MEPs on the European Parliament’s fisheries committee called on Tuesday 15 May for the EU to increase production from aquaculture and for the same strict criteria to apply to imported products as to EU products.
The EU needs to increase its production in the aquaculture sector, in particular with the aim of reducing pressure on natural fishing grounds, said the committee in adopting (21 votes to 2, with no abstentions) the report by Carlos Iturgaiz (EPP, Spain). It added that freshwater aquaculture is still an insufficiently explored opportunity for improving food security and developing rural areas.
Tougher criteria for imported products. The MEPs called for imported aquaculture products to be required to meet the same environmental, food safety and socio-labour and human rights standards as EU operators. They regretted that there is still no level playing field in this area, stressing that dangerous distortions of competition are a serious problem for EU operators.
They call on the Commission, working with the member states, to launch an EU-wide information campaign for consumers and businesses on aquaculture on the differences between the stringent and comprehensive standards on the European market and the lower-level standards applicable to imported products from third countries. “Emphasis should be given to the problems caused for food safety and public health by the introduction into the Union of particularly resistant micro-organisms and antimicrobial resistance” (AMR), they say. Lastly, the MEPs call for a specific label for the recognition of products from EU sustainable aquaculture to ensure transparency for consumers by reinforcing traceability. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)