May 24, 2011

Fiji ships out maiden fish export to EU countries

After a three year prohibition, the first batch of frozen fish from Fiji left the country last week to the EU countries.

Senior Health Inspector Jope Tamani said a 20 foot container of frozen albacore tuna made up the first export after Fiji was taken off from a list of countries banned from exporting fish to the 27 EU countries.

Tamani said Golden Ocean Fish Limited and Solander Pacific Limited are the two local companies that have registered to export fish to Europe.

"This is good news and something that we all look forward to. A couple of days ago, Golden Ocean Fish Limited sent the first consignment of a 20 foot container of frozen fish to their customers in the EU."

Tamani said most fishing companies have showed their interest in exporting fish to the EU but they will have to meet the requirements.

"The challenge now is on the processing facility to meet their customer demand and also on their aspiring industry players who wish to enter the EU market because they need to improve the level of compliance before they can be considered eligible for the EU market."

Tamani said all formalities regarding the export of Fiji fish to European countries have been finalised and the onus is now on local companies.