Vol. 414 No. 4
8 Mrs. Barnes asked the Minister for the Marine if, under the Safeguard Action, EC Regulations (EC) 3796/81, (1) the minimum price scheme for Norwegian farmed salmon will be widened to include larger fish over 4kg in weight, and (2) the price monitoring system will be extended beyond December 1991, when it is due to finish.
I am pleased to be able to advise the Deputy that following vigorous representations by my Department — and that is an understatement — to the Commission in the last few weeks, the minimum import price scheme for Atlantic salmon has been extended to include fish weighing over 4 kilogrammes and, again, at our request the Commission and other member states agreed last week to extend the price monitoring regulation until 30 June 1992 to allow for a full assessment of market developments.
I very much welcome the action taken by the Commission to protect the Community's salmon market at this critical time. It is a positive response to the call by me, and by Ministers of other member states, for immediate action to introduce a floor in the market.
In the last few years the Community salmon market has been seriously destabilised by widespread dumping of low priced salmon by non-EC producers. The disruption posed a grave risk to Community and Irish investment in the salmon farming industry, to the continued viability of the enterprises concerned and to the valuable employment which the industry has created, particularly in remote coastal areas. Nor was the disruption in the long term interests of the consumer. Indeed, I spelt out our grave concerns about the market during wide-ranging discussions with the Norwegian Minister for Fisheries on 29 September last.
The need for action to counter the threat posed by predatory pricing has become paramount in recent weeks as huge stocks of frozen salmon in Norway threatened to undermine prices still further. It was against this worrying background of crisis in the Norwegian industry that we have repeatedly pressed the Commission to take remedial action by, in the first instance, the introduction of a minimum import price scheme for fresh chilled or frozen salmon from outside the Community. The recently introduced measure will remain in force until 29 February 1992 when the position will be reviewed. The continuation, in addition, of the price surveillance measure up until June of next year will allow for monitoring of the operation of the import price measure and should ensure full transparency of market conditions.
The introduction of these measures will help Irish producers through the important pre-Christmas period. The immediate benefit will be to prevent a flood on to the Community market of the surplus of frozen supplies which have accumulated in the Norwegian system and will help to prevent panic selling in the fresh market. In the longer term, I am hopeful that a sustained improvement in prices for our producers on the key export markets on the Continent will now begin to emerge, particularly if, as it appears, Norwegian over-production is at last being brought under control.
We will continue, on behalf of the industry, to be at the forefront of efforts to ensure that the Community market is restored to a balanced state, that a recovery from the rock bottom prices of recent times gets underway quickly and is sustained in the longer term. Vigilance will continue to be our watchword and if further remedial action is required we will move straight away to initiate the necessary consultations with the Commission and with other member states.
It is a relief that the measures will not apply to fish weighing more than four kilogrammes. I am pleased that the price monitoring regulations will be extended until June 1992. Will the Minister say whether there is a constant demand from member states to keep up the pressure because of the short time given? Will the integrated market of 1992-93 improve matters?
The significance of the dates is that they are relevant to the marketing of fresh salmon. The problem was huge as the United States imposed a 26 per cent tariff on Norwegian salmon. Their estimated production is about 165,000 tonnes and the dates are connected with when the salmon come on the market. We have very strong allies in the Scottish salmon fishery organisation; this year our largest production was about 8,500 tonnes, Scotland produced between 30,000 and 40,000 tonnes and the Norwegians produced 170,000 tonnes. However, the industry is in serious difficulty in Norway, the banks are in trouble and the Government agency set up to buy the fish have gone bankrupt. They now intend to sell their salmon to east European countries.
