Europe is an international community that is incredibly dependent on fish from abroad. Proof of this are the results of the latest EU Fish Market report published by the European Fisheries and Aquaculture Market Observatory (Eumofa). and developed weeks ago by Prensa Ibérica’s Faro de Vigo. In 2022 alone, Twenty Seven invested €31.9 billion in seafood from third countries: 23% more than in 2021, when the same figure was around 26,000. In total, 6.1 million tonnes entered the community block; This was 3% less than the previous year, leaving a largely negative trade balance. A deficit of 23.8 billion euros, that is, for every euro of fish we sold abroad, we saved 4 euros to buy foreign fish.
Faced with this situation, which is exacerbated as a result of the loss of local producers (both shipowners who scrap their boats and fishermen who cannot come due to lack of assistance), The Union has had to adopt more flexible policies to obtain food we cannot produce here and thus supply our processing industry to meet consumer demand. These are processing plants such as the Galician canneries, companies that will benefit, for example, from the new autonomous tariff quota regulation that Brussels recently approved, aimed at ensuring that these companies can continue to buy raw materials from non-EU countries. “at reduced or tax-free rates.”
With this measure, the EU wants to “secure” raw materials for the seafood industry
The legislation, which will be extended between 2024-2026 after the 2021-2023 period, has finally been given the green light. In total, it will benefit from 903,600 tons of foreign fish; This is 8.7% more than the 831,100 fish enjoyed by its predecessor.. Almost all but 15,000 tonnes of this amount will be subject to a 0% quota tax, meaning it will be exempt from payment.
According to the new regulatory document available to this newspaper, autonomous tariff quotas are maintained for the main species imported by the EU. This applies to Alaskan pollock (340,000 tonnes), fresh, chilled or frozen cod and fish of the ‘Boreogadus Saida’ species (110,000 tonnes), frozen surimi (60,000 tonnes), prawns and prawns of the ‘Penaeus vannamei’ species. Penaeus monodon, cooked and peeled (48,000 tonnes), Pacific hake and Argentine hake (40,000 tonnes), and tuna and tuna fillets (35,000 tonnes). All major species in the Union, except cod gadus morhua And ‘Gadus macrocephalus’ in fillets and frozen meats (down from 50,000 tonnes to 45,000 tonnes).
As for new developments, the most positive ones are the introduction of Patagonian squid, the ‘Loligo gahi’ species (75,000 tonnes) and tilapia (10,000 tonnes) into the preferred species. Likewise, increases were observed in fresh, chilled or frozen shrimps and prawns, with or without shells, of the species ‘Pleoticus tumbari’ (from 8,000 to 16,000 tonnes) and cooked and peeled Pandalus jordani (from 2,000 to 4,000 tonnes). However, the discounts enjoyed by herrings and sharks (2,000) treated with spices or vinegar, in brine, kept in barrels with a net drained weight of at least 70 kilograms (based on 5,000 tonnes) have been eliminated.
Despite all of the above, the new regulations exclude these aspects. Autonomous tariff quotas for seafood from Belarus and RussiaThis is something that will strongly affect imports of Alaska pollock, despite the enormous existing quota. Regarding the implementation of this decision taken as a disciplinary measure in connection with the war in Ukraine, the Union acknowledges that: “It will have repercussions on trade flows and will require EU industry to adapt.”. “As a result, if raw materials that are not currently within the scope of this regulation and are equivalent to these products and are urgently needed during the adaptation period are identified, this regulation may be revised to take these situations into account,” he adds.
Planas confirms that regulations “maintain” the competitiveness of the processing sector
Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planas, said: “Thanks to this regulation, we protect the competitiveness of our processing industry, the supply of quality fishery products at reasonable prices to European consumers, the interests of the EU fishing industry and legal certainty.” He also stated that he would defend Spain’s interests in negotiations on the Total Allowable Catch (TAC) and quotas for 2024, considering the next meeting of the Union’s Agriculture and Fisheries Council to be held in Brussels. , was not greeted with the same enthusiasm by the industry; and this was expressed by the European shipowners’ association, among other groups. Emphasizing that the European Commission has “prepared the latest EU fisheries policy proposals under the obligation to address the climate and biodiversity crisis, which has led to an increase in the diversity of rules and restrictions imposed on EU vessels”, Europêche made it clear that it would welcome this. Brussels “also takes such a determined stance on the sustainability of the autonomous tariff quota system.” Anfaco-Cecopesca, representing the Spanish canned food industry, welcomed the fact that “historic demands” such as some of the reported increases had been answered, but deplored the “lack of ambition” when it came to combining these increases for other types. like tuna…