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SEAFISH has been given the go ahead to appeal to the Supreme Court over the controversial High Court levy ruling
The news came through yesterday afternoon. Seafish, which is the main the authority on seafood, said that leave to appeal had been granted in the matter of Bloomsbury International Limited (part of the collapsed British Seafood Group) and others versus Seafish and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
Mr Justice Hamblen originally found in favour of Seafish in the High Court, but this decision was overturned by the Court of Appeal. Last night's announcement means that an appeal against the Court of Appeal’s decision, led by Defra, can now take place. Seafish have been granted permission to intervene in support of Defra’s arguments.
John Rutherford, Chief Executive at Seafish, said: “We are pleased that the Supreme Court has granted us leave to appeal and remain convinced that the grounds for our appeal are sound.
He added: "We are hopeful that this process will eventually lead to the restoration of a levy on imports. In the meantime, we will continue to collect the domestic levy and seek to use it to provide value to the industry. We continue discussions with our Government sponsors on the support needed in the interim and on our longer term future."
The shock ruling last March meant that Seafish lost more than half its regular income. Privately, the organ isation is confident it can win an appeal because when the levy was agreed by Parliament in 1981 there was a general consensus that it shold apply to all fish -home caught or imported, but this was never stated categorically. The arguments may well down to what was the will of Parliament at the time.
Meanwhile, fish processors have been warned that if Seafish wins the appeal it wil seek to recover backdated levy from last March.
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