Aquaculture market readiness, and understanding and complying to EU market requirements is what brought the TFSA team to the 14th Aquaculture Association of Southern Africa (AASA) annual conference 11-15 July. This key industry conference was built around the themes: inspire, accelerate and impact. George Barrett, Head of Trade Programming Southern Africa, Economic Growth Team, British High Commission Pretoria and Etienne Hinrichsen, Imani Development Aquaculture Expert consulting to TFSA, jointly presented on the Roadmap towards European Union Compliance for South African aquaculture businesses, a brand new resource developed by TFSA and Imani. Access to the Far East market has become increasingly difficult for a variety of reasons, and locally there has been an increase in domestic competitiveness for products such as abalone, mussels and oysters. The need for alternative market avenues, such as the EU market, is now greater than ever if the industry is to grow and meet its potential for economic and developmental contributions in Southern Africa. The TFSA presentation focused on the following:
- UK Government support to aquaculture in SouthAfrica
- Limitations of single off-take points
- Changing market requirements
- International competition
- Limited domestic market opportunities
- TFSA offerings to assist in navigating EU compliance
The presentation was well received and started a robust conversation with academics, researchers, business owners and government officials on the capacity and readiness of the Southern African aquaculture sector to comply with EU standards. Discussions included learnings from past experiences venturing into the EU markets and views on, what some felt were, protectionist policies deliberately designed to exclude developing businesses entering these markets. Though no clear-cut solution was concluded on, there is a clear desire and willingness in the Southern African aquaculture community to develop and comply with EU standards. To access the road map, click here
Our own Robert Moodie facilitated a workshop which showcased how to use the tools embedded onto the TFSA Trade and Information Hub in an aquaculture context. These tools can assist businesses to have an overview of trade requirements (School of Export) and help them to assess their Export Readiness, Identify Markets, Trading Prices and Standards and Processes
