Aquaculture for all

Irish urge EU to continueTrade Measures on farmed salmon

IRELAND - Ireland's Minister of State John Browne, at a meeting of Ireland's National Aquaculture forum yesterday, reported on his efforts to persuade the EU to retain the trade defence measures on farmed salmon against those from Norway.

Minister Browne said the review is completely premature as it came into effect only earlier in 2006 with a promised duration of five years.

Browne said he is disappointed that the Commission is even considering any talk of suspension of the measures.

The earlier agreement imposes a Minimum Import Price at the level of EUR 2.80 on imports of farmed salmon from Norway.

The measures were enforced after investigations uncovered huge levels of illegal dumping and below-cost selling of the produce on the market.

Minister Browne added the main aim has been to bring stability to the market which would allow Irish producers to compete on a level playing field. The anti-dumping measures were working to achieve that and the Commission is in danger of undoing their earlier efforts by taking that away, Browne said.

Meanwhile Browne applauded the Irish Government's special programmes such as the Technical, Environmental, Support Programme which is assisting the farmers to increase productivity through better standards of environmental and animal health.

TheFishSite News Desk

Create an account now to keep reading

It'll only take a second and we'll take you right back to what you were reading. The best part? It's free.

Already have an account? Sign in here