The members of the SAF (industry and government) have recognized the need to provide coordinated, cohesive and robust technical advice to support Australian negotiators and delegations dealing with trade and market access issues. While this expertise is variously available from different sources a more cohesive and collaborative approach will help:
a) ensure that the most appropriate technical expertise is available to support Australian trade negotiations relating to seafood
b) coordinate robust technical advice for input to international trade fora such as Codex and bilateral and multilateral trade agreement discussions
c) deliver a multi disciplinary approach to often very complex trade issues and ensure that Seafood CRC participant business operations and practices are considered in developing Australia’s negotiating positions
d) foster open communication between Australia’s technical trade experts and assist early detection of issues
e) provide a forum for debate and discussion about technical trade issues and their impact on the CRC participant businesses
f) create an international technical trade network and enable Australia’s experts to identify and act on opportunities for national and international collaboration
g) facilitate professional development of existing and new people with technical trade expertise.
Final report
SafeFish originated from the recognition by the members of the former Seafood Access Forum (SAF) (industry and government) of the need to provide coordinated, cohesive and robust technical advice to support Australian negotiators and delegations dealing with trade and market access issues related to food safety. While this expertise was variously available from different sources a more cohesive collaborative approach was required to bring together all relevant stakeholders (industry, scientists, government, and regulators) more collectively. This was the origin of the partnership approach known originally as the Seafood Trade Expert Panel which was then renamed SafeFish in 2011. This project was responsible for ensuring the most appropriate technical expertise was available to support Australian trade negotiations relating to seafood and to coordinate robust technical advice for input to international trade fora such as Codex and bilateral and multilateral trade agreement discussions.
SafeFish has been very successful in delivering a multi-disciplinary approach to often very complex trade issues which has ensured that Seafood CRC participant business operations and practices were considered in developing Australia’s negotiating positions