NORWAY MEETING ON SHARING PELAGIC PRICE INFORMATION

Norway meeting on sharing pelagic price information. Norway’s Sildesalgslag and Sjømat Norge have met to discuss how price information should be handled in the future.

The background is that the Court of Appeal has concluded that current practice conflicts with the Public Administration Act.

“It has been a very good and constructive meeting,” says chairman of Norway’s Herring Sales Association Lars Ove Stenevik. Deputy head of Seafood Norway Inger-Marie Sperre agrees that there is a good atmosphere in the talks, and that the main framework for a temporary solution is now in place.

The parties agree that work is now being initiated to define who should have access to price information. There are a disproportionate number of people who have access both on land and at sea, seen in relation to the Court of Appeal’s conclusion that such price information can be competitively sensitive.

It is agreed that the prices for contract sales will not be published on the Sildelaget’s extranet.

It is agreed that in future work will be done on a possible solution where only those who have participated in the auction will have access to the bid log. A new solution must be in place as quickly as possible. Other information needs must be met through aggregated price information. For example through an index. In this context, it is being discussed which information, at which level and with how big a temporal delay price information on an aggregated level should be.

• From Norway’s Herring Sales Association, chairman Lars Ove Stenevik, acting director Øyvind Furnes, sales director Randi Ødegaard and lawyer Håvard Holder participated. From Seafood Norway, deputy chair Inger-Marie Sperre, member of industry group Silje Remøy, managing director. Geir Ove Ystmark and specialist pelagic Kyrre Dale.

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