those prepared in third countries such as Peru, where they use sardine-type bases.
The CISAP Assembly will be formed by representatives from sardina pilchardus canning manufacturers in other countries, whose core is formed by Spain, Portugal, France, Italy and Morocco. International members from both canning industrialists and fishing administration companies will participate in the Committee.