Smoother Path To EU Market For Solomon’s Tuna

16 July 2015

Increased tractability and smoother access to the EU market is the outcome of a milestone moment this month for Solomon Island’s tuna exporters.

As of July 1st, the EU has formally registered the Solomon Islands as an official TRACES (Trade Control and Expert System) participant.

Joining the tracking system will allow exports of tuna products from the Solomon Islands to the EU to be much more traceable, and enable companies to avoid a lot of paper work.

Import procedures of tuna from the nation will be much more efficient, and this will ultimately smooth the path for Solomon’s based SolTuna to access the EU market with its products.

TRACES is a trans-European network for veterinary health which notifies, certifies and monitors imports, exports and trade in animals and animal products. The web-based network can be used all over the world to trace product movement back and forth.

Staff from SolTuna, the Solomon Islands based canned tuna processor owned by Tri Marine, have received training on the TRACES system.

The Solomon Islands Competent Authority team leader, Ethel Mapulo, noted that the registration as an official TRACES participant “has taken some time to happen, but it’s a significant step for us…The Solomon Islands National Food Unit and our domestic tuna industry can now electronically document all fish exports to the EU and have the ability to monitor fish export consignments as they enter and progress through EU Border Inspection Posts and onto processing facilities in the European Union.”

The EU is considered a very important market for the island nation, accounting for USD 15.9 million of the 2012 tuna export value. Soltuna ships an estimated 85 percent of its tuna products to the European community.

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