For many of us who are closely connected to the aquaculture industry, the last few months have appeared absurd.
A terribly prepared and in every way harmful tax regimes is pressed down on the industry with a political justification that seems to be taken from the fairy tale “God dag mann – økseskaft” (a reference to a question that is answered with nonsense). A couple of statements from key persons in the industry during the last week illustrate the situation – whether the fisheries press is right in its reports. Gustav Witzøe is said to have stated that the introduction of the economic rent tax is like the launch of the Wasa ship – everyone knows it will go wrong, but it is carried out anyway.
And Geir Ove Ystmark characterizes State Secretary Erlend Grimstad in the Ministry of Finance’s explanation of the “neutrality” of the economic rent tax with the following image (as I understand it) – it is like telling a man who owns a diesel car that his car does not emit CO2 – because the authorities have based themselves on him owning an electric car.
In a few weeks, however, the economic rent tax will probably be finally adopted – and will remain in place until the election in 2025. Then, the question becomes – how are you going to live with the economic rent tax? I obviously can’t answer that, but I can offer a couple of observations from my regulatory lookout post.
There is little reason to believe that in a short time we will get new regulations that provide general improvements in the framework conditions for the aquaculture industry. Here, new tasks are constantly being left to the Aquaculture Committee, which is scheduled to publish its proposal in September. But regardless of the content of their proposal, it will be a long way from the proposal to new regulatory decisions. Such proposal must go through extensive political considerations, so it will probably take several years before the proposal results in new regulations and new regulatory measures. For example, it took more than three years from the time the traffic light system was proposed in March 2015 until the first auction in the system was carried out in June 2018.
However, what could be a development now is that some of the many public bodies that regulate the aquaculture industry are becoming more positive towards the industry and more willing to use their administrative law leeway to secure jobs and value creation along the coast. This may apply to municipalities, county authorities, public administrators, the Norwegian Food Safety Authority, the Directorate of Fisheries and others. It is not only the industry that has reacted to the economic rent tax. Many of those who manage the industry also believe that the Government has gone too far, and that the industry will need support. Therefore, we can hope that more administrative bodies will move from a situation where they have stretched their authority as far as possible to hinder the industry to a situation where they are responsive to the industry’s needs.
This may therefore be the time for the slightly less dramatic steps. It may be the time to reassess a case where the application was refused a couple of years ago. Or to have the good location where you were not allowed to establish your business reassessed – where smaller adjustments might make a YES possible. Or it may be time to investigate whether it is possible to realise other good plans.
The aquaculture industry is regulated by a very extensive set of regulations. These regulations not only contain limitations and frameworks, but also possibilities for dispensations and other exceptions – especially where the rules are deviated from in favour of the business person. These may be possibilities that the administration is not aware of – until they are actualised by specific individual cases. This may be the time to investigate the scope of the leeway you have within the current rules and system.
Comment published on IntraFish’s website, written by permanent guest writer, lawyer and partner Halfdan Mellbye.