EU extends duty-free quotas for Alaska pollock and cod through the end of 2027

The Council of the European Union on Monday extended duty-free import quotas for Alaska pollock, cod and other fishery products through Dec. 31, 2027. The quotas had been set to expire at the end of this year.

The council's regulation was published Oct. 28 and takes effect Nov. 17. It extends the quota rule the EU adopted in 2023 by one year.

The extension covers 340,000 metric tons of frozen Alaska pollock a year, including fillets and other frozen meat. For cod, including Pacific cod, it covers 110,000 metric tons whole, 45,000 metric tons as frozen fillets and meat and 2,000 metric tons salted. The list also includes 60,000 metric tons of surimi, 10,000 metric tons of Pacific salmon, flatfish such as yellowfin sole and rock sole and 5,700 metric tons of hard fish roe.

The fish must be meant for human consumption and processed inside the EU, for example filleted or cut from frozen blocks. Repacking, labeling or freezing alone does not qualify. Quotas are filled first come, first served. Products from Russia and Belarus remain excluded; the 2023 regulation says excluding them, notably Alaska pollock, would change trade flows.

The council said the next quota system, which is being revised to add sustainability conditions, is not ready, and that the extension avoids a gap in duty-free supplies. The European Commission, which proposed the extension Sept. 8, said it needs more time to study sustainability criteria and plans to adopt its next proposal in the first quarter of 2027. The Commission described the quota system as intended to support the competitiveness of the EU's processing industry and maintain its supplies. It held no stakeholder consultation on the extension and estimated the move will cost the EU about 272 million euros in uncollected import duties in 2027.

The United States exported about 333,000 metric tons of Alaska pollock in 2025, worth roughly $1 billion, according to NOAA Fisheries trade data. About 144,000 metric tons, worth about $464 million, went to EU countries. Of about 116,200 metric tons of frozen pollock fillets exported, about 86 percent, worth $347 million, went to the EU. The Netherlands was the top EU buyer at about $311 million, followed by Lithuania, Germany, France and Spain.

The EU also took about 33,700 of 134,600 metric tons of U.S. surimi exports, worth $86.5 million, and about 9,400 of 47,100 metric tons of frozen cod exports, worth $30 million.

The NOAA figures are nationwide and count shipments, not quota claims, so they do not show how much EU-bound pollock entered duty-free. What the coming sustainability criteria will require, including whether U.S. fisheries management or certifications will count, has not been made public.