Seafish is making an Export Development Fund (EDF) available to the seafood industry. The fund is intended to develop the UK seafood industry''s standing in the international seafood export market. The total budget for 2007/8 will be £75k, and will be available to businesses in a competitive bidding process.
Regional seafood groups, national trade bodies, individual companies, consortiums and cooperatives will all be eligible to bid for financial assistance from the fund.
Individual companies can bid for a maximum of £3,000 per project while the regional seafood groups and national trade bodies can bid for up to £40k. In all cases, the bidding company/organisation will be expected to provide match funding.
Examples of activities eligible for EDF support include:
* Attendance at trade shows not previously attended - i.e. excluding ESE, Polfish, World Food and China Fisheries
* Visits abroad to investigate business opportunities
* Facilitating visits from prospective overseas clients
* Market research
* Translation of company literature
The closing date for applications is 30 June 2007. Applications will be assessed by a panel chaired by a Seafish Board member and specialist staff from Seafish. The panel will assess bids against criteria outlined in the "Call for Proposals" document and applications must be made using the dedicated EDF application form - both forms are available at http://www.seafish.org/funding.asp
