Saving Seafood

With Time Running Out, EU and UK Near Post-Brexit Trade Deal

December 23, 2020 — European Union and British negotiators closed in on a trade deal Wednesday with only a disagreement over fishing remaining, raising hopes a chaotic economic break between the two sides on New Year’s Day could be averted even as soon as before midnight, officials said.

After resolving a few remaining fair competition issues, negotiators were dealing with EU fisheries rights in U.K. waters as they worked to secure a deal for a post-Brexit relationship after nine months of talks.

Two EU sources said the negotiations were in a final phase now, with one saying: “I expect to see some white smoke tonight.” The official asked not to be identified because the talks were still ongoing.

Customs checks and some other barriers will be imposed under whatever circumstances on Jan. 1, but a trade deal would avert the imposition of tariffs and duties that could cost both sides hundreds of thousands of jobs. Britain withdrew from the EU on Jan. 31, and an economic transition period expires on Dec. 31.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has always insisted the U.K. would “prosper mightily” even if no deal were reached and the U.K. had to trade with the EU on World Trade Organization terms.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at U.S. News

EU vows ‘final push’ in UK trade talks but fish rift threatens deal

December 22, 2020 — The European Union is making a “final push” to strike a Brexit trade deal with Britain, although there are still deep rifts over fishing rights, the bloc’s chief negotiator said on Tuesday.

Britain will complete its departure from the EU on Dec. 31 when its current free trade arrangements expire. The two sides have been struggling for months to define a new relationship covering everything from trade to transport and energy.

The much-delayed final stages of the already tortuous negotiations now coincide with a fresh crisis after EU members and other countries suspended most travel to and from Britain to curb a new, more contagious variant of the coronavirus.

“We are really in a crucial moment. We are giving it a final push,” said the negotiator, Michel Barnier, as he arrived to update the bloc’s 27 national envoys on Brexit.

Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin said he believed negotiators were more likely than not to strike a deal, but that talks may go beyond Dec. 25.

Read the full story at Reuters

UK travel ban hits seafood exports

December 21, 2020 — With a growing number of countries introducing bans on people and goods arriving from the United Kingdom because of concerns about the spread of a new variant of coronavirus, the seafood industry has warned that businesses and livelihoods are now at risk.

On the evening of Sunday, 20 December, France shut its border with the U.K. for 48 hours, meaning that no trucks or ferries could sail from the port of Dover. Meanwhile, India, Hong Kong, Canada, Switzerland, and Germany have suspended flights from the U.K., with more countries announcing their intention to follow suit.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Brexit helpline to help UK seafood sector during transition

December 18, 2020 — A new temporary helpline to help support U.K. seafood businesses with last-minute Brexit issues has been launched by public body Seafish.

Operating from 21 December, 2020, through 4 January, 2021, the service will give seafood businesses experiencing specific matters around the end of the transition period continued access to direct support from the authority’s regulation experts.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

EU chief says UK trade pact closer but success not certain

December 17, 2020 — Britain and the European Union have moved closer to sealing a new trade deal but it was still unclear if they would succeed, the bloc’s chief executive said on Wednesday.

Britain and the EU are in the final stretch of talks to keep an estimated one trillion dollars of annual trade free of tariffs and quotas beyond Dec. 31, when the United Kingdom finally transitions out of the world’s largest trading bloc.

With just over two weeks left, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he hoped the EU would “see sense” and agree a deal that respected Britain’s sovereignty, while German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the bloc favoured agreement.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told the European Parliament: “I cannot tell you whether there will be a deal or not. But I can tell you that there is a path to an agreement now. The path may be very narrow but it is there.”

Her relatively upbeat comments on the long-running Brexit crisis helped nudge sterling upwards on currency markets. However, von der Leyen also said two issues were still unsolved.

Read the full story at Reuters

Atlantic, North Sea, Mediterranean, and Black Sea fishing opportunities agreed to for 2021

December 17, 2020 — Agreements on next year’s catch limits for more than 200 commercial fish stocks in the Atlantic, North Sea, Mediterranean, and the Black Sea have been reached by European Union fisheries ministers following two days of intense negotiation at the annual Agrifish Council meeting.

As more than 100 of the stocks in the Atlantic and North Sea have historically been co-managed with the United Kingdom, and given the ongoing E.U.-U.K. negotiations on their future relationship, ministers agreed to set provisional quotas for the fish stocks shared with Britain.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

NGOs, WTO delegates label EU fisheries funding as harmful subsidy

December 16, 2020 — A EUR 6.1 billion (USD 7.4 billion) budget of the next European Maritime, Fisheries, and Aquaculture Fund (EMFAF) for 2021 to 2027 is drawing criticism from NGOs and a WTO delegate, who say it represents a harmful subsidy encouraging unsustainable fishing.

The package was agreed to in principle last week in Brussels by the European Union’s parliament, and the European Council, composed of member-state governments.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Brexit talks hinge on reciprocal access for EU fishing fleet

December 14, 2020 — European Union and United Kingdom negotiators will this week push harder to establish an agreement on post-Brexit trade after both sides agreed “to go the extra mile.”

A deadline to finish talks had been set for Sunday, 13 December, but U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen have agreed to an extension after discussing the major unresolved topics in a phone call.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

UK, EU leaders meet to get trade talks back on track

December 9, 2020 — With time running out to reach a deal before 31 December, when the United Kingdom stops following European trade rules as a result of its decision to leave the European Union, U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson is to fly to Brussels for talks on a post-Brexit deal with the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

According to a joint statement from Johnson and von der Leyen, the pair have taken stock of the ongoing negotiations, and have deemed significant differences on business competition rules, governance issues, and fisheries rights remain the primary sticking points to achieving a deal.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

France will not ‘sacrifice’ its fishermen in any Brexit deal, says minister

December 8, 2020 — Negotiations between Britain and the European Union over a post-Brexit trade deal are complex and France will oppose any pact that “sacrifices” its fishermen, French European Affairs Minister Clement Beaune said on Tuesday.

“On fisheries there is no reason to yield to Britain’s pressure. We can make some efforts but sacrificing fisheries and fishermen, no,” Beaune told RMC radio, reiterating that France would veto any agreement it considered a “bad” deal.

Since Britain left the European Union in January, each side has urged the other to make concessions to unlock a trade deal before Britain’s transition period for leaving the bloc ends on Dec. 31.

Read the full story at Reuters