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All-Out Ban Urged on Russian Seafood Imports

All-Out Ban Urged on Russian Seafood Imports

Los Angeles, CA – A number of companies from Alaska’s $6 billion seafood industry are voicing their support for a ban on Russian seafood imports to the US, while urging Moscow to rescind its August ban on US food imports.

Such a move, they say, “would not only further squeeze Russia’s faltering economy as Russia threatens European stability, but would support America’s sustainable, high-quality fisheries.”

Companies calling for the action reportedly include some of the largest seafood producers in the Pacific Northwest including Alaska General Seafoods, Alyeska Seafoods, Icicle Seafoods, North Pacific Seafoods, Ocean Beauty Seafoods, Peter Pan Seafoods, Trident Seafoods, Westward Seafoods, and UniSea Inc., all based in Washington state, as well as the entire membership of the Alaska Bering Sea Crabbers Association.

The proposed US ban, the group says, would remain in effect “until Russia rescinds its ban on US imports, and would include mechanisms to prohibit all seafood imports of Russian origin, including Russian-caught seafood that is transferred through other countries such as China before reaching the US.”

Hundreds of millions of dollars of Russian seafood imports are sold in the US every year, with much of the imported Russian fish coming through China.

The Alaska seafood industry is seeking support from the state’s Congressional delegation for the ban, as well as from the Office of the US Trade Representative, while also seeking diplomatic efforts to immediately end Russia’s ban on US seafood products.

Russia has been a major market for US seafood products such as salmon roe, hake, Alaskan pollock, and others, while the US has been an important market for Russian products including crab, Russian pollock, salmon, and caviar.

According to the US Department of Commerce, sales of food and agricultural products to Russia amounted to $1.3 billion in the first five months of this year with more than $86.5 million of that was from US seafood, including shrimp, hake, sole and sardines. The majority of that — $46.4 million — was salmon roe, used for Russian red caviar.

“We did not start this fight, and we hope the Russians will call off their embargo,” said Terry Shaff, president & CEO of Washington-headquartered seafood producer UniSea Inc.

But, he said, “a US ban will signal to President Putin that America will not sit idly by while Russia disregards international law and tries to coerce the world into ignoring its transgressions through retaliatory actions,”

09/19/2014

Calls Growing to Ease Ban on US Petroleum Exports

Washington, DC – International pressure is growing on Washington from several major trading partners to ease, or end, the long-standing ban on US crude oil exports.

Mexico said recently that it could enter an agreements with the US on crude oil swaps or on direct imports, while one of South Korea’s leading refiners has opened discussions with the government in Seoul over how to encourage Washington to end the ban on ‘ultra-light sweet crude,’ and the European Union wants US oil and natural gas exports covered by the proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership.

 

According to Petroleos Mexicanos (PEMEX), Mexico’s state-owned oil company, the country is seeking US-sourced oil because of a sharp decline in its own reserves.

 

South Korea, which relies on imports to cover more than 95 percent of its energy needs, has had to curb oil imports from major supplier Iran, due to US and EU sanctions introduced in 2012, and the EU is eagerly looking for an alternative to petroleum supplies from Russia.

 

Japan, while not pushing for an ease on the current ban, has said it’s interested in importing more of what can be pumped out of gushers in such states as Texas, Alaska and North Dakota, but only “if the supplies are economically feasible.”

 

While fully overturning the ban would require Congressional action that most consider unlikely in the near-term, many argue that the White House could gradually allow for more oil to flow abroad through existing means.

 

Due in large part to the increase in shale oil production, the US is soon expected to surpass both Russia and Saudi Arabia as the world’s largest oil producer.

 

In March, the US Department of Commerce approved the export of 500,000 barrels of lightly processed condensate exports to South Korea from two domestic companies. Three additional applications have been put on hold as the White House reviews its policies on the ban.

 

09/11/2014

 

China Ends Ban on Pacific Northwest Shellfish

Seattle, WA – China has ended a seven month-long ban of live shellfish harvested from US West Coast waters.

The ban on the import of “double shell aquatic animals” – namely oysters, clams, mussels, and scallops –  harvested from Washington, Oregon, Alaska and Northern California was imposed after Chinese food inspectors reportedly detected high levels of inorganic arsenic in geoducks from Puget Sound.

China said it had also found paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP), a biotoxin sometimes found in the algae consumed by shellfish, in geoduck clams harvested in Alaska.

High levels of inorganic arsenic and PSP were not found in the shellfish sourced in Washington, Oregon and California.

Geoducks – also known as ‘gooeyducks’ – are a species of large, burrowing, edible salt water clams that can fetch up to $50 per pound and are considered a delicacy in Asia.

China alone routinely imports about 90 percent of the 7 million pounds of geoduck harvested in Washington state annually.

The country “is a key export market for our region’s shellfish, and this news means greater economic stability for the workers and families in our region,” said Rep. Derek Kilmer (D-Washington) in a press statement.

“I look forward to working closely with federal, state, local and tribal stakeholders to ensure that the new testing and monitoring requirements can be swiftly implemented and we can get back to shipping world-famous Washington shellfish to a major market,” he said.

Following the ban, Kilmer served as a member of a bi-partisan Congressional delegation that urged the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to develop new procedures to monitor shellfish inspection and certification.

At the same time the ban was lifted, Beijing said it would send a team of food-safety officials to the US to monitor the testing of shellfish slated for export to China.

06/12/2014