India opens up for Norwegian seafood

Norway has opened up a new and potentially important salmon market after the signing of a free trade deal with India, one of the world’s largest economies.

Although not regarded as a nation of salmon consumers, more affluent Indians are generally partial to Western food tastes.

The deal has been negotiated through the trade organisation EFTA of which Norway is a full member.

The industry organisation Seafood Norway said this was particularly good news for the seafood sector in general.

It adds: “The seafood industry has long seen the potential in this huge market with close to 1.5 billion inhabitants. Very high tariffs on most seafood products have put a stop to market development and exports from Norway.”

Seafood Norway CEO Geir Ove Ystmark explained: “Through the agreement, a large proportion of our seafood products will achieve free trade after a phase-out period over a few years. In practice, this will gradually open up the Indian market for Norwegian seafood products.

“It will be exciting to follow the development in the coming years, not least for pelagic seafood such as herring and mackerel.”

Seafood Norway said there were some companies that unfortunately have reason to be disappointed with parts of the negotiation result, as certain seafood products are not covered by the agreement.

Seafood Norway has praised the Norwegian government for its efforts to reach an agreement with India.

Ystmark said: “Norway is the world’s largest exporter of seafood, and we depend on the authorities to facilitate competitive market access for our products.

“This gives the industry hopes for strengthened work and good progress in other markets as well. From the industry’s side, it is expected that the authorities must put considerable effort into improving market access to important markets such as the EU and Japan.”