Exports of inland and marine capture fish and fishery products (thereafter ‘fish’) are of integral importance to government revenues and income and employment generation in Sub-Saharan Africa (thereafter ‘Africa’). African countries face complex negotiations at the WTO-level on tariffs and fishery subsidies, and bilateral and regional negotiations with the EU in the formulation of Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) and Fisheries Partnership Agreements (FPAs). In addition, they need to comply with increased food safety standards. The outcomes of WTO negotiations under the Doha ‘Development Round’ and changing EU regulations are likely to place new hurdles on African fish exporting countries. In this Trade Brief, we analyse how these countries can respond to these challenges.

Fish trade between Africa and the rest of the world is regulated via a complex overlap of multilateral and bilateral trade agreements. We focus here on aspects that affect market access and competitiveness of African fisheries exports to the EU, their main end-market.

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