On 17th August, the EU declared they were the winner in the lawsuitover salmon imported from Norway. They affirmed that TradeReconciliation Commission announced the verdict, from which the EU canbenefit though Norway stated the contrast one.

The Norwegian press told that they saw the copy of the verdict of theWorld Trade Organization which wrote that it was illegal when the EUimposed tariff on Norway’s salmon. This tariff aimed to protect the EUfrom a surge of low-price salmon imported from Norway, which EUsupposed to have bad impacts on Scotland’s and Ireland’s suppliers.

The Aftenposten daily news told that the winning of Norway in thiscommercial lawsuit was confirmed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs,Mr. Jonas Gahr Store. Yet, the European Commission claimed that theywere the real winner and Norway only got the better of them with “smalltechnical matters”. The report of WTO is going to be published on 9thSeptember.

Norway sued the EU at the WTO because this country thought that theminimum price which the EU set for its salmon was not reasonable.

The EU has put anti-dumping tariff on Norway salmon for five yearssince January 2006 and banned their members to import salmon with theprice below €2.8 (equivalent to 3.4 USD) per kilogram. About 60% in thetotal amount of Norway’s salmon is exported to the EU’s market.

The governments of the UK and Ireland requested the EU for anti-dumpinginvestigation after importing salmon to these two countries surged in2003. Officials of Scotland and Ireland wondered that importing salmonwith low price would have bad impacts on their domestic salmon industry.

Norway decided not to join the EU in 1973 because this nation worriedthat its aquatic exploiting industry would be affected by the unfaircompetition with other fishing fleets of the EU’s members.