In a significant boost to India’s seafood industry, the European Union has approved 102 additional fishery establishments for exporting Indian marine products to its member countries.
This approval raises the total number of EU-approved Indian seafood export units from 538 to 604 and follows extensive negotiations between the two.
The Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) and the Export Inspection Council played crucial roles in this success by ensuring stringent food safety measures throughout the seafood supply chain.
MPEDA chair Shri D V Swamy hailed the approval as ‘a significant milestone which underscores India’s commitment to upholding the highest standards of food safety from primary production to export’.
“The limitation in the number of EU-approved fishery establishments was a major impediment for our seafood exports to EU,” he said.
“The listing of more units gives a huge opportunity to our exporters to significantly increase their presence in the competitive European seafood market through quality and diversification of products.”
The main EU markets for Indian marine exports include Belgium, Spain and Italy whilst the upcoming India–EFTA Trade Agreement, effective from next month, is expected to open up further opportunities in countries like Norway and Switzerland.
India exported 16,98,170 tonnes of seafood worth Rs 62,408.45 crore (US$7.45 billion) in 2024-25. The EU is the third-largest export market for Indian seafood, accounting for over 15% of total exports.
