Fish Trade, Safety, Fish Trade, Safety, Quality and Quality and

Environmental issues Environmental issues Lahsen Ababouch

Service ChiefFish Utilization and Marketing

Department of FisheriesFAO, Rome.

UNCTAD Workshop on standards and trade. Geneva. 16-17/5/2002

Main issues Main issues

• Safety and quality

• Eco-labelling

• Traceability

• Conservation (CITES)

WORLD PRODUCTIONWORLD PRODUCTION

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000

mil

lion

MT

Aquaculture

Captures

WORLD EXPORTSWORLD EXPORTS

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

1976 1979 1982 1985 1988 1991 1994 1997 2000

US

$ 1

000

mil

lion

Developed countries

Developing countries

INTERNATIONAL TRADEINTERNATIONAL TRADE

Imports

Japan 26%

USA 17%

EU (15)33%

Developing countries

17%

Others7%

Exports

USA 6%

Japan 1%

EU (15)21%

Developing countries

51%

Others21%

Net exports by developing Net exports by developing countries (US$ million) 2000countries (US$ million) 2000

-5000 0 5000 10000 15000 20000

Fish

Coffee

Bananas

Rubber

Tea

Rice

Meat

HUMAN CONSUMPTIONHUMAN CONSUMPTION

0 20 40 60 80 100 120

19611964196719701973197619791982198519881991199419972000

million MT (live weight)

Fresh

Frozen

Cured

Canned

EXPORTS IN 2000 EXPORTS IN 2000 (VALUE)(VALUE)

Others29%

Shrimp19%Groundfish

11%

Tuna9%

Salmon9%

Cephalopods4%

Molluscs (other)5%

Freshwater4%

Small pelagics5%

Fishmeal4%

Fish oil1%

Safety and quality Safety and quality issuesissues

• Chemical pollutants (aquatic environment, need for monitoring programs)

• Molluscs bivalves (aquatic environment, need for monitoring programs)

• Other fish and fishery products• Fish and Fishery products in the

forefront

Major StakeholdersMajor Stakeholders

• The fish industry

• The control Authoriti(es)

• Support institutions

• Consumer and consumer advocate groups

Third countries authorized to exports Third countries authorized to exports fish to the EU (List 1)fish to the EU (List 1)

Africa (18)35%

Asia (10)20%

L. America (15)29%

Europe (8)16%

Developing (51)82%

Developed (11)18%

Total 62

Future issuesFuture issues

• HACCP implementation

• Risk analysis

• Harmonization and Equivalency

Eco-labellingEco-labelling

• Labelling a product to identify it as having been produced by ecologically friendly practices

• Characterize the “ecological friendliness” attribute(s) of the product/process

• Let the consumer know about it• If there is a demand the

attribute(s), product price and market shares will go up

Which Attributes?Which Attributes?• Resource sustainability• By-catch and discard catch• Fishing techniques• Marine Species conservation (CITES)• Environmental impact (Product LCA):

energy and water consumption, pollution, clean technologies

• Others: Gender, labor regulations,..• Artisanal fisheries and cost of eco-

labeling

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005

Fully Fished

Moderately fished: U+M

Overfished: O+D+R

TraceabilityTraceability• Traceability is the ability to trace

the history, application or location of any entity by means of recorded identifications

• Market driven demand

• Analytical techniques

TraceabilityTraceability• Where was the fish caught?• When was it caught?• How has it been processed?

(GMP)• Is it safe to eat? (HACCP)• Environment friendliness• Consumer driven, regulators,

trade partners,...

Traceability of food Traceability of food productsproducts

• new EU legislation from 2002 requires to label consignments by identifying the species name, production method and catch area

• trade barrier ?• Can developing countries afford

sophisticated traceability systems ?

CITESCITES• Inclusion of commercial marine

species ?• Debated at the CITES Standing

Committee (March 2002) for amendments of criteria, CITES Conference (November 2002)

• Because FAO has a consultative right • Activities: FAO second technical

consultation - Namibia, October 2001;FAO COFI-Fish Trade, February 2002