EU import duties in force in 2013

A European member state committee decided in favor for the plan to remove tariff suspensions and implement annual autonomous tariff quotas at a meeting on Nov. 29, making its adoption "a formality."

The plan to implement duties on seafood imported for processing into the European Union (EU) will now go to a council -- perhaps the Council of Fisheries -- and is in force from Jan. 1, 2013, Guus Pastoor, president of the European Fish Processors Association andEuropean Federation of National Organisations of Importers and Exporters of Fish (AIPCE-CEP) told IntraFish.

"It's only a formality that needs approval," he said. "De facto it's done now."

The proposal got no negative votes in the meeting last Thursday, said Pastoor. Three members abstained from voting.

Once in force, the regulation includes a flexible import quota system for certainspecies, which apply if 80 percent of the annual tariff quota has been used by the end ofSeptember of the relevant year, seeing an automaticincrease of 20 percent.

The system includes Alaskan pollock, frozen surimi for processing, Southern red snapper, Pacific salmon for processing into paste or spreads, King crabs, blue grenadier as wellas hard fish roes.

Europe's processing industry, however, still has mixed feelings about the new system, said Pastoor.

"We still don't agree with the principal that these suspensions were abandoned," he said. "But I do think that we managed to get at least the flexibility that we think is the minimum to be able to move on."

European seafood processors have previously expressed their concerns about the change in import duties, which hasn't changed with the introduction of a more flexible system.

"I guess the coming three years will probably show whether or not it's a workable solution."

The system will regulate European seafood imports in the period from 2013 to 2015, however, there could be modifications during this period -- in theory, as Pastoor toldIntraFish.

If one or more EU member states asked for modification, it would be discussed by EU officials.

"Whether or not that would lead to a new proposal that's something else because in practice we haven't seen that happen over the last years," he said.

Nevertheless, Pastoor is cautious. "When this automatic flexibility system should start working we'll be very anxious to follow to see if things go according to what's been told to us," he said

The inclusion of a flexible quota system does not settle industry concerns over the imminent increase of duties on seafood imported for processing.

Within the next few days, a European member state committee is set to decide if the plan to remove tariff suspensions in favor of annual autonomous tariff quotas will go through for adoption by a EU council.

The proposal, set to come into force from January 2013, now includes a flexible quota system for some species -- includingAlaskan pollock -- but the industry is still questioning its value for thesector.

The Commission agreed on the latest draft proposal at a meeting on Nov. 8 and Nov. 9. Many of the previously leaked pointsremain the same, however, an option for flexible quota increases is thought to ease some of the industry's concerns.

Import duties on certain species will be suspended if 80 percent of the annual tariff quota has been used by the end of September of the relevant year, seeing an automatic increase by 20 percent.

In addition, if at least two member state claims the quota use of 80 percent has been used up anytime before the end of September, it will increase automatically by 20 percent after the Commission has verified the numbers.

This flexible system will include Alaskan pollock, which will see a duty-free import quota of 350,000 metric tons a year, frozen surimi for processing (66,000 metric tons), Southern red snapper (1,650 metric tons), Pacific salmon for processing into paste or spreads (1,300 metric tons), King crabs (2,750 metric tons), blue grenadier (25,000 metric tons) as well as hard fish roes (a total of 17,600 metric tons).

But while it was expected that seafood processors would welcome the inclusion of such a flexible quota system, it just seems to add extra workload for importers.

"It's crazy," Matthias Keller, managing director of the German Fish Processors Association and vice president of the European Federation of National Organisations of Importers and Exporters of Fish (CEP) told IntraFish.

"The Commission always speaks about simplification and less bureaucracy -- and here it has done the complete opposite," he said. "It has complicated the rules and changed a 20-year old practice without any reason."

Processors now have to keep a constant eye on how much raw material has been imported if they don't want to pay duty on their imports, he said.

"The Commission is just imposing more work on member states and businesses, without considering marketdemands, without justification, and without presenting a proper impact assessment," Keller told IntraFish, to prove his discontent.

'Worrying trend'

When the plans to implement the duties on imports destined for processing leaked earlier this year, EU processing representatives already told IntraFishthe document's proposals signal a worrying trend for the sector.

“We don’t like the sentiment in the European parliament or in the commission,” Guus Pastoor, head of theEuropean association of fish processors, importers and exporters AIPCE-CEP, said in June this year. “We have a structural deficit on fish. So we should be anxious to make sure we keep that fish coming in.”

However, Keller suggests, the Commission has not considered the industry's point of view.

"I'm quite disappointed with the Commission; it wasquite restrictive," he said. "It's a very hot chapter for the industry -- there's a lot of money involved to ensure sustainable sourcing."

"This whole thing has really shown that the Commission doesn't understand the market and doesn't even want to understand it," he said.