'Streamlined salmon exports can net gains'

Business Editor, Sunday Herald

Sunday 3 March 2013

Efforts to boost Scotland's salmon exports to China should start by streamlining the process of establishing new production, a Highlands and Islands MSP has claimed.

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By Colin Donald

Jamie McGrigor is a Conservative member of the Scottish Parliament's European and external relations committee, now gathering evidence for a report on the Scottish Government's latest plan for boosting business with China. He spoke after a committee visit to the Edinburgh base of Scotland's biggest independent salmon producer, The Scottish Salmon Company.

Declaring the evidence-gathering session "highly constructive", McGrigor said: "We heard from the only major Scottish-owned salmon company about the good support they have had from Scotland's export-promotion efforts in China, and also some of the difficulties they faced in achieving enough growth to supply new markets in China and elsewhere. "Basically the message was help should start at home, in terms of fewer time-consuming processes, better alignment of relevant public-sector bodies and easier planning guidelines. This would free up their ability to plan for future expansion and to achieve bigger exports worldwide." Stewart McLelland, chief executive of The Scottish Salmon Company, said: "We welcome the opportunity to share our experiences to date, and working together to ensure that all that can be done is being done, is tremendously important."The committee, chaired by SNP MSP Christina McKelvie, will produce its report in June this year. In its evidence sessions it will assess the success of the previous China plan, look at its effectiveness in helping relevant businesses, review targets for economic engagement with China and ask if "the absence of the China plan be a potential disadvantage to trade and investment?".The £92 million-turnover firm currently produces more than 20,000 tonnes of salmon a year, 20% of Scottish production, and plans 10 new sites with 100 new jobs by 2018.

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'Streamlined salmon exports can net gains'

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