No blanket ban on fish importation, FG states
In reaction to worries expressed by the citizenry to a supposed blanket ban on fish importation expected to have taken effect at the end of December 2013, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture has declared that fish importation has not actually been banned.
There have been concerns that the directive by the Federal Government through the minister would deny the poor masses of fish, their only cheap source of protein. These fears emanated from a pronouncement a few weeks ago during the launch of the Special Growth Enhancement Support (GES) scheme, which is intended to boost local aquaculture production through the Aquaculture Value Chain initiative.
Tosin Olarinmoye, a fish expert and lecturer at the Lagos State University, stated recently through the media that it did not make sense banning fish importation when enough was not being produced locally.
However, in a press statement, Olukayode Oyeleye, the special media assistant to the minister of agriculture and rural development, said the media reports were erroneous, saying “we hereby emphasise that the claim projecting a total ban on fish import is not true and did not originate from the minister who has emphasised that, at no time did he announce a total ban on the importation of frozen fish into the country.”
He added: “… the Circular of 29th, October, 2013, which states that all Bills of Lading must be dated on or before 30th, October, 2013, and the fish cargo landed not later than December 31st, 2013, did not ban fish importation. It was directed at having a clear-cut demarcation between frozen fish imported under the old regime and the new regulation coming into effect in January, 2014.”
Going further, he stated: “The decline in Nigeria’s fisheries sub-sector has become obvious for many years. Since 2005, the Federal Government of Nigeria had observed, with concern, the escalating foreign exchange demand for fish imports, in which the Central Bank of Nigeria noticed an unsustainable surge in the demand for foreign exchange for fish imports by various companies operating in Nigeria. This trend has continued unabated and must not be allowed to continue unchecked. In line with Section 15 of the Sea Fisheries Act, the Honourable Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development has issued new regulations to clean up the abuse in which Nigeria has long been treated as a dumping ground for unwholesome frozen fish.
This is in addition to serious trade malpractices associated with frozen fish importation into the country.”
Some of these malpractices include over-invoicing, foreign exchange capital flight, and ghost import. Oyeleye stated that the minister had reiterated that frozen fish importation was not prohibited and that the new fish import policies were geared towards increasing local fish production in the country. He added: “The Federal Government control of importation of fish into the country is with a view to appropriately regulating the industry, putting in place a transparent process of granting appropriate fishing licences, ensuring the judicious utilisation of foreign exchange earnings and reducing the huge import bill the country incurs as the largest in the African region.”
The fish importation bill for 2010 has been estimated to cost N125.38 billion, he explained, adding that this is ridiculously too high for a country that is richly endowed with huge natural water resources of 263 billion cubic meters of waters, two of the largest rivers in Africa and a coastline of 850km, the country also has huge fisheries resources that are culturable all year round.
To bridge the gap between demand and supply under its Agricultural Transformation Agenda, Oyeleye said the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development had put in place strategies to locally increase fish production and systematically reduce fish import. These include the establishment of the Aquaculture Value Chain and the Artisanal Fisheries Value Chain under the Growth Enhancement Support Scheme.
By: OLUYINKA ALAWODE