Seafood Trade Advisory Group News Bites No Images? Click here OCTOBER 2019 First abalone Aquaculture Stewardship Council certification achieved in China Sources: Kknews and Sina, September 2019 Fujian China-Singapore Evervest Co. Ltd (FCSE), China’s largest abalone producer, became the first in the country to achieve certification of the Aquaculture Stewardship Council. To read the full article, click here China will have to plug huge shortfall in fishery supply under new law Source: Seafood Source, 28 October 2019 Chinese officials have reaffirmed an ambitious target to reduce fishing catch to 10 million tons (a reduction of 3 million tons) from domestic waters over the next three years. The decision will likely mean China will import more seafood, given government has also been reducing the national aquaculture footprint through a stronger enforcement of environmental laws. To read more, click here New Zealand, Jamaica and Canada reap the benefits of lobster market in China Sources: Mofcom and Xinhua, August and September 2019 On 19 September 2019, China and Jamaica signed the inspection and quarantine protocol for China’s import of frozen lobsters from Jamaica, following China’s import of live lobsters from the country from 2018. China has also increased import of Boston lobsters from Canada while decreasing it from the USA. New Zealand lobster export volume reached 12 thousand tonnes, worth NZ$300 million. To read the full article, click here China bans imports from 15 Vietnamese companies Sources: China Customs and Fishfirst, September 2019 On the 6th September 2019, China Customs updated the list of Vietnamese seafood establishments. Products produced by 15 Vietnamese establishments (as of 6th September 2019) will be banned from import into China. Of the 15 deleted establishments, two are involved in Basa fish and 13 related to prawn products and other seafood products. To read the full article, click here Toyosu fish transactions decrease one year after relocation from Tsukiji Source: Japan Times, 11th October 2019 Tokyo’s major seafood wholesale market in Toyosu is struggling to stem the decrease in the amount of fish traded there, as it marks a year after relocating from Tsukiji. The downtrend is making it difficult for the Toyosu market to achieve a transaction volume of 620,000 tons in fiscal 2023, a goal set by the metropolitan government before its opening and a figure far higher than what the Tsukiji market saw before its closure. To read more, click here SafeFish prioritisation workshop and Codex changes Source: SafeFish On Thursday 25th July 2019, SafeFish facilitated a prioritisation workshop to identify and prioritise current and emerging food safety and market access risks impacting seafood, and to set the SafeFish technical work program for 2020. There have also been a series of Codex changes related to maximum limits for Korea (Ethoxyquin MLs for aquatic product and Cadmium MLs for squid and molluscs). A fact sheet on Iso-Eugenol (AQUI-S) is also available To download the full SafeFish update, click here Japanese consumers and businesses look for ways to blunt impact of consumption tax hike Source: Japan Times, 13th October 2019 The latest tax hike in Japan is likely to have more far-reaching impacts on consumer behaviour than before. A growing number of retailers, manufacturers and financial service providers are viewing the latest increase as an opportunity to harness information technology and customer relationship marketing to blunt the tax’s impact — such as by offering bonus points and other premiums, discounts and rebates. The tax hike is also expected to hasten the general trend, already in motion, toward cashless transactions. To read more, click here New rule in China for the regulations and standards for appraising the “base values” of wild aquatic animals and products Source: Ministry of Agriculture of China, August and September 2019 On the 27 August 2019, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of the People’s Republic of China (MoARA) released Decree No. 5 (2019) -The Rule for the Appraisal of the Base Values of Wild Aquatic Animals and Their Products. This Rule was formulated with a view to formalising the regulations and standards for appraising the base values of wild aquatic animals and their products, in accordance with the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Wildlife. The Decree entered into force as of 1 October 2019. Australian seafood will be impacted to a certain degree by this Decree. To read the full article, click here Pure Salmon fund raises for projects in China Source: Sohu, 2nd October 2019 Pure Salmon under Singaporean 8F Investment Partners is raising capital for land-based salmon farms in five Chinese cities – Beijing, Chengdu, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen. Each city will have a farm capacity of 20 000 tonnes. To read the full article, click here www.seafoodtradeadvisory.com |