Russia may lose $1 bln annually due to new US seafood import rules

WASHINGTON, Jun 14 (PRIME) -- Russia may lose around U.S. $1 billion annually if new U.S. rules on seafood imports come in force in September, Oleg Rykov, representative of the Federal Fisheries Agency, told PRIME on June 11.

“For Russia, if these regulations fully come in force, this is around $1 billion (of losses) annually. These are direct imports -- $270 million. The rest is what we ship through China for processing and then to the U.S. market,” he said.

U.S. President Barack Obama introduced new seafood import regulations in 2014 in an effort to fight illegal fishing, Rykov said. Under the rules, each supplier must present extensive information on the origins of the catch starting with the moment of catch and ending with the time of supplies to the U.S.

The world’s major fishing nations will suffer losses of tens of billions of dollars because of new U.S. seafood regulations, Rykov also said.

“Starting from September, there will be a big collapse on the global seafood market…The largest fishing nations are subject to this barrier – Norway, Russia, and first of all China that this is all aimed against,” he said.

Global illegal fishing is currently estimated at $10–20 billion, Rykov said.

The Economic Development Ministry has notified its concerns over the issue in the framework of the World Trade Organization (WTO), Rykov also said. The U.S. delegation has asked to present our concerns in a written form, he said.

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