January 31, 2014

Norway and Russia to tackle issue on Norwegian fish restrictions

Russian federal veterinary supervisory body Rosselkhoznadzor and Norwegian ambassador Leidulv Namtvedt will meet in February to discuss the issue of the restrictions imposed by Russia on fish imports from Norway.

The ban, which took effect on January 1, mainly affects pelagic and demersal fish species such as herring, sprat, cod, haddock, capelin, and mackerel, among others. Trout and salmon were exempted because they are subject to strengthened veterinary control.

The measure affected about 90% of the companies that export fish products to Russia. The impact becomes clearer from the resulting data of 2013, according to which Russia ranked first among importers of Norwegian fish.

The Norwegian Seafood Council informed that the last year's fish supplies from Norway to Russia in value terms grew by 10% to US$1.06 billion.

In January of this year, Russia's notice to the World Trade Organization (WTO) stated Norwegian suppliers violated the necessary sanitary safety requirements, according to laboratory tests and inspections conducted by Russian veterinarians.

As the ban specially affects mackerel, Russian officials are engaged now in negotiations with fish industry representatives from Faroe Islands, Denmark and Iceland. The Russian agency is analysing the proposals of some Canadian businesses in order to make up for possible shortages of Norwegian salmon.

Meanwhile Norwegian authorities say that the Norwegian seafood has a solid reputation worldwide, and point out that they rarely have had problems with quality and safety.

According to some experts, the Russian fish business is controlled by cartels that receive support from the officials and effectively block access to the market for any independent companies.