Following our re-inclusion into the list of countries exporting their fisheries products to the European Market, Fiji has been urged to increase its base and take full advantage of this opportunity.
The European Union’s Pacific Ambassador, Wiepke Van Der Goot says this result should now encourage Fiji to take full advantage of the possibilities of global sourcing under the Market Access Regulation or – even better – under the interim EPA by notifying the EU about its implementation.
Only two companies have met the EU standards so far and he hoped that more companies would improve their fisheries qualities.
“I encourage the fishing industry to continue with the upgrading of the fisheries export facilities and to increase the number of approved fishing vessels, as this would further enhance the economic development of Fiji,” he said.
“We are witnessing some great strides in the upgrading of the fishing industry in Fiji. From our side (EU) we are pleased to have been one of the partners in this challenging and, in the end, a very rewarding venture.”
Europeans are big consumers of fishery products with a per capita consumption of 25 Kg per year on average, making the EU the biggest importer of fish in the world with a total market of around 500 million consumers. In fact, no less than 60 per cent of EU's required fishing products come from third countries.
According to Mr Van Der Goot, in order to safeguard the quality of imported products and at the same time preserving and sustaining the exploitation of seafood resources, the EU has developed it own Common Fisheries Policy.
Within this policy, the EU legislation on food safety plays an important role in order to ensure a high level of food safety for EU citizens.
However, he said, “thanks to the hard and persistent work of few dedicated people, Fiji has now reversed this situation and is now eligible again to export fish products to the EU”.
It is no mean feat that all this has been done within a time span of only 3 years.
“I believe we should commend the Fiji authorities, the Competent Authority and the Food Unit team for this outstanding performance. All this has only been possible thanks to the dedication and tireless work of this team and some of the leaders in the fishing industry.”
“At the same time, I am happy to say, that we were able to provide some assistance through the EU SFP Programme for fisheries in the person of Dr John Esser, followed by several other short term Technical Assistance missions and the provision of some cars and lab equipment.”
With Fiji now back on the list and is able to export fisheries products to the EU again and can Europeans enjoy again the fine fish coming from Fiji.
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