On May 1, 2017, the Department of State certified 39 nations and one economy, and granted determinations for seven fisheries, as having adequate measures in place to protect sea turtles during the course of commercial shrimp fishing, which permits those countries to export wild-caught shrimp to the United States under Section 609 of Public Law 101-162 (“Section 609”).

Section 609 prohibits the importation of wild-caught shrimp and products from shrimp harvested in ways that may adversely affect sea turtles unless the Department of State certifies to Congress that the government of the harvesting nation or economy has adopted a regulatory program comparable to that of the United States to reduce the incidental taking of sea turtles in its shrimp trawl fisheries, such as through the use of turtle excluder devices (“TEDs”) or that the particular fishing environment of the harvesting nation or economy does not threaten sea turtles. The Department makes certifications annually and bases them in part on the results of overseas verification visits by a team composed of State Department and National Marine Fisheries Service representatives. For more information on the Certification to Congress please see the Federal Register Notice published on May 5, 2017, at 82 FR 21295: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2017/05/05/2017-09164/annual-certification-of-shrimp-harvesting-nations.

Six of the world’s seven species of marine turtles are listed as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act. The seventh species is not found in U.S. waters. Implementation of Section 609 provides considerable benefits to sea turtles species. If properly designed, built, installed, used, and maintained, TEDs allow 97 percent of sea turtles to escape the shrimp net without appreciable loss of shrimp. The United States government is currently providing technology and capacity-building assistance to other nations in the hope they can contribute to the recovery of sea turtle species and be certified under Section 609, and is encouraging enactment by other countries of similar legislation to prevent the importation of shrimp harvested in a manner harmful to protected sea turtles. For more information on United States government sea turtle conservation efforts, please go to https://www.state.gov/e/oes/ocns/fish/seaturtles/index.htm or http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/species/turtles/.

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The following is attributable to Spokesperson Heather Nauert:

The Secretary of State spoke by phone with Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov today about the efforts to de-escalate the ongoing conflict in Syria. The Secretary looks forward to further meetings with the Foreign Minister to discuss the respective roles of the United States and Russia in de-escalating the conflict and supporting the talks in Geneva to move the political solution forward.

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SECRETARY TILLERSON: Mr. Munoz, welcome. Welcome to the State Department.

FOREIGN MINISTER MUNOZ: Secretary Tillerson, thank you very much.

SECRETARY TILLERSON: Pleasure to have you here.

FOREIGN MINISTER MUNOZ: Absolutely, a pleasure for us and hopefully continue the excellent relationship that both the U.S. and Chile have had for a long time.

SECRETARY TILLERSON: We certainly will. We certainly will. Thank all of you.

FOREIGN MINISTER MUNOZ: Thank you.

The Office of Website Management, Bureau of Public Affairs, manages this site as a portal for information from the U.S. State Department.
External links to other Internet sites should not be construed as an endorsement of the views or privacy policies contained therein.

Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Thomas A. Shannon, Jr., will travel to New York City, May 8, to meet with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov to discuss a range of bilateral issues.

To learn more about the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, please visit here.

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External links to other Internet sites should not be construed as an endorsement of the views or privacy policies contained therein.

The United States supports the statements issued by the European Union and the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights regarding the extension of the pre-trial detention of Lim Mony, Nay Vanda, Ny Sokha, and Yi Soksan, members of the respected Cambodian non-governmental organization ADHOC, as well as that of former member Ny Chakrya. The five have been held in prison without trial for more than a year.

We note with concern reports the impact this prolonged detention is having on the families of the imprisoned and the unreasonable delay in proceeding to trial. We also note the views expressed by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention in November 2016 that the detention of these five human rights defenders is arbitrary. The United States encourages the Government of Cambodia to consider carefully these recommendations and respect its relevant international human rights obligations.

The Office of Website Management, Bureau of Public Affairs, manages this site as a portal for information from the U.S. State Department.
External links to other Internet sites should not be construed as an endorsement of the views or privacy policies contained therein.