State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2004 - Library

World review of fisheries and aquaculture
43
FISH TRADE
In 2002, total world trade of fish and fish products increased to US$58.2 billion (export
value), representing a 5 percent increase relative to 2000 and a 45 percent increase
since 1992 (Figure 27). In terms of quantity, exports were reported to be 50 million
tonnes (live weight equivalent), having grown by 40.7 percent since 1992, but showing
a slight decline (1.0 percent) compared with 2000 levels. The quantity of fish traded
has remained stagnant over the last few years following decades of strong increases.
Many of the economic factors responsible for the high growth in world fishery trade in
the previous decade have now diminished in importance or are not strong enough to
sustain past performance levels. While preliminary estimates for 2003 indicate a slight
increase in the value of fishery exports, it is unlikely that the trends of pre-2000 years
will be repeated in the short term, especially given setbacks resulting from geopolitical
tensions.
In 2002, China overtook Thailand for the first time to become the world’s main
exporter of fish and fish products, with exports valued at an estimated US$4.5
billion. Notwithstanding this achievement, China’s fishery exports represented only
1.4 percent of its total merchandise exports and 25 percent of its agricultural exports
(excluding forestry products). China has experienced remarkable increases in its fishery
exports since the early 1990s (average growth of 11 percent per year in the period
1992–2002) and in particular since 1999 (average growth of 24 percent in 1999–2002).
These increases are linked to growing production, as well as to the development of
China’s fish-processing industry. The latter offers competitive labour and production
costs. In addition to exports from domestic fisheries production, China also exports
reprocessed imported raw material, creating a strong value-addition in the process.
Imports of fish and fish products have increased significantly over the last decade,
rising from US$0.7 billion in 1992 to US$2.2 billion in 2002, making China the world’s
eighth largest fish importer. The growth was particularly marked in the last few years,
with a 94 percent increase in imports from 1999. With its accession to the World Trade
Organization (WTO) in late 2001, China had to commit itself to lowering its import
duties, which decreased from an average import tariff as high as 15.3 percent in 2001
to 11 percent in 2003 and 10.4 percent in 2004.
In 2002, Thailand, which had been the main exporter of fish and fish products
since 1993, reported export values of US$3.7 billion, 9 percent lower than in 2001 and
16 percent below 2000 values. Norway was the third largest exporter with exports