Norwegian seafood exports will improve competitive conditions in Asia because the U.S. president Donald Trump has scrapped the Free Trade Agreement for the Pacific region (TPP).
The main competitors against Norwegian seafood are especially products from Chile, but also the U.S.A. and Canada. Scrapping the TPP agreement, could leave Norwegian seafood companies duty-free export access to a market of 800 million people, reported Dagens Næringsliv newspaper.
Not least they could get a competitive advantage in a common regulatory framework for veterinary and food safety, and a regime for dispute resolution.
‘Expiration of the agreement could mean that among competitors, Norway will get relative competitive advantages’, said Egil Ove Sundheim, Norway’s ‘Seafood Council Fisheries’ delegate to the United States.
In 2016, Norway exported seafood for a record 91.6 billion, 17 billion more than the year before, which had also been a record year, according to the Norwegian Seafood Council.
Nevertheless, salmon exports fell by 1% to Asia.
‘Particularly in Japan and Southeast Asia, but also in North America, some exporters, for example Chilean salmon, compete with Norwegian salmon’, said Sundheim.
He also believes China can gain greater acceptance in the region and become a driving force in carrying on free trade as a result of the U.S.A.s’ scrapping of the TPP.
Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today
