Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs; Certifications Pursuant to Section 609 of Public Law 101-162

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On April 28, 1995, the Department of State certified, pursuant to Section 609 of Public Law 101-162, that 9 countries with commercial shrimp trawl fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean and Western Atlantic Ocean (Belize, Brazil, Colombia, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, and Venezuela) have adopted programs to reduce the incidental capture of sea turtles in such fisheries comparable to the program in effect in the United States. The Department certified that the fishing environment in two other countries (Costa Rica and Guatemala) does not pose a threat of the incidental taking of sea turtles protected under Public Law 101-162. The Department was unable to issue certifications on April 28 for Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, and French Guiana and, as a result, shrimp imports from these countries were prohibited effective May 1, 1995, pursuant to Public Law 101-162. The Department of State subsequently issued a certification for Trinidad and Tobago on August 15, 1995 and, as a result, the ban on shrimp imports that had been in effect since May 1, 1995, was lifted.