Pictured: Ms Atløy Viking, a fishing boat from Atløy, Norway, with quotas for North Sea herring and cod, among others.
Norway's seafood industry is set to benefit from a new agreement between Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, and the European Union (EU) that will introduce 12 duty-free import quotas for Norwegian seafood.
The deal, part of a broader European Economic Area (EEA) funds arrangement, will boost market access for Norwegian fisheries and aquaculture products in the EU, which remains Norway's largest export market for seafood.
Signed by Norway’s ambassador to the EU, Anders Eide, the agreement revises the fisheries protocol from 2014 to 2021. The new deal covers the period from May 1, 2021, to April 30, 2028, and grants time-limited, duty-free quotas for Norwegian seafood exports.
"The EU is by far the most important market for Norwegian seafood, and more duty-free quotas provide more export opportunities for Norwegian products, both from fisheries and aquaculture," said Fisheries and Oceans Minister Marianne Sivertsen Næss in a press statement.
Negotiations for the new period of EEA funds began in June 2022 and concluded in November 2023, with the agreement receiving formal approval from the EU in June 2024. It now awaits approval by the Norwegian Storting (parliament), after which the quotas will become operational. Although there may be a few months’ delay in implementation, both parties are working to expedite access for the seafood industry.
To mitigate the delay, the agreement allows for unused quota volume from May 2021 to be distributed over the remaining years until May 2028. If any quotas remain unused, they can still be utilized until May 2030, or until a new agreement is reached.
This deal is part of Norway's broader efforts to reduce social and economic disparities in Europe through its EEA fund contributions while strengthening cooperation with the EU, the Ministry said.
"Fixed procedures for entry into force mean that it still takes a few months before the industry can start using the duty-free quotas. We are in dialogue with the EU to find a solution that helps the industry to draw on the duty-free quotas as soon as possible. This is something Norway has worked for all along," the Ministry said in a statement.
