Giving our sector a voice in Brussels

Conxemar’s presence in Brussels allows our Association to give a voice to the Spanish sector of the fishery and aquaculture products processing industry.

This week we have had an intense agenda of meetings in the European capital, in which Conxemar has focused on essential issues such as tariff quotas, the negotiations of the EU-Mercosur agreement or joint ventures.

Our director general, Yobana Bermúdez, took part in the meeting of the Market Advisory Council, a body of which she holds the presidency, supporting a coherent reform of the Common Fisheries Policy or the strategic nature of the value chain of the seafood and aquaculture industry. During the meeting, we had the opportunity to meet in person the new Commissioner for Fisheries and Oceans, Costas Kadis, as well as to greet the Director-General for Fisheries, Charlina Vitcheva.

We held meetings with MEPs Francisco Millán Mon, Gabriel Mato, Ana Miranda and Nicolás González Casares, in which we discussed the negotiation of autonomous tariff quotas (ATQ), with the aim of promoting the increase of the red shrimp quota in the European institutions. Despite the fact that last year our association managed to get Brussels to double the quota for this product from Argentina, it is still not enough to satisfy European demand.

We also had the opportunity to meet with Sven Langedijk from the EU Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries to discuss various issues of interest to the sector.