The Europêche organisation asked the European Commission on Monday 28 September to initiate an anti-dumping investigation into imports of processed tuna loins (mainly skipjack) originating in China, “which are causing serious economic damage to the European fishing industry”, according to a press release.
The information provided by Europêche to the Commission reveals, according to this organisation, the existence of “unlawful aids and tax breaks” granted by the Chinese administration to Chinese exporters of tuna loins and canned tuna.
The European fishing industry is urging the EU to “eliminate any present and future tariff derogations granted to tuna loins, which mainly come from China, to mitigate further market and economic disruption”, explains Europêche.
Subsidising tuna exports is considered a trade practice that violates World Trade Organization (WTO) rules and threatens “sustainable ocean governance”, argues Europêche.
Europêche is alarmed by the increase in the volume of low-priced imports of tuna loins flooding the EU market. These low prices are made possible by the subsidies granted by the Chinese government to its producers and by the import tariff derogations granted by the EU for tuna loins up to 30,000 tonnes per year.
Link to the Europêche press release: https://bit.ly/36gQphW (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)