China, the world’s biggest exporter of seafood, could soon face tighter access to the European Union, the world’s biggest import market for seafood.
The European Parliament’s adoption of new fisheries control rules will result in more scrutiny of the origins of Chinese seafood, according to a parliamentary report investigating the implications of accepting Chinese products into the bloc.
China shipped USD 2.2 billion (EUR 2 billion) worth of seafood to the E.U. in 2022, and that figure has continued to grow in 2023, with Chinese purchases from the bloc up 5.6 percent in volume and 10.3 percent in value year over year as the continent has turned away from higher-value products like shrimp in favor of products like Chinese-processed whitefish.
However, E.U. parliamentarians and fishing representatives are united in wanting to tighten access for Chinese exporters if there’s any suspicion their products are connected to illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing activities. In sending out the report emphasizing the consequences of Chinese products coming into the bloc, the Euroepan Parliament also suggested collaboration with Beijing to increase transparency and align the standards between the two sides on fisheries governance standards.
“We badly need more transparency on fisheries imports in Europe, and we also need to crack down on IUU fishing, which we know is rife in the Chinese fishing fleet,” Grace O’Sullivan, a member of the European Parliament’s Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (PECH) Committee, said. “We need to do the same with our own fishing fleets, but with the Chinese fleet expanding at such an unsustainable rate, we cannot turn a blind eye to the risks.”
Though the new fisheries rules should aid in traceability efforts covering Chinese and other products, the E.U. has other tools it can use to punish countries committing infractions. For example, the E.U. has yet to apply its carding system to China. Under its IUU regulations, the European Commission issues a yellow card warning to countries that it identifies as not cracking down on IUU activities in their fleets hard enough. If countries continue to allow those activities to proliferate, the commission issues a red card that blocks access to the E.U. market.
O’Sullivan said the E.U. carding system is not limited to smaller countries. Any nation that doesn’t meet the standards of the E.U.’s regulations should receive a sanction, regardless of their economic importance to the bloc, she said.
“Cards have been deployed against countries such as South Korea in 2013 and Taiwan and Thailand in 2015 – countries with which we have a significant trade relationship,” she said. “Ecuador [also] received a yellow card, whose exports are equal to over EUR 500 million [USD 546 million].”
Daniel Voces, the CEO of fishing trade body Europêche, agreed that no nation should be exempt from the carding system.
“For years, we have been advocating for resolute measures against China’s dark fleets,” he told SeafoodSource. “Perhaps Parliament could have gone a step further [in addition to its report] by urging China to address illegal fishing practices, possibly by issuing a yellow card.”
Voces said he also wants to see the E.U. deny China any trade or customs preferences, including duty-free access that the E.U. currently applies to various types of fish like tuna, while the country’s fleet remains suspected of engaging in IUU activities.
Meanwhile, there is frustration among both MEPs and Europêche that the E.U.’s digitized CATCH tracking system has been greeted with widespread apathy among member states. The system, launched in 2019, is operational, but it will become mandatory in two years. O’Sullivan said it is designed to improve management practices and reduce fraud while allowing for more import checks, while replacing paper-based documentation for imported fisheries products.
A 2022 Environmental Justice Foundation report showed that of the 19,391 catch certificates reportedly validated by China in 2018 and 2019, E.U. member states refused just five.
“E.U. member state checks on seafood imports should be a priority; making them consistent could help continue the work in the right direction,” a communications officer within the EJF’s Brussels office told SeafoodSource. “As long as checks by E.U. member states are uneven and inadequate, the E.U.’s system for controlling seafood imports will resemble a sub-par Swiss cheese. This must change rapidly, as the European Parliament rightfully pointed out.”
Photo courtesy of Green Party of Ireland
