European fishing industry calls for end to duty-free tuna quotas
Portugal's tuna fleet faces tightening competition after the European fishing association Europêche urged the European Council to scrap a duty-free import quota that benefits China and Indonesia. The 35,000-tonne annual quota for tuna loins — imported at zero tariff — has become redundant given existing trade agreements that already grant preferential access, the association argues.
How the quota works
The Autonomous Tariff Quota, known by its initials ATQ, allows the European Union to import up to 35,000 tonnes of tuna loins each year without customs duties. The measure was designed to ensure a steady supply of raw material for European canneries. Europêche says the system is now "obsolete" and "harmful" because the quota is depleted within the first days of January each year, and its benefits are concentrated among a few Asian suppliers.
According to the association's calculations, China and Indonesia accounted for nearly 88% of tuna loin imports under the quota from 2024 to 2026. The price gap is stark: European tuna loins fetched an average €4,900 per tonne in 2023, while Chinese-origin products entered at €3,500 per tonne.
Cumulative pressure on European producers
Europêche warns that the quota cannot be viewed in isolation. A patchwork of existing trade deals already grants duty-free access to countries across Africa, the Caribbean, and the Pacific, as well as nations under the Generalised Scheme of Preferences, including Vietnam and India. Negotiations are also underway with Thailand, the Philippines, and Malaysia to extend similar advantages.
Two recent agreements add further volume:
• Indonesia will receive an additional 5,000 tonnes annually of duty-free tuna loins under a bilateral deal finalised in September 2025, set to take effect in January 2027.
• Mexico gains 6,000 tonnes annually for three years under a modernised EU-Mexico agreement signed on 22 May 2026, before moving to full liberalisation.
Together, these pacts add 11,000 tonnes of bilateral quotas to the existing 35,000-tonne ATQ — a cumulative burden that Europêche says creates unfair competition for European fishers.
Sustainability criteria delayed
The European Commission has proposed extending the current quota regime for another year, pushing the deadline to 31 December 2027. Brussels says the extension ensures market predictability while it completes an impact assessment on introducing sustainability criteria.
Europêche, however, questions the transparency of this process. The Commission has never published the results of a public consultation on sustainable imports under the quota rules, nor an independent study it commissioned on integrating sustainability criteria. The association is calling for those documents to be released and for rigorous sustainability standards to take effect from 2027.
What happens next
The European Council must decide whether to renew the quota. Europêche wants the entire ATQ system for tuna loins abolished from 2027 and insists that future free trade agreements must account for European tuna fishing operations.
For Portugal's fleet — one of the largest in the EU for tuna catches in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans — the stakes are direct. Cheaper imports undercut the price European fishers can command, squeezing margins in a sector already navigating rising fuel costs and stricter EU fishing rules.
