Council Decision 1999/337/EC on the signature by the European Community of the Agreement on the International Dolphin Conservation Programme.

The European Community hereby provides for the signature of the Agreement on International Dolphin Conservation Programme, whose principal objectives are the following: (a) to ensure the long-term sustainability of tuna stocks in the eastern Pacific Ocean, as well as living marine resources related to the tuna fisheries; (b) to seek ecologically sound means of capturing large yellowfin tunas not in association with dolphin progressively reduce the incidental dolphin mortalities in the tuna fishery of the eastern Pacific Ocean to levels approaching zero; and (c) to avoid, reduce and minimize the incidental catch and the discard of juvenile tuna and the incidental catch of non-target species, taking into consideration the interrelationship among species in the ecosystem.