Russia to buy fish from Sri Lanka

Russia has agreed to purchase Sri Lankan fish products, government sources said. After extensive discussions with the Russian authorities by the government through the Embassy of Sri Lanka in the Russian Federation, the Federal Service of Veterinary Surveillance under the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation granted approval recently to import fish and fish products from Sri Lanka.

Initially, 14 Sri Lankan fish exporting companies have been included in the register of enterprises and allowed to export.

Moreover, the companies would also have the added advantage of exporting their products to the Republic of Belarus and the Republic of Kazakhstan since these countries have set up a Customs Union with the Russian Federation, whereby a product imported to one country can also be imported to the other two countries without payment of Customs duties.

The population of the Russian Federation is about 150 million and the Russian market with its rising purchasing power is quite sizeable.

There is high demand for fish and fish products in Russia, particularly exotic fish varieties and seafood.

The 14 Sri Lankan companies which have been approved to export fish and fish products to Russia could supply products such as fresh or chilled fish, frozen fish, fish fillets and other fish meat and dried or salted fish.

According to statistics of the Russian Federal Customs Service, in 2013, Russia imported 443,014 tons of fish and fish products to the value of US$ 1,581 million. During January-September 2014, Russia imported 484,000 tons of fish and fish products to the value of US$ 1,422 million.

The opportunity to export fish and fish products to the Russian market is a major achievement for the fisheries industry.

Generally, the Russian authorities issue licences to foreign companies to export food items to Russia under stringent conditions after conducting numerous checks and even making spot visits to food processing plants to verify quality and hygiene standards.

The fact that approval has been granted to export Sri Lankan fish products to Russia is testimony to the quality and standard of Sri Lankan fish products supplied to the international market and the confidence reposed in fish exporting companies meeting the strict standards of the Russian authorities.