Minister of Trade and Industry Tarek Kabil issued a resolution to impose a fee of EGP 12,000 per tonne of fresh and frozen fish exported for a period of four months from the date of the resolution’s publication in the official state gazette. The resolution exempts manufactured fish (such as the smoked or canned), as well as fish exports to the European Union, according to a press statement on Thursday.
This decision comes in the framework of the ministry’s keenness to provide for the fish needs of the local market, especially in light of the increase in fish exports during the last period, which contributed to the reduction of supply and the increases in prices, said Kabil.
According to the study conducted by the ministry, the average annual production of fish in the period from 2013 to 2015 had reached around 1.5m tonnes annually, while the needs of the domestic market accounted for about 1.8m tonnes of fish, causing a deficit of 300,000 tonnes per year, which is covered by imports. Fish exports in 2016 and the first quarter of 2017 registered around 48,000 tonnes and 14,000 tonnes respectively.
Kabil explained that although the export ratio did not exceed 2.5% of the annual production of fish, an increase in the exports of tilapia and mullet was witnessed, which are the population’s main alternative to meat and poultry. The exports of these two types of fish accounted for about 80% of the total fish exports during the first quarter of 2017.
