The Norwegian government has sent a passionate appeal to Nigeria to remove stockfish from list of items that attract forex restrictions.
Speaking on behalf of his government, the Norwegian Minister of Fisheries, Odd Emil Ingebrigtsen said that there is a need to make forex accessible for the importation of the commodity.
He made the appeal at a seminar organised by his government in Abuja adding that, “Today, Nigeria is Norway’s largest market for stockfish.”
“As Norwegian Minister of Fisheries, my target is to create more access for Norwegian Seafood.
“I would like to appreciate the Nigerian government for lowering the import duties for stockfish head from 10% to 5 %, thus bringing the cost of the commodity down.
“We would also want you to remove stockfish from the list of products of foreign exchange barriers.
According to the convener of the seminar, Trond Kostveit, the food item is important in the Nigerian diet.
Kostveit added that, “In 2014, the government of Nigeria placed some 41 products as unqualified for forex, and unfortunately, stockfish falls under the category.
“The placement of all kinds of fish under the forest embargo, I believe is to boost local fish production which is quite understandable.
“Unfortunately, stockfish is very important to the Nigerian diet, hence we appeal for its removal from the forex embargo.
“There are very many good reasons why we must take off stockfish from the list, hence the reason for the seminar organised by the Norwegian Seafood Council.”
On his part, Imo Umoh, the representative of the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development said that it may be necessary for a collaboration between Nigeria and Norway to boost aquaculture production in Nigeria.
Speaking on behalf of the Nigerian government, Umoh said that, “The total fish production in Nigeria is about 1.123 million metric tons, which included imported fish. But these still do not satisfy the total national fish demand.
“The volume of stockfish and stockfish heads, imported from Norway into Nigeria is only about 8,000 metric tons and this represents about 0.4% of the total volume of fish import.
“With this, it could be said that the total volume of foreign exchange consumed by this product is very minimal.
“The sales and consumption of stockfish in Nigeria has created an important niche for itself.
“Stockfish has given employment to many Nigerians and many livelihoods depend on it within and across the country.
Umoh added that “The fact is that we can also involve our trading partners like Norway to assist us with backward integration process into commercial aquaculture.”
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