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NORWAY

Swedish cheese makers fear Norway import tariffs

Swedish dairy producers fear that massive hikes in tariffs on the import of cheese and meat into Norway will put an end to exports.

Swedish cheese makers fear Norway import tariffs

“The new system means that there will be no cheese exports more or less,” said Fredrik von Unge at dairy industry organisation Svensk Mjölk to the TT news agency.

The Norwegian government has mooted the massive hikes in import tariffs on cheese and meat products in its budget for 2013.

Hard cheeses are set to be subjected to import tariffs equating to 277 percent of their value. Tolls are currently 27 Norwegian kroner ($4.7), regardless of value.

Norway is also planning to raise tariffs on imports of lamb and beef.

Denmark has responded angrily to the new Norwegian import tariff regime, while Sweden is reluctant to enter into a “trade war” with their Scandinavian neighbours.

The Norwegian Agrarian Association (Norges Bondelag) however welcomed the move.

“It is absolutely crucial if we are to have a farming industry in Norway or not,” according to Nils Björke at the association.

“If you look at the development in Sweden, where milk production is declining, this confirms that we have a duty to maintain agriculture. Customs tariffs limit the growth of imports and is a signal from the authorities that they want farming in Norway,” he said.

The decision will have a significant impact on the Swedish cheese industry as Norway is currently the largest export market.

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NORWAY

Norway to send 200,000 AstraZeneca doses to Sweden and Iceland

Norway, which has suspended the use of AstraZeneca's Covid vaccine until further notice, will send 216,000 doses to Sweden and Iceland at their request, the Norwegian health ministry said Thursday.

Norway to send 200,000 AstraZeneca doses to Sweden and Iceland
Empty vials of the AstraZeneca vaccine. (Photo by GABRIEL BOUYS / AFP)

“I’m happy that the vaccines we have in stock can be put to use even if the AstraZeneca vaccine has been paused in Norway,” Health Minister Bent Høie said in a statement.

The 216,000 doses, which are currently stored in Norwegian fridges, have to be used before their expiry dates in June and July.

Sweden will receive 200,000 shots and Iceland 16,000 under the expectation they will return the favour at some point. 

“If we do resume the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine, we will get the doses back as soon as we ask,” Høie said.

Like neighbouring Denmark, Norway suspended the use of the AstraZeneca jab on March 11 in order to examine rare but potentially severe side effects, including blood clots.

Among the 134,000 AstraZeneca shots administered in Norway before the suspension, five cases of severe thrombosis, including three fatal ones, had been registered among relatively young people in otherwise good health. One other person died of a brain haemorrhage.

On April 15, Norway’s government ignored a recommendation from the Institute of Public Health to drop the AstraZeneca jab for good, saying it wanted more time to decide.

READ MORE: Norway delays final decision on withdrawal of AstraZeneca vaccine 

The government has therefore set up a committee of Norwegian and international experts tasked with studying all of the risks linked to the AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson vaccines, which is also suspected of causing blood clots.

Both are both based on adenovirus vector technology. Denmark is the only European country to have dropped the AstraZeneca
vaccine from its vaccination campaign, and said on Tuesday it would “lend” 55,000 doses to the neighbouring German state of Schleswig-Holstein.

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