Colombian Tuna Processors Might Switch To Pouches ff
2 October 2002
Colombia Colombian tuna processors are meeting this week to discuss the possibility of switching from cans to pouches to take advantage of reduced tariffs under the Andean Trade Preference Act (ATPA). This was mentioned in a report by Fish Information and Services.
Colombia currently produces only canned tuna, which was excluded from the ATPA, but switching to pouches would require heavy investment in new technology and training, so the industry needs to carry out market research to assess profitability.
Armando Hernández, executive director of the ANDI Fishing Industry Chamber, says 97 per cent of tuna consumed in the US is canned, with only three per cent corresponding to pouches - and American companies like StarKist that have sold pouched tuna for many years have already taken this small market sector.
Colombia's tuna industry has grown considerably over the last 10 years becoming an important source of income and employment. Last year's tuna catches amounted to almost 600,000 M/T, making up 38 per cent of the total catch volume, including aquaculture production. Meanwhile, tuna exports went from Us$ 3 million in 1998 to Us$ 106 million in 1999 and nowadays it amounts to an average of Us$ 85 million, according to a report in La República . The sector is thought to employ more than 16,500 people directly or indirectly.
Today tuna loin sales to the US amount to Us$ 2 million, after reaching Us$ 8 million in 1998. Colombian producers believed that if their canned tuna were included in the ATPA, removing the 35 per cent tax on tuna in oil and six per cent on tuna in brine would increase these figures to reach Us$ 44 by 2006. But, as this is unlikely to happen, producers need to determine whether a change of packaging will be sufficiently profitable to benefit the tuna sector.
