Status and Competitiveness of Fish Exports to European Union

Abstract

Fish trade is an important source of foreign exchange for India with total earnings of US$ 5511.12 million in 2014-15. The European Union (EU) is an important market destination for Indian fish and fishery products with a share of 20.08% in value. In this study, an attempt has been made to analyse the status, performance and competitiveness of Indian fish exports to the EU. The study is based on data collected from UNCOMTRADE statistical database of United Nations for the period 2000-2014. Unit Value Realization, Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA) and share of individual items in total export, were calculated to measure the performance and comparative advantage. Crustaceans, molluscs, fish frozen/whole, fish chilled/ whole and fish meat /fillets formed the major product composition of Indian exports to the EU. Among fish products exported over the years, crustaceans contributed highest (54.74%) followed by molluscs (40%), frozen fish (2.81%) and fish fillets (2%). The unit value realised was high for live fish (26.24) followed by fish cured and smoked (6.64) and crustaceans (6.6). RCA for total fish exports revealed that India has comparative advantage with RCA more than 1 throughout the period. RCA value for 2014 was 1.55 which is the highest value witnessed since 2000. However, fluctuating RCA is a concern unless it is taken care of by suitable policy measures. Product wise RCA showed that India has comparative advantage in exporting molluscs (3.20) and crustaceans (2.6) and comparative disadvantage in exporting frozen fish, fillets, chilled and live fish. The RSCA values showed similar trends as the RCA.