U.S. Seafood: Exploring Oceans of Opportunities

8-31-2020

U.S. seafood exporters interested in establishing connections and increasing sales in Western Europe are invited to a virtual trade event October 27-28, 2020, hosted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS).

“U.S. Seafood: Exploring Oceans of Opportunities” will provide a unique opportunity for U.S. seafood companies to connect with eager buyers from top markets including the Netherlands, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Spain, and Portugal.

FAS Europe-based staff will brief participants on current market opportunities and FAS will also facilitate virtual business-to-business meetings between U.S. companies and potential importers.

This event will allow U.S. exporters to take advantage of improved market access under a recent agreement between the United States and the European Union that eliminates EU tariffs on imports of U.S. live and frozen lobster products. Other exciting opportunities for exporters include:

• The Netherlands. This gateway for U.S. agricultural products to Northern Europe was our fifth-largest export market for fishery products last year, Of its $3.5 billion in global seafood imports last year, $100 million came from the United States.
• Iceland. Per-capita fish consumption here tops 90 kilograms per year. Of Iceland’s $90 million in seafood product imports in 2019, $2 million came from the United States.
• Norway. Total imports of seafood products totaled $440 million in 2019, with $12.5 million coming from the United States.
• Sweden. 2019 fishery product imports exceeded $5 billion, with approximately $6.5 million of that coming from the United States.
• Finland. The majority of seafood consumption here is satisfied by imports, Of nearly $415 million imported last year, $140,000 came from the United States.
• Denmark. Imports of fishery products reached $3 billion in 2019, of which imported $43 million came from the United States.
• Spain. Ranked as the United States’ 10th-largest seafood export market last year, Spain imported $94 million from the United States out of $7 billion total.
• Portugal. Leading the EU in per-capita seafood consumption, Portugal imported $2.1 billion in fishery products in 2019, including $31 million from the United States.

U.S. companies interested in participating in this event are requested to fill out the application form and return to virtualtradeevents@usda.gov.

The application deadline is Friday, September 11.

Application Form

Note: This event is targeted to U.S. seafood companies that are already approved to export to the EU or have begun the registration process. Since 2006, the EU has recognized the U.S. seafood inspection system as equivalent to the European system. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Commission continue to discuss access for U.S. live bivalve mollusks (which do not yet have market approval). If you are not sure whether you are approved to export to the EU, please consult FDA’s website for the list of eligible establishments: https://www.fda.gov/food/food-export-lists/seafood-exports-european-union-and-china.