Seafood seminar – Singapore 29 October 2004

Powerpoint presentation (ppt – 4.2MB)

The Norwegian Minister of Fisheries and Coastal Affairs Mr. Svein Ludvigsen

Ladies and gentlemen,

It is a great pleasure for me to be here in Singapore and to address this seminar organized by the Norwegian Seafood Export Council. I am glad to see so many participants active or interested in the buying, selling and distribution of Norwegian seafood.

Norway manages one of the most productive sea areas in the world. Fish resources are abundant in Norwegian waters. We offer a wide range of excellent seafood, including, but not limited to: cod, saithe, haddock, ling, tusk, herring and shrimp.

In addition to the large wild fish stocks, our waters offer excellent opportunities for ocean-based aquaculture industry. This is the industry that produces what you in Singapore know as Norwegian salmon.

Norway produces around 3.3 million tons of fish a year. With a population of 4.5 million people, that is many times what we can consume. More than 90 % of our seafood production is exported to more than 150 markets. Last year the Norwegian exports of fish and fish products amounted more than 4 billion US dollars. More than one third of the export came from the aquaculture industry. This makes us one of the largest seafood exporters in the world, and the largest exporter of Atlantic salmon.

Our limited home market for seafood products makes market access an important topic for Norway. Our main market is EU, but the export to Asia has grown tremendous for the last ten years.

Singapore, with its strong culinary tradition, is an important market for Norwegian seafood. I believe that the free trade agreement between Norway as an EFTA-member and Singapore, which entered into force in January 2003, has contributed to a positive development in fish trade between our two countries. In 2003 the seafood export from Norway to Singapore accounted for as much as 14 million US dollars. The most important product is fresh salmon, where our market share in Singapore is approx. 95%.

And we want to export even more seafood to Singapore and other important markets. Our ambition is to increase production five or six times over the next 25 years. By means of research and development, improved technology and better use of by-products, Norway seeks to become a major supplier of high quality seafood in the world market. Concerted efforts are being made in marketing and public relations to make Norwegian seafood known all over the world.

It is however, extremely important for Norway not merely to be a large producer, but also to be a reliable exporter of high-quality andsafe seafood. In the wake of the globalisation processes, production and marketing of a product meets new demands. There has been a drastic power shift over the past couple of decades with respect to “who” sets the demands. The power of the consumer is growing. As is consumer awareness all over the world. During the last few years an increasing number of consumers, have asked the following questions:

Is it safe for me to eat this product?

Might I harm the environment by buying this product?

A fundamental element of our food policy is that the food shall be safe and that it shall be well packaged and presented. Furthermore, the products available have to conform to consumer preferences. The industry needs to respond to consumers’ concerns and demands. These can be linked to aspects of animal health, environmental issues, culture, religion or ethics and represent an important challenge for the producers of foods. I can assure you that The Norwegian Industry recognizes this new trend, and that both the industry and authorities in Norway also in the future will seek to provide he consumer with the information they request.

The safety of our seafood should be a major concern. Reduced consumer confidence in a product is immediately observed as a reduction in demand. An article in the US magazine Science in January this year, that incorrectly concluded that the consumption of farmed Atlantic salmon might pose health risks, illustrates the vulnerability of seafood producing nations to misleading information. Norway has in place a system of communication, monitoring the markets and taking responsibility for the communication in case serious issues like this occurs.

In June Norway hosted an international round table conference for politicians and policy-makers from a number of aquaculture countries. The topic for the conference was consumer information on safe and healthy seafood. The meeting agreed on the importance of scientifically based facts and figures when dealing with challenges of knowledge and information in the future. As a follow up preparation is under way to arrange an international conference in Washington in 2006 on seafood. The aim is to work for increased public knowledge and understanding of the role seafood plays in human health. Norway is strongly engaged in the preparations for this conference.

Norway also believe that all seafood consuming an producing nations have common interests in providing balanced information to the consumer on health benefits from eating fish and seafood. Seafood is an excellent source of some of the most health promoting nutrients we know. Yet, most populations do not eat enough seafood. Instead, agricultural products dominate diets in the western world. This gross dietary imbalance is presumably the basis of many lifestyle diseases in the west. By including more seafood in our diets, we eat less of other foodstuffs and therefore get a more balanced diet. As friends of seafood we must join forces to focus on the overall health benefits of seafood .

Singapore, which in itself is an international "hub" for food culture and tradition, is important for Norwegian seafood exporters. Feedback and dialog with Singaporean importers, consumers and government representatives are therefore important for developing the Norwegian seafood industry. For Norway the main goal is to secure that the consumers in Singapore (worldwide) in the years to come associate Norway with “High quality seafood products made to comply with the consumers taste and needs.”