Fisheries and Aquaculture
November 24, 2006

Progress Made on European Union Shrimp Tariff

The Honourable Tom Rideout, Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture, said today that he is pleased that the European Union has agreed to increase the amount of shrimp that will be permitted into the EU at a reduced tariff.

�This tariff is prohibitive and makes for a very uncompetitive situation for our local industry in the large European market,� said Minister Rideout.  �Our government has lobbied very hard to have this tariff removed.  As a matter of fact, in our first year in office Premier Williams traveled to the EU and met with officials of the Fishery Committee and one of the first issues he raised was the tariff.  He also made representation to Canadian foreign affairs at that time.  More recently, I led a delegation to Europe to put forward the case once again to the EU Fisheries Committee.  The delegation included representatives of provincial seafood producers and the Fish, Food and Allied Workers. Their support was important in demonstrating how this tariff impacts our local industry. I am pleased to see that our hard work is beginning to pay off.�

The minister noted that obviously the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador would like to see a complete elimination of the tariff, however, today�s announcement by the federal Minister of Fisheries and Oceans is definite progress.

�We will be fully satisfied when the tariff is completely eliminated, however, we recognize that this progress will assist our local shrimp fishery,� added the Minister.  �In addition to interventions by the Premier and myself, our officials have worked very hard on this file.  I said after my recent meetings in the EU that I anticipated that short-term relief was forthcoming on the shrimp tariff, and that the options discussed for a long-term solution will prove to be meaningful as we move forward.  Today, I am so pleased to see that I was right.  We will continue to push for a further elimination of the tariff, however, we are pleased with this significant progress.�

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Media contact:
Lori Lee Oates
Director of Communications
Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture
709-729-3733, 690-8403
OatesLL@gov.nl.ca

2006 11 24                                        5:55 p.m.