Papua expansion plans cause concern among Spanish canneries

If the fishing authorities of Papua New Guinea achieve their objective of transforming the island nation into the new global tuna leader in 2013, the 67 canneries in Galicia, Spain and their 12,000 employees could be greatly affected.

PNG tuna industry expects to produce about 1,330 tonnes of tuna per day over the next two years.

Today, this country can sell tuna and its sub-products in the European Union (EU) without tariffs and without meeting certain origin rules, the newspaper La Voz de Galicia reported.

Galicia produces 80 percent of canned tuna from Spain and nearly 70 percent from the European market.

According to the director of the National Fisheries Management Authority of Papua, Sylvester Pokajam, several international companies are building four macroplants in the country. The idea is that together, these plants reach a daily production of 1,330 tonnes of tuna, with 257 working days per year and nearly 20,000 jobs.

The manager said that the three tuna processing factories operating in the country right now, RD Tuna, South Seas Tuna Corp and Frabelle PNG, provide 480 tonnes per day of processed canned tuna, and employ 7,200 workers.

In the EU market, cans of tuna from PNG are 30 percent cheaper than those produced in Spain. And last year those cans accounted for 15 percent of the European market.

Brussels must decide before the end of 2011 whether to renew the trade agreement with PNG or not.

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