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To increase seafood industry awareness and arm companies with technical knowledge necessary to sell seafood into the European Union, Food Export-Northeast coordinated a "Developing and Maintaining Sales to EU Markets" seminar for the region's industry on November 2, 2007, in the fishing port of New Bedford, Massachusetts. Growing European consumer demand for seafood, coupled with declining European seafood harvests and the export boosting effect of a weak dollar were the topics of discussion for northeastern U.S. seafood producers. 54 industry representatives from eight northeast states gathered to learn about potential export opportunities for their products.
Foreign market development assistance is vital to northeast seafood companies because they are primarily small- to medium-size, family-owned, businesses that usually lack the financial and personnel resources necessary to identify foreign market opportunities on their own. Seafood producers learned from Food Export-Northeast seafood marketing specialists that European seafood demand is especially strong for lobster, scallops, monkfish, squid and Atlantic mackerel. These products also mirror the major seafood products produced in the northeastern U.S. and supplies are ample due to good U.S. fishery management practices. Food Export-Northeast provided the companies with an introduction to Food Export-Northeast’s programs and services that are available to help companies navigate the business of exporting and to promote their products to foreign buyers. The U.S. Department of Commerce EU Fishery Trade Specialist and the chairperson of France's National Association of Foreign Trade for Frozen Food Products presented detailed overviews of European import requirements.
Food Export USA–Northeast and Food Export Association of the Midwest USA are private, non-profit associations of Midwestern and Northeastern state agricultural promotion agencies that use federal, state, and industry resources to promote the export of Northeastern and Midwestern food and agricultural products. Food Export–Northeast and Food Export–Midwest administer many services through Market Access Program (MAP) funding from the USDA, Foreign Agricultural Service.
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