3rd Polish – Norwegian Joint Commission on Fisheries Questions
Warsaw, Monday 8. March 2004

Presentation by Minister of Fisheries Svein Ludvigsen

Mr. Minister, ladies and gentlemen, dear fisheries colleagues,

Let me first share with you how pleased I am to be back in Poland again. I have been here several times in my time as Minister of Fisheries, as well as in my capacity as Minister for Nordic Co-operation, and always enjoy coming back. This weekend I have also had the pleasure to visit the amazing city of Krakow, and got to know this very interesting country even better.

Today we gather here for the third session of the Joint Commission on Fisheries Questions. Fisheries questions are highly relevant for our future relations. Seafood is an important issue in our bilateral relations and our co-operation in this area has been strengthened since the creation of the Joint Commission in 2001.

As an illustration, I can mention that more than 90 percent of the salmon that Poland imports comes from Norway. The percentage for herring and mackerel is more than 60 and 40 percent. In fact, 26 percent of all the seafood imported to Poland comes from Norway.

A large part of the Norwegian seafood that is exported to Poland is processed here and thereby creates thousands of jobs. I am therefore pleased to see so many processing companies and exporters present here today, like Dega, Superfish, Bigfish, Nord Fish Foodmark, Proryb, Seko, Contimax, Seamor International, Solmar and Egersund Seafood.

When I attended the first Joint Commission meeting, I had the pleasure to open a new production line at Bigfish’s plant in Gniewino. I was very much impressed by the efficient production facilities. As a Minister of Fisheries, I take great interest in seeing how Polish and Norwegian companies can co-operate with a view to developing the fish industry.

In less than two months Poland will be a member of the EU, and also a part of the European Economic Area (the EEA). This means that Norway and Poland will be parts of the same internal market.

In many ways this will make life easier for business as the free movement of goods, services, capital and people now will apply to 28 countries instead of 18 (15 EU, 10 nye EU og 3 EFTA/EEA). However, it will also mean a challenge, especially for our industry, the fisheries sector.

After May 1 trade in fish will no longer be governed by the EFTA Free Trade Agreement, but by the existing bilateral agreements between Norway and the EU and by the EEA Agreement. Unfortunately, for historical reasons, these are somewhat more complicated than the existing trade regime under the EFTA agreement.

There are at present 3 agreements that cover trade in fish between Norway and the EU:

• the so-called fish letter from 1973 (that gives certain tariff concessions and quotas on pelagic species),
• agreements from earlier enlargements (1986 and 1994) that are a part of our bilateral free trade agreement from 1973 (40 tariff free quotas on different species)
• the EEA agreement (reduction and removal of several tariffs).

Last spring Norway and the EU negotiated on compensation for reintroduction of tariffs as a result of EU enlargement. Needless to say Poland, and the other fish importing countries, agreed with Norway that trade should continue to be as free as possible and we were allies in the process. The end result was that Norway was granted 3 quotas. The objective of these is to maintain the historical trade in pelagic species.

The quotas are very large and larger than the present exports. (They cover 67000 tons of herring filets and flaps, 44000 tons of round herring and 30500 tons of round mackerel.) In other words there is in fact a significant margin of increased tariff free imports. But, because the EU is a customs union the quotas apply to the union as a whole, and individual country quotas do not exist.

Both exporters and importers now face a new situation where quotas, tariffs and rules of origin are different, and the system becomes more complicated than what it has been for the past decade. The challenge will of course be for Polish industry not to get lost in this maze of quotas and tariffs, and that you should know enough about the system not to lose in the competition with the other EU- member states.

Today’s meeting is an attempt to prevent this! There is a need for solid and reliable information about how the system works. The importance of a seminar like today’s was even debated when President Kwasniewski visited Norway last autumn. I hope that today’s meeting will go some way to clarify the situation, and I encourage all of you to enter into the debate and ask all the questions you might have.

As technology and trade regimes change, we must also expect trade flows to change and adapt. We will almost certainly see that trade patterns between Poland and Norway will continue to change and adapt. In most cases it is the sign of natural economic development that benefits everyone.

The product innovation and product development the Norwegian Pelagic Forum undertakes in co-operation with their Polish counterparts is a very good example of industrial co-operation. In this forum, there is an ongoing project where Norwegian and Polish companies are working together to find ways to increase the initial processing of the fish before exporting it to Poland for further processing.

I am particularly pleased that so many of the participants in this project are here today, like Seko, Contimax, Nord Fish Foodmark, Superfish, Egersund Seafood, Norconserv and SINTEF. I wish them every success in the continuation of their project.

Projects and partnerships between official and private institutions is another key to understanding each other and developing mutually advantageous solutions to common issues. Since the establishment of this Joint Commission we have many examples of fruitful co-operation.

When Poland becomes a member of the EU, Poland also becomes a member of the European Economic Area, together with Norway. Within the EEA, Poland and Norway will strengthen the co-operation in the area of fisheries, which is one of the main pillars in our bilateral relations.

With the EU and the EEA enlargement two new financial instruments have been established. The funds are earmarked for projects of the accession countries. Poland is by far the largest beneficiary and will receive almost 120 million EURO per year over the next 5 years.

It is Poland, as the recipient, who will decide the priorities for the funds. This process is going on as we speak. This is the time to act and make sure that fish-related issues get the attention and priority they deserve!

The financial instruments give a unique opportunity to devise projects and programs that will allow fisheries industries in both our countries to prosper and develop together. We have already proven that common interests have been furthered by project co-operation, also related to food safety and environmental issues such as resource management.

The scope for industry- to- industry co-operation is also obviously present, as the Pelagic Forum project is a good example of. Fish and fisheries related matters are so important on our bilateral agenda that I trust that this sector will be part of the Polish agenda for the new financial instruments.

In the Ministry of Economy, Labour and Social Policy Minister Krystyna Gurbiel is co-ordinating the elaboration of possible projects to be financed under the financial instruments. Both the EFTA and the bilateral Norwegian financial instrument include environment as a priority area; the Norwegian mechanism include health as well.

I see a number of possible projects in these two areas that would be of importance to both the Polish fisheries and the fish processing industry. In order to promote such projects Minister Pilarczyk and I have agreed that Polish and Norwegian senior officials should initiate a dialogue on question relating to the EEA financial mechanisms.

Poland and Norway have a common interest in maintaining a liberal market for trade in fish. Against this background, the Norwegian government is deeply concerned by the fact that the British and Irish governments have asked the Commission to impose safeguard measures to protect its salmon farming industry against imports of farmed Atlantic salmon from non-EU countries.

As a Minister of Fisheries I am therefore very grateful for the position Poland has taken in the Safeguard Committee. Poland is a voice to be reckoned with within the EU – also within the field of fisheries – and has so far been doing a good effort at emphasising the need for liberal fish trade.

In conclusion, I would like to stress that the Polish membership in both the EU and the EEA means that our bilateral co-operation in the area of fisheries will be further strengthened. So I would very much like you to consider me as a friend of both the Polish and the Norwegian fishing industry.

Thank you for your attention!