Decisive meeting with EU on fishery ban

by Rohana Jayalal

Sri Lankan exporters have called upon the government to take up the import tariff charged by China on seafood when negotiating a free trade agreement as they seek to diversify markets.

The 9% tariff charged by China on Sri Lanka’s seafood exports is a problem and this needs to be discussed, they said. A top Lankan delegation is due to leave for Brussels on Wednesday, March 30 to discuss the EU Fishery ban.

The delegation includes the State Minister of International Trade, Sujeewa Senasinghe, EDB Chairperson and CEO, Indira Malwatte and members of the Prime Ministerial Task Force.

A decisive meeting with the EU on the fishery ban will determine our fishery exports to Europe in the future.

Managing Director of Global Sea Foods and Chairman of the Seafood Exporters Association of Sri Lanka (SEASL), Prabhash Subasinghe told the meeting with the Minister that they were seeking government support to ramp up production and access new markets as a ban by the European Union hurt the sector. Subasinghe said seafood exports are suffering because of the ban and an ‘unfriendly’ import and export policy environment.

Exporters feel the outcome will be favourable for Sri Lanka,especially in the post-ban period. Our seafood exports are suffering due to the unfriendly import and export policy environment, the SEASL chairman said.Exporters also need to pay a licence fee of $50 per tonne of seafood while suffering from inadequate production volumes to meet export demand. “We need government support to increase production.Sri Lanka hopes the fishing ban imposed by the European Commission will be lifted by mid this year.

The government said it has taken action to ensure that fishermen comply with all the conditions laid down by the EU, he said.

The EU, the major export market for Sri Lanka, imposed a ban on Sri Lanka’s fish exports in January 2015 to European countries, due to fishermen engaging in Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing activities.

Sri Lanka is losing over US$ 100 million annually due to the ban and the government looks forward to a favourable response from the EU.

Despite the ban, three EU countries - Italy, UK and the Netherlands were among the top five buyers of Lankan seafood in 2014, while the US and Japan topped the list in the same year.

Lankan seafood production tripled last year from 2004 volumes and of the total harvest, only about a quarter is exported due to heavy domestic consumer demand.

Over 70% of Lankan seafood exports consist of tuna fish. The Lankan seafood export market which was $252.7 million in 2014 declined by 35% to $163.1 million in 2015, Subasinghe said. Sri Lanka received a ‘yellow card’, a stern warning in November 2012, as the country was not complying with international rules on illegal fishing and had inadequate control systems.

The EU imposed the ban in October 2014, saying Sri Lanka was not complying with international rules on illegal fishing.

Sri Lanka is the second largest exporter of fresh and chilled swordfish and tuna to the EU (€ 74 million of imports in 2013). Sri Lanka’s fish exports to the European Union make up 68 percent of its total fish exports, which brings in Rs. 23 billion annually. The remaining 32 percent is sent to the United States, Japan and other non-EU countries.

The seafood trade was suffering from inadequate production volumes to meet export demand, Subasinghe said.

On October 14, 2014, the EU declared that “Sri Lanka is not complying with international rules on illegal fishing and Lankan control systems were inadequate. Fisheries products caught by Sri Lankan flagged vessels will not be allowed to enter the EU market.”

In March 2015, a Committee was appointed by the government to look into the fishery ban which updated the EU with its progress reports. The 2014 EU fish ban affected Sri Lanka’s seafood exports and the 500,000-strong fishery sector livelihoods, he said.

Minister Senasinghe said, “Ninety-five percent of the work on lifting the ban has been completed. The ban had a cascading effect on our fishery sector and on livelihoods of fisherfolk. It also damaged our international image as a reputed seafood exporter.”

“It is time we launched an image-building campaign and sustainable methods of fishing to make fishery exports a $1 billion sector,” the Minister said.

EDB chairperson and CEO, Malwatte said, “It’s time for Lankan seafood exporters to enter global markets as a common, single brand to build its brand and overcome setbacks. The EDB can help in promoting Sri Lanka’s fishery image overseas.”