Brussels, 20/12/2006 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 19 December, the EU Council of Ministers adopted, without debate, the regulations on 2007 guide prices for fresh and frozen marine products and on yellowfin tunny for the processing industry. These prices are used to calculate compensation to be paid to producers' organisations for unsold products (withdrawal price).
The Council confirmed the prices proposed by the European Commission (see EUROPE 9307), with one exception: fresh deepwater prawn (cooked in water), the price of which has been increased by 0.5% compared with 2006, to €6410 per tonne. The Commission proposed the retention of the current price. For the other fresh products, prices rise by 3% for herring, saithe, haddock and cuttlefish, by 2% for mackerel, anchovy, megrim, monkfish, edible crab and sole. Reductions in prices were agreed for some fresh species (-3% for common shrimp and dogfish, -2% for sardine and dab, -1.5% for cod and white tuna).
In the frozen fish sector, the regulation reflects the price falls on international markets. Prices, however, rise for some frozen products, such as black halibut (+1.5%), Illex squid (+3%) and shrimp of the Penaeidae family (+2%). Prices fall for the majority of other frozen products, particularly for net-caught hake (-3%), cuttlefish (-3%), octopus (-2%), round hake (-2%) and bream (-2%). They remain stable for frozen swordfish (€4079/tonne) and sea squid. Finally, the regulation increases the Community production price for tuna-based products by 1.5% (€1225/tonne). (lc)