Less import of fish

Russian import of fish and sea food is decreasing as measures aimed at promoting domestic production are gaining impact.

Russian import of fish and sea food shrunk with 41 percent in the period January-October 2009 compared to the same period in 2008, B-port.com reports.

According to a Federal Bureau for Fisheries representative, import of fish from non-CIS states increased nearly 20 percent from September to October, but fell 16 percent compared to October 2008.

As BarentsObserver reported, fishery is one of few sectors in Russian economy that in spite of the financial crisis has shown a steady growth. Taking this into account, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has instructed that support to this sector should be increased.

Amongst the measures the Government has taken, is a temporary cancellation of customs charges on refrigerators and other equipment needed for processing and storage of fish and softening of the laws that make port calls to Russia difficult for foreign-built vessels.

The Russian law on fisheries demanding that all fish caught in Russian economic zone shall be delivered in Russian ports came into effect on January 1. Until then half of the caught fish (more than 1,5 million tons) had been delivered abroad, thus depriving Russian costal settlements of workplaces, the Russian treasury of incomes and Russian consumers of fish.

At the same time, another law lessening the tax burden on fishing companies when making port calls in Russia was activated. The law removed taxes for fishing vessels repaired or modernized abroad. Until then, shipowners have had to pay value added tax and import duties on all new equipment when calling a Russian port. Consequently, a significant part of the vessels registered for example in Murmansk, never went to that port, but used ports in Norway as bases instead.

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