The European Fish Processors and Traders Association's (AIPCE-CEP) is calling on the European Commission to delay its exclusion of Russian whitefish from the Autonomous Tariff Quota (ATQ) system until at least 2025.

The trade group has already warned that the proposed changes to the ATQ system -- which suggest excluding Russian fish -- would “severely restrict” the EU processing sector’s potential for growth and threaten its viability.

Last month, the European Council proposed to exclude Russian and Belarusian fishery products from the next version of its ATQs scheme, which takes effect in January.