Report on the Implementation of the derogation to ... - Trade Websites

Final <strong>Report</strong>
RoO Derogation under the PACP-IEPA
arrangements - normally company-to-government access agreements or through the simple
purchase of licences.
Aside from vessel flag and area of operation, the EU DWF can also be differentiated according to
whether or a not a firm is vertically integrated into processing. The leading player in the French fleet
is a specialised fishing firm (CFTO), while the largest player in the Spanish fleet was historicallly a
specialised fishing firm but is now vertically integrated into processing (Albacora).
The Spanish fleet is all owned by family firms, albeit with a recent injection of private equity into
Garavilla (see Section 6.5). The fleet can broadly be divided into:
• specialised fishing firms who are members of the ANABAC producer organisation. The main
players here are Inpesca, Atunsa, Echebastar and Pevasa (Table 6.7).
• vertically-integrated fishing-processing firms who are members of the OPAGAC producer
association. The main players here are Albacora, Calvo and Garavilla.
The Spanish fleet has remained broadly stable along these lines in recent years.
The French fleet has undergone very significant changes since the late 2000s. Three changes are
highlighted here. The first is the merger of Cobrecaf (which had owned 10 purse seiners) with a
consortium of Kühn-Ballery, France-Afrique and CMB (which had 7 boats). 281 A new operating firm
was created in January 2011 called Compagnie Francaise du Thon Oceanique (CFTO). The firm sold 4
of its boats, leaving it with a modern fleet of 13 purse seiners with an average construction year of
1997. CFTO is now one of the largest tuna purse seining operators in the world and is notable for
being a specialised fishing firm through its avoidance of vertical integration into processing. The
emergence of CFTO indicates both an interest in consolidating operations through more modern
boats (the pre-merger average year of construction was 1993) and a positive outlook for continued
profitability in the EU DWF.
The second change in vessels controlled by France-based interests is to do with MW Brands.
Between 1994 and 2006 Cobrecaf was effectively controlled by Heinz European Seafood. 283 When
Heinz sold its European Seafood Business to an investment fund managed by Lehman Brothers in
2006, the new management company – MW Brands – held onto Cobrecaf for another two years. It
eventually sold its share of Cobrecaf when it no longer had effective control and could not drive
price on a ‘cost plus formula’. 284 MW Brands’ sale of its share in Cobrecaf to the (then) Kühn-Ballery,
France-Afrique and CMB consortium reduced its fleet to 5 Ghana-based vessels (under the ‘TTV Ltd’
subsidiary). Since the purchase of MW Brands by Thai Union in 2010 it has bought 3 more purse
seiners (in January 2011) which are also managed under the TTV subsidiary. 285
282
281 Hamilton et al. 2011. The merger occurred when the Kühn-Ballery et al. consortium bought a controlling
share (88%) of Cobrecaf from MW Brands in late 2008. CREFMPM 2008; pers. comm., EU industry
representative, 2010.
282 MW Brands is headquartered in Paris, but has been a management subsidiary of Bangkok-based Thai Union.
283 Even though Heinz only owned only a 36% share, it had effectively cooperated with another minority
shareholder to exercise this control. Le Roy 2008: 137, 139; Guillotreau and Le Roy 2001: 3-4.
284 Pers. comm., EU industry representative, 2009; Campling forthcoming.
285 MW Brands 2011.
Linpico s.a.r.l. Page 137