Nigeria has cut its duties on imports of dried stockfish from Norway, from 20% to 10%.
The Norwegian Seafood Council (NSC) believes this is very good news for its country’s exporters, and should lead to increased demand for dried fish heads.
“This is something we here have worked on, and we have been in dialogue with the authorities to get to for a long time,” said the NSC’s representative in central and western Africa, Trond Kostveit. “It feels like a real victory for both the Norwegian seafood industry and for those who work with imports of Norwegian stockfish here in Nigeria.”
Nigeria is the biggest market for Norwegian stockfish in volume, and more or less the only market for dried heads. In 2018, exports reached 6,100 metric tons of dried heads, at a value of NOK 143 million ($16.3m).
So far in 2019 exports have reached 1,800t, and NOK 50m; up 10% in volume terms year-on-year.
“With this sharp reduction of tariffs for stockfish heads the optimism we’ve seen in the Nigerian market this year only increase. For importers, this will mean significantly better purchasing power and consumers will also benefit from lower prices,” said Kostveit.
The tariff cut is expected to take effect immediately.
