The disparity between tariffs on tropical freshwater and marine fish imports has been suspended, thanks to lobbying by OATA and its members.
Following input into the government’s recent Tariff Implementation Monitoring (TIM) process which looked at removing or reducing duties in specific areas, OATA has been successful in having the duty for imports of marine ornamental fish reduced to 0%.
This means businesses will no longer have to pay the 6% duty that used to be charged on those imports and brings it into line with the 0% tariffs which have been enjoyed on tropical freshwater ornamental fish for some time.
“This disparity always struck us as very strange and it really made no sense. So when the Government launched its monitoring initiative we worked with some of our member businesses to highlight this discrepancy. It seemed like just the kind of example that the Government was looking for with this exercise,” explained OATA CEO Dominic Whitmee.
“However, we also know from our member importer businesses that costs in other areas of the supply chain have gone up, such as freight costs which are currently as much as 30% higher, which they have had to absorb. While we don’t anticipate to see much, if any, effect on the end price to consumers, we hope that savings from the 0% tariff will help to offset some of these additional costs faced by businesses.”
The suspension came into effect on 29 October.
