East African Business Week (Kampala)

EU to Inject 35 Million Euros in EAC Fisheries

Kenan Kalagho

11 September 2011

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Dar es Salaam — The European Union is in the process of approving around Euro 35 million to support the improvement of the quality of fisheries products from East Africa destined to the European Union and other Western countries' market to ensure compliance with demanded international standards.

The Head of the European Union delegation to Tanzania, Ambassador Tim Clarke, said in Dar es Salaam last week while launching the Trade Control and Expert System (TRACE) workshop that brings together different experts of fisheries from East African region and other countries around the world.
Ambassador Clarke said that later this month, the EU will hold discussions in Zanzibar with East African countries in order to clear the way for approving the financial assistance.
He said that part of the assistance will help the Tanzania Bureau of Standards and other institutions within the East Africa Community involved in the fisheries sector to ensure that the quality of fish exports to the European Union and other countries around the world is met.

The financial assistance will also improve the lives of individuals as their products will be able to find the market in the European Union as well as protecting peoples' lives by ensuring the safety of their food.
"That the TRACE workshop on fisheries being held in Dar es salaam that is aimed at ensuring the quality of products for East African region and other countries seek not just at helping the fishing industries but also small scale producers of tea and coffee growers to ensure that quality of their products is attained and enable them sell their products to the European markets".

"The TRACE workshop will enable the private sector, government institutions, donors, East African countries to work together as one entity especially with the formation of the single East African Customs Union," Ambassador Clarke said.
Tanzania and Uganda are some of the big exporters of fish to the European market thus the need to improve the quality of fish exports to meet the market demands.
A few years ago Tanzania was banned from exporting fish products into the EU because health inspectors found traces of mercury in a consignment of fish to Greece, mercury is dangerous to human and animal health. However, Tanzania made improvements on the quality of fish exports.

The Director of the European Union fisheries association, Mr. Didier Carton said the trade control and expert system (TRACE) workshop being held in Dar es Salaam mainly aims at showing the EAC countries the quality and health demands in the European Union market.
Mr Carton said TRACE system also aims at creating good co-operation with countries in the world that deal in fish exports to improve such as Madagascar Seychelles, Comoro and Lesotho, to simplifying trade within the EAC elsewhere in the world.
The TRACE is an integrated web-based veterinary system, maintained by the European Commission on 'Health and Consumer Protection Directorate General,' networking veterinary authorities and business users in all member states EFTA/EEC countries (Iceland, Lichtenstein and Norway) and a number of third world countries with whom the Commission has special agreements.