Exporting fish and seafood to the European Union

The Canadian fish and seafood sector is a high-value sector and a major contributor to the Canadian economy, especially in Atlantic Canada, Quebec and British Columbia idn poker apk. In 2015, the value of Canada’s fish and seafood exports was $6.0 billion, and roughly 75% of this was destined for export. The United States is Canada’s largest export market (representing roughly 64% of seafood trade) followed by China (11%), the European Union (EU) (10%), Japan (4%) and Hong Kong (2%).

In September 2017 the Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) entered into force, giving Canadian companies unprecedented access to the European market and its over 500 million consumers – a great many of whom enjoy and appreciate high quality fish and seafood products. The reduction in tariffs on 96% of Canadian fish and seafood products is an opportunity not to be missed!

The EU fish and seafood market is also facing challenges including mislabelling, environmental and ecological issues, and food safety in idn poker. Given that fish and seafood is relatively expensive when compared to other proteins such as beef and poultry, consumers seek reassurances from their supermarket or fishmonger that the products they are purchasing are as sustainable, environmentally friendly and healthy as possible.

Publications by the European Market Observatory for Fisheries and Aquaculture Products (EUMOFA) provide regular studies on prices by species and other reports on the status of fisheries and fish consumption in the EU. An examples is their annual EU fish market report which gives an excellent overview of the market.

Preparing for EU markets

Once you’ve decided to export to the EU, the next thing to do is identify a market where people will want to buy your product and where you can reasonably expect to be successful and turn a profit.

While the EU is technically a single market, there are regional and country preferences in terms of the food products they eat and the price point they are prepared to pay for them. If your target list has several countries on it, you should consider narrowing it down, at least in the beginning, to one or two markets that offer the most potential for success.

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