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Lankan fishery exporters during their meeting with State Minister of International Trade Sujeewa Senasinghe. EDB Chairperson/CEO Indira Malwatte is also present.
In the backdrop of the Government’s continued efforts to resolve the EU fishery ban, a top team of officials from Sri Lanka is now scheduled to depart for Brussels for decisive talks on the matter.
The Lankan team will include members from the Prime Ministerial Task Force on the EU Fishery Ban.
“A top Lankan delegation on the EU fishery ban is scheduled to leave for Brussels on 30 March,” revealed Seafood Exporters Asso-ciation of Sri Lanka (SEASL) Chairman and Global Sea Foods Managing Director Prabhash Subasinghe.
Subasinghe was addressing State Minister of Intern-ational Trade Sujeewa Senasinghe on 17 March at the EDB during a special discussion the latter was attending with Lankan seafood exporters. Representatives from leading seafood export firms of Sri Lanka including Global Seafoods Ltd., NorthWest Fishery and Sri Lanka Aquaculture Producers Association amongst others were meeting Senasingheto apprise him of issues faced by them.
On 14 October 2014, the EU declared: “Sri Lanka is not complying with international rules on illegal fishing and Lankan control systems inadequate. Fisheries products caught by vessels flagged in Sri Lanka will not be able to enter the EU market.”
Thereafter, in March 2015, under the supervision of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, a Committee was appointed on the fishery ban which continuously met and updated the EU with its progress reports. The 2014 EU fish ban affected Sri Lanka’s seafood exports and the 500,000 strong fishery sector livelihoods.
“A top Lankan delegation on the EU Fishery ban is scheduled to leave for Brussels on 30 March. This meeting is almost expected to be the final, and a decisive meeting with EU on the fishery ban issue and its outcome will determine our fishery export outlook to Europe in future. We believe the outcome will be favourable for Sri Lanka,” said Subasinghe.
He added: “Especially in the post-ban period, our seafood exports are suffering and complicating the situation is the unfriendly import and export policy environment. For example, we need to pay a licence fee of $50 per tonof seafood we export while suffering from inadequate production volumes to meet the export demands. We need the Government’s support for us to increase production. The 9% tariff charged by China on our seafood exports is a problem and this needs to be discussed at FTA formulation. We praise the Government’s prompt responses to the EU in this, which are helping us to overcome our export setbacks.”
Despite the ban, three EU countries – Italy, UK and the Netherlands – wereamong the top five buyers of Lankan seafood in 2014, while the US and Japan topped the list in the same year. Lankan seafood production tripled by 2015 from 2004 volumes and of the total harvest, only about a quarter is exported due to heavy domestic consumer demand. More than 70% of Lankan seafood exports consist of tuna fish. $252.7 mof Lankan seafood exports in 2014 declined by 35% to $163.1 m in 2015.
Responding, Minister Senasinghesaid: “I too have been given to understand that the EU fishery ban issue is now heading for a favourable resolution and a Lankan team leaving for Brussels is good news for you, our fishery exporters. In fact, 95% of compliance work on the fishery ban has been completed by us. The EU ban had a cascading effect on our fishery sector and livelihoods. It also damaged our international image as a reputed seafood exporter.Therefore it is time we commence an image building campaign and also time to launch sustainable fisheries based efforts so that we can make fishery exports a $1 b sector soon.”
“The way to achieve $1 b in seafood is by becoming smarter in comparison to the competition,” stressed EDB Chairperson/CEO Indira Malwatte. “For example, take your marketing. It is time for Lankan seafood to enter global markets as a common, single brand to build its brand and overcome the setbacks. The EDB can help in building Lankan fishery image overseas.”
Sri Lankacomplies with the stringent regulations imposed by importing countries and adheres to HACCP, BRP, Friend of Sea and other food security environment friendly requirements when it comes to seafood exports.
The fishery reps also thanked the EDB for its continued help to them to enhance their exports at the 17 March meeting.
Reuters: Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake believes the country’s economy will grow between 6.2% and 6.8% this year, exceeding an estimate of 5.3% by the State-run Statistics office, while analysts expect it to fall short of potential growth.
Growth slowed to 4.8% last year from the previous year’s 4.9%. The fourth quarter’s 2.5% expansion was the slowest since the second quarter of 2014 and less than half the 5.6% growth in the previous quarter. “I believe we are in the range of 6.2 to 6.8%, averaging 6.5% to 6.6%,” Karunanayake told reporters, attributing the lower growth to a cut in government spending and some anti-corruption measures.
Last year’s less-than-expected expansion took place in a framework of loose fiscal and monetary policy. President Maithripala Sirisena raised the salaries of State employees, who make up around 7% of the population. Interest rates were at record lows.
Sri Lanka’s finances are under scrutiny after ratings agency Fitch on 29 February downgraded its sovereign rating by a notch, to “B+”, spurred by a ballooning fiscal deficit, rising foreign debt and sluggish growth prospects.
It also faces a balance-of-payments crisis after a third of its foreign exchange reserves were depleted within the 15 months to January by the Central Bank’s defence of the rupee, pressured by heavy debt piled up under the previous Government.
The Central Bank raised its key policy rate by 50 basis points last month, and the government last week announced a raft of tax increases in a move to qualify for an IMF loan. Those measures are expected to weigh on the growth, analysts say.
In an investor note, Capital Economics forecast the $82.2 billion economy to grow at 4.5% this year.
“We see little chance of a pick-up next year. This would be well below the economy’s potential growth rate, but it is the price that must be paid for repeating old mistakes,” it said.
An IMF loan should stave off a potential crisis in the near term, and the economy still has enough going for it to keep growth from collapsing, Capital Economics said.
