The United Kingdom has suspended import tariffs on tuna effective 20 May 2026, delivering a long-awaited boost to the Maldives’ pole-and-line tuna industry and recognising the country’s globally celebrated commitment to sustainable fishing.
The decision removes a 20 percent duty that had weighed on Maldivian exporters since the United Kingdom’s departure from the European Union at the end of 2020, and it opens significantly improved market access for one of the world’s most sustainably caught seafood products.
A Recognition of Sustainable Fishing
President Dr Mohamed Muizzu welcomed the announcement in a statement on Tuesday, framing it as a meaningful endorsement of the Maldives’ centuries-old fishing traditions and the livelihoods they sustain.
“The Maldives is globally recognised for its world-leading pole-and-line tuna industry and its commitment to responsible and sustainable fishing practices,” the President said. He added that the move would strengthen fishermen’s incomes, support island livelihoods, and expand opportunities for sustainably caught Maldivian tuna in the UK market. “This milestone reflects the close partnership between the Maldives and the United Kingdom and the importance both countries place on sustainable trade and economic resilience.”
The President thanked the UK Government and the various partners who contributed to securing the change, calling it a positive step forward for the country’s fishermen and wider economy.
I warmly welcome the United Kingdom’s decision to suspend tariffs on tuna imports effective 20th May 2026.
This important development will support British consumers while delivering meaningful benefits to the Maldives’ fisheries sector, strengthening fishermen’s incomes,… https://t.co/WFLQy5PWrH
— Dr Mohamed Muizzu (@MMuizzu) May 20, 2026
Pole-and-Line: A Tradition Two Millennia in the Making
For the Maldives, the significance of the tariff suspension extends well beyond the immediate commercial benefit. Fishing has sustained the island nation for roughly two thousand years, and the country has built its modern fisheries policy around preserving the low-impact, traditional methods passed down through generations.
Maldivian law prohibits purse-seining, gillnets, trawl nets and other forms of industrial commercial fishing, requiring tuna to be caught one by one using pole-and-line or handline techniques. The pole-and-line method is highly selective, sharply reducing bycatch of seabirds, turtles, sharks and other marine species that are routinely caught and killed by industrial fishing gear elsewhere.
The Maldives became the first Indian Ocean tuna fishery to receive Marine Stewardship Council certification, which it has held for over a decade. The country supplies more than 50,000 tonnes of MSC-certified sustainably caught skipjack tuna to Europe and North America each year, with major UK retailers among its established buyers.
A Long-Standing Barrier Removed
Following Brexit, Maldivian tuna products faced a 20 percent tariff in the UK market, despite the country’s strong sustainability credentials and its status as a small island developing state. The Maldives was the only Commonwealth small island developing state subject to such an import tariff on tuna in the UK, an anomaly that successive Maldivian governments and industry representatives had lobbied to overturn.
Industry figures had long argued that the tariff placed sustainably caught Maldivian tuna at a competitive disadvantage against products from larger fishing nations using less environmentally responsible methods. Support for change came from the UK’s All Party Parliamentary Group on the Maldives, conservation groups and trade advocates who argued that tariff policy should reward sustainable practices rather than penalise them.
British High Commissioner to the Maldives Nick Low also welcomed the announcement. In a post on X, he described the move as a win for affordability in the UK and for sustainable fisheries in the Maldives, noting that it would open better market access for tuna “caught one fish at a time.”
The suspension forms part of a broader UK government measure announced earlier this year to temporarily remove tariffs on a range of food and drink imports, a package championed by Chancellor Rachel Reeves and set to remain in place until the end of 2028.
What It Means for Island Communities
For the Maldives, the practical implications of the change fall most directly on the fishermen and island communities whose lives revolve around the daily catch. Fisheries remain central to the Maldivian economy and to food security, employing thousands of people across the country’s atolls and providing one of the most equitable income streams in the islands, where catches are typically shared among crew members.
With the UK tariff lifted, Maldivian exporters are expected to compete on more equal terms in one of their most important overseas markets, and the price premium that sustainable tuna has long deserved is more likely to reach the fishermen who produce it.
The tariff suspension also comes against a backdrop of deepening ties between the two countries. The Maldives rejoined the Commonwealth in February 2020 and co-champions the Commonwealth Blue Charter Action Group on Sustainable Coastal Fisheries alongside the United Kingdom.
For an industry that has spent decades arguing that doing the right thing should not be financially punished, the message from London this week is a long-awaited one.
