comparable to that of the U.S. fleet. Failure to meet these 

 requirements may result in a ban on the import of tuna and 

 tuna products from the nation involved. 



On 21 July 1984, the Commission wrote the Service urging 

 that it act promptly to promulgate regulations to implement 

 the foreign nation certification requirements of the amend- 

 ments. The Commission noted that prompt action was needed 

 because the Service's existing foreign nation reporting and 

 certification requirements were not as stringent as those 

 included in the 1984 amendments. 



By 1986, the Service still had not published proposed 

 regulations. Concerned about the lack of progress, the 

 Commission wrote to the Service on 22 May 1986, pointing out 

 the need for immediate action. The Service responded by 

 letter of 30 June 1986, stating that it was in the process of 

 developing the proposed regulations. The Commission wrote to 

 the Service again on 24 July, asking when the proposed regu- 

 lations would be published and requesting that a pre-publica- 

 tion version of the proposed regulations be provided to the 

 Commission for review. 



While the Service was preparing its proposed regula- 

 tions, it received a request from Mexico that the Marine 

 Mammal Protection Act embargo imposed on the importation of 

 its tuna products in 1981 be rescinded. On 21 May 1986, the 

 Service published a Federal Register notice that a deter- 

 mination had been made that Mexico was in substantial con- 

 formance with the U.S. regulations governing the incidental 

 take of marine mammals and that the importation prohibition 

 had been rescinded for that country. The decision was made 

 under the Service's existing foreign nation certification 

 regulations, which did not conform with the requirements of 

 the 1984 amendments. 



By letter of 25 June 1986, the Commission notified the 

 Service that it was inappropriate to render this decision 

 under regulatory standards that are less stringent than those 

 established by Congress in 1984. It also pointed out that 

 the Service had not consulted with the Commission on the 

 Mexican request and that it was not clear how the certifi- 

 cation decision had been reached. In order to clarify the 

 record, the Commission sought answers to a series of 

 questions on the nature and scope of the Mexican tuna- 

 porpoise program. The Service responded by letter of 

 4 September 1986, noting that, among other things: Mexico 

 does not have an incidental take quota; a Mexican observer 

 program was established in January 1986; and Mexican vessels 

 are required to use some, but not all, of the porpoise-saving 

 devices and techniques used by the U.S. fleet. 



On 13 August 1986 the Service published in the Federal 

 Register proposed regulations to implement the foreign nation 



74 



