The current UK trade agreements are between the EU and third parties and could stop being in force once it leaves the European bloc.
Seafish deems post-Brexit potential trade agreements as crucial
UNITED KINGDOM
Thursday, December 13, 2018, 00:40 (GMT + 9)
The United Kingdom is preparing its independent trade policy once it leaves the European Union so consultations were carried out on potential trade agreements with the United States, Australia and New Zealand. It also run consultations on potential accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), whose parties are Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.
According to Seafish, the British authorities argue that trade agreements will be necessary in the future because the current trade agreements are between the EU and third countries, and these might cease to apply once the UK leaves the EU.
Seafish highlights that it is up to the UK to replace them with agreements of its own, since they are deemed critical in ensuring that trade barriers are minimised and import tariffs kept low.
The organisation has already responded to the consultations, focusing on the need for the facilitation of the seafood trade between the UK and these countries and has provided evidence for the need for current arrangements to be maintained and where possible improved upon.
Scottish smoked salmon is very popular in the United States
Seafish stresses that seafood trade between the UK and the US is significant: GBP 84 million imported into the UK and GBP 254 million exported to the US in 2017, with salmon predominating.
In addition to salmon the UK imports Alaska pollock (tariff free thanks to an Autonomous Tariff Quota, ATQ) and live lobsters. Non-salmon exports are small but some exporters are eager to export more UK-sourced whitefish and shellfish, particularly bivalve molluscs.
Famous Maine live lobster ►
In the case of New Zealand, imports are mainly of frozen green mussels and blue grenadier/hoki, the latter under an ATQ whereas exports are insignificant. The sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) agreement between the EU and New Zealand means that seafood from New Zealand has far fewer port health checks (and associated costs) than other imports and it is important that this or a similar arrangement remains in place after the UK leaves the EU.
Imports from Australia totalled just GBP 1.3 million in 2017 and were listed as "not elsewhere specified" so the presumption is that this is "exotic" fish. Exports amounted to GBP 4.6 million and were mostly preserved mackerel and sardines.
New Zealand green mussels produced by Sanford (Photo: Sanford)
The CPTPP bloc has significant trade with the UK, with imports from the 11 countries totalling GBP 300 million and exports reaching GBP 55 million in 2017. The main trade is with Vietnam and Canada, and pangasius and prawn/shrimp imports predominate.
While SPS arrangements between the UK and the CPTPP parties may differ, but the fact that there already is significant trade means that any conflicts in this area can be resolved.
With this in mind, Seafish considers that it is important that if the UK becomes a party it participates fully in the various CPTPP committees that are envisaged to deal with trade measures and disputes.
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