Tehran, Iran, June 19
By Mehdi Sepahvand – Trend:
Hopefully Tehran and the European Union will launch a joint committee this summer to facilitate the export of fisheries from Iran to the European countries, Iranian Fisheries Organization Director Hassan Salehi said.
Iran hopes to find good markets in Europe for its shrimp and caviar products, he told IRNA news agency June 19.
“There are a number of issues that need to be raised, such as tariffs that currently exist. During the EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogerini’s last visit to Iran it was suggested that a joint committee be launched to deal with problems of tariffs, exports, technological cooperation and processing, and we are hopeful that the committee is formed this summer in Brussels.”
The official said there is as much as 12 percent difference in the EU’s tariffs between the fisheries imported from Iran and other countries.
Iran’s fisheries output is about one million tons a year, worth $350 million.
Iran harvested more than 1.5 tons of caviar in its fish farms over the past Iranian year (ended March 19), indicating a 25-percent increase year-on-year.
With $1.7 million worth of exports, Iran’s caviar exports registered a 46-percent increase in terms of volume over the last year.
Iran has exported over 13,000 tons of shrimp worth $56.7 million over the last Iranian calendar year.
Iran’s shrimp was exported to various countries, including the US and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Iran plans to export at least 80,000 tons of various types of seafood in the current Iranian calendar year.