MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Half of world fish trade sourced by developing countries

Driven by rising consumption worldwide, the international trade in fish products is expanding at a rapid pace, according to an FAO paper presented on Monday at an intergovernmental meeting in Germany.

The value of world exports of fish and fish products grew 9.5% in 2006 to 86 billion US dollars and nearly 7% in 2007 to 92 billion, according to the paper, presented to 60 plus countries attending the 11th session of FAO's Sub-Committee on Fish Trade in Bremen. The proportion of world fish production (145 million tons) that is traded internationally now represents 38% of the total, or 55 million tonnes, the paper noted. Developing countries have confirmed their fundamental importance as suppliers to world markets, it added, accounting for 50% of all fish exports. Their net export revenues from this trade have reached a record high of 25 billion US dollars. Imports are mostly by developed countries, now responsible for 80% of all imports in value terms, 96 billion. The big fishChina has now become the world's largest exporter of fish (9.7 billion US dollars), but its imports are also growing, reaching 4.2 billion in 2007. An overall global trend towards increased consumption of fish is largely being driven by China, where per capita consumption of fish has rocketed from less then 5 kg in the 1970s to 26kg/pc today. "In essence, much of the increase of total production of fish in the world has not only taken place in China, but has also been consumed in China," said FAO's report. The increase in China's imports is also partly a result of outsourcing, as Chinese processors bring in raw fish material from other regions, including South and North America and Europe, for reprocessing and export, FAO's paper noted. Given these trends, China is likely to soon overtake Spain as the worlds' largest importing country after Japan and the United States. Japan remains the single largest importer of fish, but its imports have been declining in recent years. At the regional level, the EU is the world's biggest market for fish, reflecting both growing domestic consumption but also its recent expansion to include 27 countries. Excluding intraregional trade from within its own borders, the EU imported 23 billion US dollars worth of fish and fisheries products from non-EU suppliers in 2007, an increase of 11% over the previous year. A tangled webWith not only fish production but also processing and packaging increasingly spread around the world and connected via trans-border supply and delivery networks, the international seafood business has become extremely complex. Major importing countries and large international retailers have put into place increasingly stringent safety and quality standards for fish imports, but also requirements related to eco-labels that certify that fish were farmed or captured in an environmentally and socially responsible manner. For producers in developing countries, finding the technical know-how or the financial resources required to meet such standards can pose challenges. FAO is working to assist them with coping on a number of fronts, by helping establish technical guidelines for responsible fish trade and developing commonly accepted guidelines on certification and eco-labelling. Bremen meetingThis week FAO's COFI Sub-Committee on Fish Trade will discuss these and other issues at its 11th session in Bremen, Germany. The meeting is being convened by FAO in cooperation with Messe- und Ausstellungsgesellschaft Hansa GmbH (MGH-Bremen) at the invitation of the Senate of the Free Hanseatic State of Bremen, which is also financially supporting the event. Bremen has hosted the Sub-Committee's biennial meeting on a regular basis since 1986.