Export and Supply Chain Management

Assignment Question

The value of the international fish trade increased from USD15.5 billion in 1980 to over USD108 billion in 2010, according to Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The European Union (EU) is the biggest single market for fish and fishery products worldwide as a consequence of an increased consumption per capita and its enlargement to 28 member states with over 500 million consumers. Currently, around 77 per cent of fish consumed worldwide as food is supplied by developing countries. Developing countries have particularly benefited from this boom, with their net earnings (exports minus imports) increasing from USD3.4 billion to over USD20 billion over the same period. For example Spain (USD 5.2bn) is the world’s third largest importer, followed by France (USD 4.2bn), Italy (USD 3.9bn), Germany (USD 2.8bn) and the United Kingdom (USD 2.8 bn). Explore into the general requirements of exporting fish and fishery products into European Union and the formal steps to be taken by the exporting firms to ensure that their fish and fishery products meet all the health and safety requirements for consumption in EU.

Executive summary

This report was carried out to explore the requirement  for exporting fishery products and fish into Europe. European union is the world biggest importer of fishery products and importation of fishery product into Europe countries are harmonized by following the same rules and regulations. The report draws attention that 77% of fishery products consumed in the world are supplied from third world countries and developing countries allowing for these countries to benefit from the exportation and improving their economy .
The report include the principle of European food law where effective quality management in the entire food processing chain is required and food veterinary office of European commission undertake missions to the exporting countries to access the situation on ground and ensure the fishery products are well processed and are safe for consumption in Europe countries. The key elements for exporting fish and fishery products to Europe which include  competent Authorities for the exporting countries, effective control plan ,border inspections ,import authorization and training are also discussed. The formal steps for importation approval to EU was discussed in the report including the health certificates ,traceability guidelines for fishery products entering into Europe and Rapid alert system for food and feeds incase some fish might have been contaminated which will be sent to all EU member states to take immediate actions. Ban cases for some countries including Malaysia ,Pakistan,Cambodia,Guinea and Belize were included in the report. It was concluded that the European council have a good and robust legislature for food importation into Europe and the mechanism for tracking illegal fishing and banning is well monitored hence helping to improving the fishing conditions in most countries.
It was also recommended that the European council should do more to check loop holes in their regulations that permits non EU vessels to carry out fishing activities in banned countries water  and still able to sell and export to member states in Europe.
 

1.0 Introduction

European union is the world biggest importer of fishery products ,seafood and aquaculture products. Importation to Europe countries are harmonized allowing for the same rules to be applied across all European Union member states . 77 % of fishery products consumed in the world are supplied by developing countries hence allowing for these countries to benefit from the exportation .
The report section includes information about exporting fish and fishery products into Europe, the principles of European food law,  key elements of exporting fishery products to Europe while including information about the border requirement and inspection carried out by EU border representatives .The formal steps required for approval of importation by European commission is discussed not forgetting the Health certificates and traceability guidelines for fishery products.
According to FAO -Food Agriculture Organization the  value of international fish trading has significantly increased from about $15 billion in 1980's to over 100 billion in 2012  with developing countries having a higher percentage in export .
The report explore in details the guidelines in exporting fishery product to Europe.

2.0 Exporting Fish and Fishery Products into Europe

The biggest importer of fish, sea food and aquaculture products in the world is the European Union. The same rules for importation applies in all Europe countries and the European commission defines the certification requirements and importation conditions for non EU countries.
It is the responsibility of the European commission directorate General for Health to guarantee that all import rules for fishery products fulfils high procedure and standards for all EU members’ states taking into consideration animal health status, proper consumer safety and hygiene .For successful importation of fishery products into Europe the interested countries and business must ensure they understand the philosophy and principles of European Food Law

The Principles of European Food Law

The Food law of Europe implements principles of process oriented control and quality management in the entire food chain process including aqua culture farm ,fishing products ,vessel and also the consumer  table having spot check at the end product will not provide adequate level of safety and transparency to consumer so in order to guarantee safety of fishery products  the food veterinary office of the Europe commission undertake several missions in exporting countries to ensure that all the products are well processed and are in good and safe condition for consumption in Europe. (EUROPA ,2013)

2.1 General Rules for Fishery Products

An Official certification is required for importing fishery products into Europe which is usually based on competency recognition of the Non EU- country or business by the European commission. The official certification is a prerequisite for the country or business to be eligible and able to carry out export activities to Europe.
Credible inspection and controls must be carried out by public authorities throughout the production chain to ensure all aspects of public health, animal health, and hygiene are covered.
All business willing to export fishery products into EU must contact competent authorities in their country and bilateral negotiations and relevant dialogue will be undertaken by the authorities in the country willing to export to EU and also EU authorities this will allow for competent handling of the Export activities and allow for all procedures to be in place for the export activities. Please Refer to Appendix A for key frame work for export.

2.2 Key Elements for Exporting Fishery Products to Europe

Apart from been on the eligibility list for exporting fishery products to EU there are some specific element which have to be ensured, the eligibility criteria for exporting fishery products to EU are discussed below

2.2.1 Competent Authority & National Authorities

The exporting country must ensure they are represented by competent authorities .The authorities will be responsible for control and supervision throughout the production chain. The authorities must have sufficient rights, power, structure and resources to be able to successfully carry out effective inspection of all products and hence able to guarantee public and animal health attestations in the certification which will accompany any fishery products to be exported to Europe.
Another requirement is for Veterinary services which should be ensured to help oversee the health controls of the live fish which are intend for breeding in Europe.
The exporting country National authority must also ensure all hygiene and public health requirements are fulfilled.
Hygiene legislation include all requirement on vessels structure, landing sites freezing and storage and all operational processes. This will help to ensure high standards and prevent contamination of the fishery products during processing.

2.2.2 Live Fishery Product and Aqua Culture Products

For Live fishery products specific conditions applies for example echinoderms which include sea urchins and marine gastropod which include snails e.t.c .Importation for this products are only permitted if they come from approved production areas also the authorities for the exporting country must be able give adequate guarantee on the products classification and monitoring of the products to avoid them from contamination which may cause poisoning.

For aqua culture products a control plan on residues of pesticides and all veterinary drugs ,contaminants and heavy metals must be presented to verify and ensure the comply with European commission requirements. (EUROPA ,2013)

2.2.3 Control Plan

A complete suitable adequate control plan must be developed by eligible authorities which should be submitted to European commission for approval and this control plan must be renewed yearly to ensure all the process are adequate and the plan is effective. 

2.2.4   Import Authorization and Inspections

Importation are only authorized from approved establishments and vessels which must have been inspected by competent authorities  of the exporting country the authorities must provide sufficient guarantees of the products and required to carry out inspection from time to time to ensure corrective actions are in place if necessary  the vessels  must also meet European commission requirements. The EU Commission publish a list of approved establishment which can be located on their website.
The commission Food and Veterinary office also carry out inspections to ensure compliance with EU requirement, the inspection is conducted to establish confidence between the European commission and the authorities of the country or establishment.

2.3 Border Inspection   

For importation of fishery products from all non Europe countries an approved border inspection must be conducted by competent veterinarian officials ,the organization of control at the entry point is to ensure no illegal consignment are coming in and several detection equipment such as scanning devices ,detector dogs and screening of large baggage are always carried out.
Each import vessel will be subjected to systematic documentary check, physical check and also other forms of identity check to ensure all items are what they claim they are.
The physical check is conducted based on the level of the risk profile of the products also using the results of the previously checked similar products.
Any consignment which do not comply with EU legislation may be destroyed or re dispatched within 60 days of arrival and if any illegal consignments are found the owner of the consignment will be liable to pay some fines and penalties.(EUROPA, 2013)

2.4 Training and Assistance

EU Commission provides several technical training assistance and facilities which is aimed at helping developing countries comply with the rules and regulations of importation.
DG SANCO runs food initiative training for official controls on the Europe standards for aquaculture and fishery products in developing countries.
The technical training helps to improve their knowledge on the expected EU standards hence improving the level of compliance to the standard.
The programmed helps developing countries to have access to the EU market for fishery products. (EUROPA ,2013)
 

3.0 Formal Steps for Importation approval by European commission

Exporting fishery products to EU have a lot of requirements these requirement are aimed at ensuring the safety of the citizen consuming the products ,In order to achieve full safety the EU designed a formal procedures used for evaluating eligibility for third world countries in exporting fishery products to Europe
The following are the formal steps to be taken

1. The Authorities of the third country must submit a request to European commission  Directorate-General for Health and Consumer protection to export fishery products to Europe The formal request must include confirmation that the authority can meet all required and relevant provisions to satisfy the requirement of European Commission.

2. Questionnaire will be send out by the Directorate General for Health and consumer protection which will be completed and returned back by relevant authorities and must contain information about hygiene and other information requested.
   
3. A residue plan for monitoring aqua culture products must be submitted by the exporting country and approved at this stage.

4. An inspection by the food and veterinary office will be carried out for accessing the situation this is mandatory for high risk fishery products and this is done after the evaluation of the papers for submission.

5. After the inspection and evaluation is carried out and there are sufficient guarantees by the exporting country then the Directorate General for health will propose the listing of the country, list of approved establishments in the country  and conditions for allowing import from the country .Then the conditions and regulations will now be discussed by  EU member states representatives.

6. After discussion on the proposal and the member states have a favorable opinion the commission will then adopts the specific conditions for importation also allowing for amendment of the eligible establishments at the exporting countries request the list is also made available on the internet for public viewing. (EUROPA ,2013)

3.1 Health Certificates and Official Guarantees

Health certificates can be issued for only products which are processed in listed EU approved establishments. The information about the exporting establishment must match the one published on EU list also including details such as production dates ,batch codes and origin identification.
The Health certificates must include accurate data of approved goods ,quantity and type of fish being shipped . The export Health certificate must not be modified with any alterations deletions or endorsement once signed by the export health officers.
All member states of EU will accept the certificates ,although Switzerland  ,Iceland and Norway are not official EU member states they also adopted all EU requirement for exporting fishery products to their countries.
Fishery products which landed in Norway or Iceland can enter other EU member states without additional controls.

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