Scotland urges EU to keep salmon trade protection

By William Schomberg

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Scottish authorities appealed to the European Commission on Wednesday not to axe anti-dumping measures that protect its salmon farmers from fierce Norwegian competition.

The European Union imposed minimum import prices on farmed salmon from Norway in 2006, saying it was being sold at unfairly low prices and hurting fish farms in Scotland and Ireland.

European Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson must decide soon whether the measures should be continued.

"The Scottish government believes the minimum import price has worked and that there is a strong case for its retention," Michael Russell, environment minister for Scotland's regional government, told Reuters during a visit to Brussels.

The 27-nation EU is Norway's biggest export market for seafood, the country's third-biggest export earner.

The case is a sensitive one for Brussels because Irish fish farmers have said they will try to mobilise voters along the country's western coast to vote against the EU's new Lisbon Treaty in a referendum in June, if the measures are repealed.

Russell said if Brussels dropped the measures, it had to ensure they could be re-imposed quickly if needed and that there would be "a level playing field" for Scottish salmon farmers.

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