EU audits Antigua and Barbuda’s fisheries sector

The EU is auditing Antigua and Barbuda’s fishing sector, which exports lobsters to the European Union (EU).

The audit began in November 2023 and is still ongoing, with the EU assessing whether Antigua and Barbuda meets the requirements for exporting its fisheries products to the EU in terms of food safety.

The competency of the staff, the processes used to ensure that the food is safe to enter the EU markets, and the legality of the products reaching the EU are also being evaluated.

Ian Horsford, the Chief Fisheries Officer who sits in the National Trade Council, recently briefed the council on the challenges his department faces in exporting fish and fish projects to markets such as the EU and the United States.

He stated that a failed audit would lead to a total ban on the export of fish products to the EU, making it critical for Antigua and Barbuda to pass this latest audit.

The EU is known to be the gold standard when it comes to food safety, and obtaining a certificate from the EU would enable Antigua and Barbuda to export to third-party countries that are not part of the bloc.

Horsford further explained that the EU is one of the major export markets for fisheries products from Antigua and Barbuda.

However, the dollar value of the products exported has declined significantly, from a total value of around $10 million in the past to roughly EC$3 million today.

This decline is primarily due to the inability to export fish, with exports now being confined to live lobsters only.

Moreover, exporting to the US market for fisheries products poses a different set of challenges. Horsford noted that some of the things that Antigua and Barbuda takes for granted, such as running water at the facility from which the products are exported, are critical to the EU and US inspectors.

Currently, only two OECS countries, Antigua and Barbuda and Grenada have access to the EU market. Horsford added that when Antigua and Barbuda was able to access mainland China, it hinged on its ability to export into the EU.