On 21 July 1984, the Commission wrote to the Service 

 urging that it promulgate regulations to implement the foreign 

 nation certification requirements of the amendments. The 

 Commission noted that prompt action was needed because the 

 Service's existing foreign nation reporting and certification 

 standards were not as stringent as those required by the 1984 

 amendments. Concerned about the lack of progress, the Commis- 

 sion wrote to the Service again 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 1986, asking when the proposed 

 regulations would be published and requesting that a pre- 

 publication version of the proposed regulations be provided 

 to the Commission for review. 



On 13 August 1986, the Service published in the Federal 

 Register proposed regulations to implement the foreign nation 

 reporting and certification requirements of the 1984 amend- 

 ments. The proposed regulations called for a performance-based 

 approach requiring a showing that the foreign nation's regu- 

 latory program is comparable to that of the U.S. and that 

 reliable data indicate a level of take in the foreign fleet 

 which is comparable to that of the U.S. fleet. The proposed 

 regulations stated that a comparable level of take would be 

 one that is not more than 50 percent higher than the U.S. 

 level. For each nation that is certified as satisfying U.S. 

 standards, an annual review would be conducted to assess 

 whether the program remains in compliance. 



By letter of 14 November 1986, the Commission advised 

 the Service that it supported the adoption of the proposed 

 regulations, subject to certain modifications. In its letter, 

 the Commission recommended that the regulations specify that 

 the only method of monitoring take levels that would be in 

 compliance with U.S. standards is one that is based on observer 

 data. The Commission also expressed its view that a level of 

 take that is 50 percent higher than that of the U.S. is unac- 

 ceptably high and does not satisfy the requirements of the 

 1984 amendments that the level of take be comparable to that 

 of the U.S. fleet. Final regulations were expected to be 

 published early in 1987. 



Because of comments received on the proposed rule, however, 

 the Service delayed issuing the final regulations to incorporate 

 several modifications and clarifications. Publication of the 

 final rule was further delayed to accommodate consultations 

 between the Service and the Inter-American Tropical Tuna 

 Commission seeking to devise a system that would provide 

 reliable data upon which to make comparisons between the U.S. 

 and foreign fleets. 



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