EU, U.S. agree to resume trade in mussels, clams and oysters

FILE PHOTO: Peanut Shiver of Barber's Seafood in Eastpoint, Florida, U.S., washes oysters from Texas, which the company is using to fulfill their orders as the Apalachicola Bay, which was once the company's only source for oysters no longer produces enough shellfish to meet demand, after they were removed from their shells, February 11, 2020. Picture taken February 11, 2020. REUTERS/Colin Hackley/File Photo

The European Union and the United States have agreed to resume trade in mussels, clams and oysters from the end of February after they were halted more than a decade ago, marking another step in improved transatlantic relations.

Trade in bivalve molluscs, also including cockles and scallops, came to a halt in 2011 due to differences in regulatory standards, but will resume for the Netherlands and Spain and the U.S. states of Massachusetts and Washington.

The U.S. Trade Representative's office said the two sides had concluded negotiations on Friday. The European Commission, which oversees trade for the 27 EU nations, said it had now adopted relevant legislation.

FILE PHOTO: Shellfisherwomen carry cockles in buckets and clams in net sacks before weighing them in the Noia estuary, where more or less 4000 shellfisherwomen work on foot along the inlets of the Spanish region of Galicia, Spain, November 16, 2021. Picture taken November 16, 2021. REUTERS/Nacho Doce/File Photo

The Commission and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration carried out audits in 2015 and, after years of discussions, have recommended that the food safety systems for raw molluscs in the U.S. states and EU countries could be considered equivalent.

The Commission said trading opportunities could be extended to more EU countries in future under a simplified authorisation procedure agreed between the two sides, the first time a U.S. agency has agreed such a process.

EU trade commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said in a statement both sides had worked hard to resolve this long-standing issue.

FILE PHOTO: A half bucket of fresh soft-shell clams or "steamers" as they are known in Maine is pictured in Casco Bay in Freeport, Maine May 30, 2013. REUTERS/Dave Sherwood/File Photo

"It shows that our efforts to forge a positive, forward-looking trade agenda with the United States are paying off," he said.

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said the agreement represented a positive step in U.S.-EU trade relations.

In 2020, the United States was one of the world's largest seafood exporters, with global sales of $4.5 billion. Last year, its seafood product exports to the EU exceeded $900 million.

FILE PHOTO: U.S. and European Union flags are pictured during the visit of Vice President Mike Pence to the European Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium February 20, 2017. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir

Since the start of the Biden administration, the United States and the EU have suspended disputes over subsidies for Airbus and Boeing and over steel and aluminium and set up a forum to coordinate on technology.

After U.S. President Joe Biden's election victory in November 2020, the European Union also removed EU tariffs on U.S. lobsters in return for reduced U.S. duties on EU exports from ceramics to prepared meals worth an annual $200 million.

(Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop; Editing by Gareth Jones)