The European Union has offered an 11 percent tariff exemption on Maldivian seafood exports to the union, Fisheries Minister Dr Hussain Rasheed Hassan has said.
Responding to a question in the People’s Majlis on Monday, Minister Hassan noted that officials from the EU and the Maldives recently met to discuss decreasing tariffs on Maldivian seafood exports, adding that the union has offered tariff exemptions for nations with sustainable green development.
He also added that the Maldives government and the EU are discussing how to execute the conditions for the tariff exemption, emphasizing that the tariff exemption will enhance demand for Maldivian seafood exports.
The fisheries minister also claimed that the Maldives is exploring new markets, such as Russia, Eastern Europe, and Turkey, to boost demand for Maldivian fish products.
When the Maldives was reclassified from a least developed country to a developing country in 2011, the European Union levied a 28 percent duty on seafood supplied by the Maldives. The union has a series of conditions that must be met before enabling duty-free exports from developing countries, including religious freedom.
