On Monday 27 November, the EU Council unanimously adopted a regulation opening and providing for the administration of autonomous EU tariff quotas for certain fishery products for 2024, 2025 and 2026.
The regulation aims to ensure that the EU fish processing industry can continue to source raw materials from third countries for further processing at reduced or zero duty.
The regulation covers a number of fishery products for which duties will either be reduced or suspended during the period 2024-2026, up to a limited volume. Rights and volumes are specific to each product (see EUROPE 13269/13).
In view of the deterioration in relations between the EU and Russia, and in order to ensure consistency with the EU’s position in the context of external action, the EU Council decided not to allow fishery products from Russia to benefit from duty exemption or most-favoured nation treatment.
The EU Council also decided to exclude Belarusian fishery products from the scope of the regulation. The new regulation will come into force on the twentieth day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union and will apply from 1 January 2024 to 31 December 2026. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)