Uganda ranks among the top sources of fish maw in Africa. The quality of its fish maw ranks highly too – fourth globally.
Between 2012 and 2019, Uganda’s fish maw exports to China accounted for about 51 percent of the total exports from Africa.[i] Fish maw is used to manufacture surgical threads, aphrodisiac, and is a delicacy, but its full value chain potential has not been unlocked in Uganda.
Kampala and Beijing have reached an agreement allowing the direct exportation of the commodity to China, but ordinary Ugandans remain at the periphery with hardly any reaped benefits.
Consequently, the Uganda Parliament passed the Fish Bill (Amended) 2021, and also imposed an 8 percent tax on fish maw exports. This is also an attempt to regulate the fish maw trade, which is riddled with challenges, as highlighted below.
The lucrativeness has fed the irregularity and illegal aspects of the trade. It is reported that that the Nile Perch fish maw weighing a kilogram can sell for as much as USD 1000 (Shs Ugx 3.6m) internationally.
Locally, the fish maw of varying sizes will fetch between Shs. 160,000 (USD 70) and Shs. 800,000 (USD200). The trade of fish maw in the East African Community accounts for an estimated USD 86 million annually[ii], and in 2018 Uganda is reported to have sold fish maw worth USD 52.1 million.
As a result, it is reported that cartels run by Chinese and Indian maw processors, traders, and exporters have emerged to tap into the lucrative unregulated harvest of fish maw. Fishermen and boat owners are usually cheated in the process.
A large amount of the commodity is sold on the black market, diminishing the maximisation of potential tax revenue. But this has also had other effects: the high demand drove illegal trading of the commodity which also affected the handling of the fish, and resulted in overfishing.
For example, the Uganda Fishmaws Traders Association (UFTA) indicates that the earnings from fish maw are twice or thrice what is earned from the actual flesh of fish, which has led to unregulated gutting, extraction of maw, and dumping of Nile Perch, if not sold on the local market.[iii] This compromises the safety and hygienic handling of the fish, which makes its quality unsuitable for both international and domestic markets.
The Fish Bill attempts to address these challenges by imposing the requirement for licenses by the traders, processors, and exporters of fish maw. It stipulates strict hygiene for the extraction and handling of the maw, efficient storage, and transport facilities; and lastly tight regulation of the maw market.
However, the success of the law will require well-funded implementation and the building of enforcement capacity to fight the entrenched illegal aspects at all levels in the fish maw trade to maximise Uganda’s benefits.
Additionally, the new tax imposed on fish maw is justified and necessary for tax revenue mobilisation from this lucrative trade. However, an existing challenge of information gaps in the trade of maw might limit the gains from this tax. According to Traffic International, a trade monitoring network; due to the limited Chinese exporters in Kenya and Tanzania, the maws are smuggled to Uganda and eventually exported.
In addition, the fish maws reported for export at Uganda customs are often below what is reported by Hong Kong importers. For example, in 2018, Uganda recorded exports worth USD 532,880, while Hong Kong reported USD 4,728,845 worth of fish maw imports.
It is evident that the current fish maw customs regime is inefficient and characterised by underreporting and poor inspection. Policy reforms should also close loopholes in the reporting systems at customs.
References
[i] Constant, R., Okes, N., Bűrgener, M., Louw, S., Frank, M. (2020). Maw Trade: A rapid assessment of the
trade in fish swim bladders from Africa to Hong Kong SAR.
[ii] The Fish Site. (2020). Uganda signs swim bladder deal with China.
[iii] Daily Monitor. (2020). Minister concerned over illegal fish maw trade. https://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/Minister-concerned-over-illegal-fish-maw-trade/688334-5437692-mxgppl/index.html
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