Sullivan's efforts lead to historic G7 declaration against Russia's unfair and unsustainable seafood trade

WASHINGTON— U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Ranking Member of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, welcomed the inclusion of language in the recent statement from Group of Seven (G7) leaders opposing “Russia’s unfair and environmentally unsustainable fish and seafood trade practices.” Due to the devastating impacts that Russia’s seafood dumping has had on Alaska and the he U.S. seafood industry as a whole, Senator Sullivan and his team worked tirelessly with senior Biden Administration officials to draft and include this policy statement. Sullivan views the G7 declaration as a major first step toward U.S. allies implementing comprehensive sanctions on Russian seafood imports, in light of Russia’s unfair trade practices and the brutal invasion of ‘Ukraine. In December 2023, Sullivan worked to secure a new executive order to close a loophole that allowed Russian-origin seafood to bypass a previous executive order banning its importation into the United States.

“The Putin regime is engaged in an all-out price war against American fishermen and the seafood industry – an attack of economic retaliation against America and our allies for opposing the brutal invasion of Ukraine,” said Senator Sullivan. “The Russians calculated that by resorting to reckless and unsustainable fishing practices, they could drive down prices long enough to force American fishermen and processors out of business. Now, in the face of the worst market conditions in decades, Alaska’s community and fishing leaders and I have sounded the alarm on a Great Depression-scale crisis. We met last month with Secretary Raimondo and other senior administration officials and urged them to develop a federal government-wide strategy to address these unprecedented threats to our commodity economy. the sea and coastal communities. Securing this language in the G7 communiqué was a crucial first step that my team and I worked tirelessly to achieve. The key now is to follow through: ensure our allies adopt comprehensive sanctions on Russian seafood, in line with this G7 declaration, which will end this race to the bottom, support our fishermen and weaken the dictators of Moscow and Beijing.

Below is a timeline of Senator Sullivan’s recent efforts to secure this language and combat the Russian Federation’s seafood trade war:

On December 22, 2023, Senator Sullivan worked to secure a new executive order and decision from the U.S. Treasury Department that will revise previous guidance that allowed all Russian-origin seafood to bypass a previous executive order banning its importation into the states -United.
On May 23, 2024, Senator Sullivan met with Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo and other senior federal officials to discuss the crisis in the global seafood market, including proposed language to be included in the upcoming G7 statement .
On June 4, 2024, Senator Sullivan proposed text to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell. Sullivan also had a meeting with Undersecretary for Economic Growth, Energy and Environment José Fernandez.
On June 5, 2024, Senator Sullivan had a follow-up call with Deputy Secretary of State Campbell.
On June 6, 2024, Senator Sullivan had a call with Deputy National Security Advisor for International Economics Daleep Singh.

Additionally, Senator Sullivan last week secured a provision in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2025 prohibiting military restaurants and commissaries from purchasing or selling seafood originating or processed in the People’s Republic of China (PRC).

The G7 countries that signed the document are Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States.

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