Brussels, 03/05/2010 (Agence Europe) - Reasonable regulation of imports, adaptation of market mechanisms and better information to consumers: these are the main priorities in the draft report by Alain Cadec (EPP, France) which will be put to the European Parliament fisheries committee (see EUROPE 10114). The report, on the system of fishery and aquaculture imports into the EU, will be put to the vote in committee on 2 June and debated by Parliament at the July plenary session.
More than 60% of the fish sold on the Community market are imported from third countries. The draft report states that EU fishery and aquaculture production “falls well short of the needs of the processing industry and growing consumer demand, and will continue to do so”. Consequently, imports play an important role in supplying the Community market. Cadec emphasises, however, the need to ensure that “the EU retains economically viable fishery and aquaculture sectors - including small-scale operations - that are spread harmoniously along its coastline, help to preserve the cultural identity of the regions concerned, provide jobs at all stages of production, and supply safe, good-quality food”.
Trade and customs policy. The report takes the view that “reasonable customs protection which can be adjusted either on the basis of agreements or independently, depending on the preferences the EU wishes to offer or trade with particular countries - especially developing countries - and on the needs of the processing industry” should be put in place. This, it is argued, would be an important and legitimate instrument enabling authorities to regulate imports. Cadec believes that, just like agriculture, fisheries and aquaculture are “strategic sectors with multiple functions, which rely on the use of natural resources and include extremely vulnerable segments that do not lend themselves to a purely free-trade approach based on the freedom to exploit competitive advantages”. He calls, too, for responsibility for leading trade talks on fishery and aquaculture products to be transferred from the trade commissioner to the commissioner for maritime affairs and fisheries.
Environmental, social, health and quality features. Cadec believes that one of the key aims of EU policy on fishery and aquaculture imports should be “to ensure that imported products meet the same requirements that apply to EU production in every respect”. He highlights the “serious disadvantages” suffered by EU fishermen, fish farmers and fish processors in competing with certain non-EU countries, as a result of the much lower labour costs in those countries and the less stringent social standards applied there. The draft report demands that all the fishery and aquaculture trade preferences granted by the EU be subject to stringent environmental and social conditions, as a matter of course (with mechanisms for suspending preferences if undertakings are breached).
COM revision. The draft report stresses that it is essential for the new mechanisms brought in under the revision of the COM (common organisation of the fisheries market) “to address the reality of fierce competition from imports and to endeavour, nonetheless, to ensure that EU production can be marketed normally and sufficiently profitably”.
Consumer information. Cadec expresses the conviction that European consumers would often make different choices if they had more information on the products on sale - where they came from and the conditions under which they were produced. He says that there is an urgent need for stringent and transparent criteria for certifying the quality and traceability of European fishery and aquaculture products and for the introduction, as soon as possible, of specific EU eco-labelling for these products “in order to put an end to the uncontrolled proliferation of private certification systems”.
The draft report also highlights the fact that aquaculture products account for a growing proportion of fishery and aquaculture imports into the EU. It attributes this to the marked expansion of fish farming in a number of regions of the world over the past 10 years, “a period of depression for EU aquaculture, which accounts for just 2% of the sector's global output”. To reduce dependence on imports, “a determined policy of supporting and developing sustainable aquaculture in the EU” is seen as essential. (L.C./transl.rt)