On Friday 4 February, the European Union and the United States announced a transatlantic agreement that will allow the resumption, from the end of February, of transatlantic trade in bivalve molluscs (mussels, clams, oysters, scallops), which has been put on hold since 2011.
More specifically, Spain and the Netherlands will be allowed to export shellfish to the USA, while two US states (Massachusetts and Washington) will be allowed to export to the EU.
This agreement solves a long-standing problem and “shows that our efforts to forge a positive, forward-looking trade agenda with the United States are paying off”, said Valdis Dombrovskis, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission, in a statement. As for U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo, the resumption of U.S.- EU trade in key shellfish products like oysters, clams, mussels, and scallops highlights the “competitiveness” of our fishery resources.
This agreement is based on the fact that after conducting field audits, the European Commission and the U.S. Food Safety Agency (FDA) are of the opinion that the production methods for bivalve molluscs in the two EU states and in the two US states are now equivalent.
This potentially allows other Member States to receive approval under a simplified procedure. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)