Sea link-Part II
Times Food Processing Journal concludes the report on the
marine seafood supply chain in India - its current state of
affairs and the influence of import requirements
As far as importers are concerned,
this research involved a short field survey
in Europe to determine if they are concerned
about fishery sustainability issues. Similar
to several other sectors, there is significant
divergence in the performance of big and
small importers. Particularly interesting is
that several importers are also concerned
about importing regulations in their own
countries, allegedly driven by consumer
organisations. This is causing uncertainty in
business transactions.
Small importers have restricted their
requirements to mandatory import
regulations, which are very high, while big
importers inquire about traceability and
sustainability. Due to the low possibility of
implementation and scarcity of resources, no
importer has imposed any labelling
requirement on exporters beyond mandatory
obligations. Several large international groups
such as the British Seafood have their own
sourcing codes, which cover ethical trading
and sustainability and conduct independent
verifications and annual supplier audits.
These codes are based on international norms
such as the Ethical Sourcing Initiative.
There is immense pressure on retailers in
Europe to keep fish prices low, even at the
cost of excessive resource use, since fish is
becoming a staple food in the diet of
Europeans. Its popularity is increasing because
of better health benefits in comparison to
meat and chicken. In research conducted by
Consumers International in Europe, 45
different claims were found on 12 products,
ranging from "friend of the sea," "better for
the environment," "sourced from population
conserving fishery," "committed to
conservation fishing methods" to "dolphin
safe" (Consumers International 2004). This
has confused the consumer and has made
