[ 2011-08-20 ]

S.Leone to access EU fisheries market
FREETOWN (AFP) - Sierra Leone has signed an
agreement with Dutch firm Precon to facilitate
access to EU markets for its fish and fisheries
products, the marine resources minister said
Saturday.

The Dutch firm specialises in hygiene, food safety
and consumer health protection, Soccoh Kabia
stressed on national radio.

"Sierra Leone has over the years tried to obtain
an EU export market certification for its fish and
fisheries products but to no avail as the country
lacked the capacity to meet EU standards and
regulations pertaining to the preservation of fish
and fisheries products along the food chain,"
Kabia said.

"Securing an EU certification will not only
showcase Sierra Leone's fish products to the EU
but will expose them to other lucrative markets,"
he added.

"It is painful that we cannot export directly to
the EU market, yet our resources are illegally
fished here, repacked in other neighbouring
countries and then sold to the EU."

Fisheries experts said the EU banned fish imported
from Sierra Leone in the mid-1980s because of poor
hygienic standards.

The fishing industry is a multi-million dollar
foreign exchange earner for the west African
country and it contributes 10 percent to its GDP.

According to ministry of marine resources figures,
between 20 and 30 million dollars are lost through
illegal and unregulated fishing.

A total of 936 million leones (150,000
euros/$215,000) was budgeted for fisheries
development for the current year and the ministry
has so far generated a revenue of seven billion
leones in the past eight months, the minister
said.

Sierra Leone recently received a 28 million dollar
grant from the World Bank for the development of
its pelagic stocks and the promotion of good
fishing practices, Kabia added.

Source - AFP

... go Back