Fishing industry opposes Namibia’s duty-free access to Spain

LEONARD NEILL THE SPANISH government’s decision to allow Namibian-caught fish to enter the country duty free while South African fish are subject to a 15% import duty, has come under fire from the national fishing industry. “This mean that R100 million in revenue from hake fishing in South Africa remains in Spain to the detriment of local fishermen, who could be benefiting from this additional source of income,” says Hentie de Beer, manager of Saldanha-based Bongolethu group. De Beer’s company recently joined Port Elizabeth’s Patel Group to establish Trademotto, a black empowerment consortium which has opened an Eastern Cape fish-packing factory. Now local fishermen earn up to R20 a kilogram for their hake catches as opposed to R4/kg they were paid by other plants in the past. De Beer has now called on the South African government to take up the matter of Spain’s import duty system with that country’s authorities. The reason for the discrepancy is that despite the fact that the two Southern African countries have a similar advanced fishing infrastructure, Spain views them in a different light. Spain recognises Namibia as a developing country, but has South Africa positioned as a developed nation, says De Beer. That, he says, is unfair given the fact that the people involved are from similar previously disadvantaged backgrounds. At the same time, Trademotto’s Imraan Patel has said that negotiations have been completed for pilchards caught in Eastern Cape waters to be processed at the new plant for export to Asian destinations.