Information : Europe

Health certificates are not required when consignments of fish/fishery products and molluscan shellfish are being exported within the European Union.

Health Certificates are required when consignments of fish/fishery products and molluscan shellfish are being exported to countries in Europe which are not part of the European Union. 

Specific requirements are in place in relation to Russia*, Serbia, Switzerland, Turkey and Ukraine.

* On 7 August 2014, the Russian Federation introduced import restrictions on a range of EU agricultural products including seafood.

The main EU markets, namely France, Spain, Italy, UK and Germany continue to dominate seafood exports, accounting for approximately 59% of total exports by value.

In 2018, France remained the largest export market for Irish seafood accounting for 25% of total export values, despite seeing a decrease of 15% in export value and a 22% drop in volume. In this time, unit price increased by 8%, up from €4,747 per tonne to €5,144 per tonne.

The Spanish market, Ireland’s second largest export market, experienced a slight decline in export values by almost 4%, driven by declining export volumes of 4.5% during this period. Export values to Italy increased by 28% in 2018, with volumes up by 14%. The UK saw a value decrease of 23%, with volumes seeing a 4% decrease. Trade to Germany decreased by 22% in value, against a backdrop of declining volumes into this market of 2%.

Other markets in Europe accounted for a 13% share of total Irish seafood export values. Notable performers in 2018 were the Ukrainian market with exports to this market increasing by 104% and the Belgian market which grew in value by 45%.

Bord Bia is currently reviewing other potential markets in Europe and summary reports to identify opportunities for Irish seafood exports have been completed for specific species across a range of markets including Germany, Italy, the UK, France and Switzerland.