As part of its preparations in drafting legislation for the new CFP, the Commission recently organised a seminar and stakeholder dialogue on the “Reform of the Market Policy on Fishery and Aquaculture Products”.
Council Regulation 104 dating from 2000 has directed the common organisation of the market since its inception and is now up for reform.
The meeting had four agenda headings for discussion:
- Organisation of the Sector
The role of Producer Organisations (POs) was discussed extensively. There was a strong feeling from fish producer representatives that they would like financial incentives to be provided for PO mergers so that larger national and transnational organisations were created. They argued that this would help to further concentrate supply in a market where demand has been heavily concentrated by the retail supermarket business. - Price and Intervention Mechanisms
Currently 6 intervention mechanisms exist to guarantee fish producers a minimum amount of money for their product and prevent fish producers being undercut in an open market. Simplification of the system was called for so that only one intervention was in place, with the suggestion that there should be a bottom to the market but no other intervention mechanisms being made powerfully by the processors association AIPCE.
Revisions to the guide price and the withdrawal price, so that regional disparities between POs were better accounted for, were also discussed. - Marketing Standards and Consumer Information
Member State non-compliance with the monitoring of marketing standards was a hot topic, with the EAPO representative offering a study showing that 30-40 percent of fish sold in the EU is mislabelled. It was widely acknowledged that across the EU, the common marketing standards are not being applied throughout and this needs to be addressed.
Extensive discussions took place regarding what information should be provided to consumers. The FAO catch area information was universally disapproved of, with a map showing where fish came from being the most popular solution posited. Providing the gear type used by fishermen, the date the product was caught, and better guidelines on what can be classified as fresh or defrosted were also suggested. - Management of External Supply Sourcing
The current system whereby EU producers have to abide by many more rules and regulations than third countries, who can thereby offer lower prices, was roundly criticised for being unfair. The 2010 IUU regulation was offered as an example of import policy being used to drive fairer competition.