EU opens door wider for Chilean salmon

Chilean salmon exports to Europe will be boosted by the modernisation of a 20-year-old trading agreement with the European Union, Chile’s foreign minister Alberto van Klaveren said this week.

“We managed to lower tariffs for Chilean export products such as olive oil, different types of meat, such as pork, poultry, salmon, agro-industrial products such as juices, tomato puree, mushrooms,” Van Klaveren told Las Últimas Noticias.

“These are products in which there are restrictions to access the European market and that thanks to this agreement are going to be eliminated, which means that we can compete better worldwide. With the current agreement, 94.7% of Chilean products reach Europe free of tariffs. That figure will now rise to 99.6%.”

Limitation overcome

The minister added: “I highlight the case of salmon, because in the negotiation we had in 2002, we did not achieve great advantages for the export of Chilean salmon and other fishery products, and this limitation is overcome in this agreement.”

Van Klaveren said the changes are designed to favour some products exported by small and medium-sized companies.

“We are talking about SMEs that generate a lot of employment,” said the minister.

The EU and Chile began negotiations about updating the trade deal in 2017 and concluded what is now called the EU-Chile Advanced Framework Agreement in December last year.

Among other things, the agreement gives the EU better access to Chile’s valuable lithium deposits and makes it easier for EU companies to provide their services in Chile, including in delivery, telecommunications, maritime transport and financial services.