Bridges Trade BioRes • Volume 4 • Number 3 • 20th February 2004

Developing Country Role in Fisheries Trade Discussed

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The Sub-Committee of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) on Fish Trade met for its ninth session from 10-14 February in Bremen, Germany. Participants discussed eco-labelling, food safety, traceability rules as well as market access for developing countries. Discussions on food safety and consumer health topped the agenda at the meeting, with participants calling both for greater safety control through traceability systems — ie tracing the fish product from capture to consumption — as well as for capacity building for developing countries to implement such systems and related safety controls. The risk of safety measures, implemented by countries to protect human health and/or the environment, becoming a barrier to trade and market access for developing country exports was highlighted. In this respect, participants stressed that such measures should be based on solid science in order to avoid unfair barriers to trade. Regarding market access, speakers also noted that although developing countries account for around 50 percent of the world fish trade, a major part of their exports consist of unprocessed fish instead of processed fish products, which would provide higher revenue. According to FAO officer Audun Lem, the main reason for this could be found in tariff peaks and tariff escalations for processed fish applied by developed countries (tariff peaks, i.e. exceptionally high tariffs on certain products, and tariff escalation, i.e. higher tariffs on products of higher value added). On standards, participants agreed on draft eco-labelling guidelines for fish products that would serve as global reference standards for eco-labelling systems once adopted.

The draft report of the meeting will be submitted to the FAO Committee on Fisheries for approval.

Meeting documents are available at the FAO website.

“Fish trade a success story for developing countries, but is the field level enough,” FAO, 13 February, 2004; “FAO meeting on global fish trade closes in Germany,” FAO, 16 February, 2004; “UN meeting on global fish trade recommends action to boost consumer safety,” UN NEWS, 17 February, 2004.