Spain is the world’s largest importer of cephalopods, accounting for 24 percent of total imports in 1998, closely followed by Japan (20 percent) and Italy (16 percent). Other major importers include the USA, China, Korea, Greece, Portugal, France and the Netherlands. However, Japan ranks as the top importer of cephalopods in terms of value.

Table: World imports of cephalopods by major importing countries during 1989-1998, in metric tons

Country	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998
Spain	141,600	120,500	140,400	116,100	149,700	146,000	169,900	161,500	197,900	218,700
Japan	242,200	220,900	227,000	238,500	241,500	233,200	198,800	219,700	188,600	183,000
Italy	120,800	115,300	136,700	118,000	115,900	123,500	128,600	133,900	141,300	150,200
USA	23,900	21,000	24,700	28,300	32,900	33,900	32,800	39,400	48,100	51,700
China	7,700	9,900	11,200	22,100	64,000	31,300	49,600	54,400	43,600	44,800
Korea Rep	14,000	25,700	49,000	52,000	47,200	59,300	45,800	74,300	71,400	40,700
Greece	16,300	11,600	10,600	11,400	13,300	12,100	14,700	19,500	23,300	26,700
Portugal	13,300	13,300	20,600	17,400	18,500	16,400	18,900	17,800	20,400	24,300
France	26,700	26,200	25,400	26,000	20,600	22,000	23,200	19,100	20,900	23,200
Netherlands	2,800	2,800	2,200	4,500	22,800	18,100	23,100	18,800	19,600	18,400
Thailand	4,100	3,800	8,600	13,700	19,700	38,500	30,900	32,000	27,700	17,800
Hong Kong	20,900	25,200	27,700	30,200	33,000	28,900	33,200	28,700	20,500	16,500
Singapore	17,100	19,300	25,800	26,900	23,000	19,500	17,500	17,000	13,400	11,400
Canada	4,600	4,700	5,500	5,400	7,700	8,300	10,000	10,200	9,000	9,100
Australia	3,600	4,300	3,900	5,000	5,200	7,100	7,500	8,400	8,000	8,900
Germany	6,800	7,400	7,900	8,000	7,800	8,800	8,900	8,400	8,800	7,800
Indonesia	1,500	500	0	500	700	1,400	1,700	3,800	2,900	6,800
Norway	4,900	3,000	5,100	5,000	3,700	1,300	200	300	500	6,700
Belgium	2,200	2,200	1,800	1,900	2,300	5,700	5,700	5,300	5,700	5,000
Venezuela	0	0	0	0	0	0	3,600	2,800	3,700	4,100
Malaysia	6,100	5,000	3,500	4,100	3,000	3,500	3,500	6,000	5,200	3,700
Others	22,400	26,800	22,700	33,400	32,900	38,700	44,000	43,300	51,900	45,800
Total	703,500	669,400	760,300	768,400	865,400	857,500	872,100	924,600	932,400	925,300

Table: World imports of fresh, chilled and frozen cephalopods by major importing countries during 1989-1998, in US$ 1,000

Country 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 Japan 904,016 758,018 831,588 778,214 810,222 984,931 1,036,671 1,126,833 907,694 745,640 Spain 255,558 234,091 289,280 302,152 315,711 354,603 478,094 418,824 498,827 527,694 Italy 277,925 269,960 323,597 276,762 264,670 303,574 364,744 376,123 430,449 423,132 USA 61,335 56,112 63,821 68,061 81,174 95,475 101,312 112,565 143,555 123,215 Greece 37,225 28,541 22,427 25,857 27,512 27,831 43,306 54,869 67,448 65,634 France 51,945 49,879 50,373 50,821 38,984 49,842 63,390 50,084 52,153 58,975 Portugal 13,476 16,765 28,882 26,098 32,489 33,017 37,001 35,326 43,199 58,337 Korea Rep 15,937 32,187 60,579 54,946 48,435 80,739 56,469 88,278 66,911 42,756 Hong Kong 27,881 29,238 30,301 35,746 42,131 49,770 56,391 57,026 46,300 36,317 China 8,575 10,562 11,120 18,593 43,923 32,589 51,034 60,798 37,933 35,990 Netherlands 3,545 3,981 3,871 6,082 28,957 26,037 42,386 32,064 38,050 33,561 Thailand 6,930 1,760 8,292 12,487 19,316 50,978 60,097 66,380 68,691 32,340 Germany 20,546 22,717 24,179 26,028 23,600 29,231 33,459 31,278 31,465 26,783 Canada 11,736 11,643 14,821 13,442 16,077 18,297 19,928 22,184 19,889 19,841 Australia 10,033 10,786 10,556 13,233 12,359 19,463 22,868 24,245 22,583 19,257 Singapore 14,443 16,922 22,299 27,426 23,901 29,184 42,209 43,156 27,582 18,241 Belgium 5,523 6,396 5,469 6,217 6,570 14,917 17,024 15,230 13,831 13,614 Switzerland 7,341 8,809 8,201 8,364 7,591 7,393 9,899 8,952 8,491 8,652 Mexico 2,774 634 1,005 2,123 3,023 7,108 1,265 2,215 2,095 8,485 UK 3,793 3,512 3,041 3,210 4,195 3,982 5,563 7,528 7,606 8,169 Others 21,152 21,398 25,888 39,916 38,898 50,021 64,457 71,675 83,783 73,397 Total 1,761,689 1,593,911 1,839,590 1,795,778 1,889,738 2,268,982 2,607,567 2,705,633 2,618,535 2,380,030

Table: Imports of squid into Spain by country of origin during 1990-1999, in metric tons

Country	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999
Argentina	2,000	3,900	3,200	4,800	11,400	18,000	26,200	50,200	54,300	63,100
Falkland Is.	1,400	3,100	1,600	0	1,500	16,700	27,000	20,300	35,200	31,600
USA	2,800	1,600	2,100	3,400	16,800	6,400	3,400	15,600	3,000	8,100
India	2,700	6,100	5,200	6,200	4,400	6,800	3,600	3,800	3,200	6,800
Morocco	2,800	4,600	6,100	7,000	7,200	7,600	8,600	5,900	7,000	6,000
Portugal	700	2,100	700	1,400	1,600	3,100	2,500	4,900	3,300	4,400
Netherlands	300	1,200	900	11,800	7,500	4,200	3,500	2,600	1,700	3,100
France	4,000	2,500	2,400	2,500	2,600	5,100	7,400	3,200	6,200	1,700
UK	3,100	2,500	800	900	3,400	1,500	1,700	2,200	1,200	1,500
Mauritania	200	400	400	1,000	800	300	800	700	1,200	1,300
Others	30,400	38,100	34,100	29,300	30,300	32,700	18,300	21,800	29,100	16,900
Total	50,400	66,100	57,500	68,300	87,500	102,400	103,000	131,200	145,400	144,500

Table: Imports of squid into Japan by country of origin during 1990-1999, in metric tons

Country	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999
China	100	800	800	1,900	3,700	2,500	4,200	14,500	11,400	21,100
Thailand	3,600	4,400	4,900	4,800	5,400	3,500	4,000	3,900	5,900	8,300
Korea	2,100	200	200	1,400	1,200	1,800	2,400	2,600	6,800	7,200
Taiwan	1,400	900	1,300	6,800	6,000	1,400	1,900	1,400	11,400	7,000
USA	1,300	3,700	3,700	1,600	4,600	4,500	4,500	4,200	100	4,000
Argentina	7,200	11,200	16,100	5,400	3,000	1,200	19,200	5,900	600	3,300
Morocco	1,900	2,100	2,100	4,200	6,200	3,200	6,000	2,300	1,700	1,700
New Zealand	1,600	200	1,700	500	4,500	1,100	2,500	300	700	600
Peru	0	0	300	500	8,000	2,100	1,200	2,600	0	300
Others	33,800	22,700	21,800	16,900	12,400	11,800	12,200	10,900	10,000	9,000
Total	53,000	46,200	52,900	44,000	55,000	33,100	58,100	48,600	48,600	62,500

Table: Imports of squid into Italy by country of origin during 1990-1999, in metric tons

Country	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999
Spain	7,800	10,500	14,800	18,900	19,800	28,400	36,100	31,100	32,900	32,600
Thailand	9,700	10,000	9,100	6,900	6,900	4,400	4,700	7,600	12,600	12,300
Argentina	900	1,300	1,600	1,100	900	600	2,600	3,100	6,600	10,000
South Africa	4,000	4,400	3,400	4,000	5,100	4,200	3,900	3,200	4,200	5,600
USA	3,500	3,700	4,400	3,700	8,400	5,600	2,400	8,400	3,500	4,800
India	900	3,900	4,400	6,000	5,900	8,600	5,900	3,800	1,700	2,900
France	2,000	1,400	1,700	1,900	1,900	2,300	2,100	2,100	2,100	2,300
Morocco	3,000	2,900	3,500	5,500	1,800	2,800	3,200	1,200	2,600	2,000
Netherlands	8,600	10,000	10,400	7,000	7,000	8,400	5,800	3,300	2,900	1,700
New Zealand	0	400	400	500	1,600	1,500	2,000	2,300	2,700	1,200
Others	12,900	11,000	7,600	6,900	7,600	5,900	4,500	4,900	7,500	6,100
Total	53,300	59,500	61,300	62,400	66,900	72,700	73,200	71,000	79,300	81,500

World’s major exporters World’s major importers Thailand’s exports Total Thai exports of cuttlefish and squid (live, fresh or chilled) during 2000-02 Total Thai exports of cuttlefish head (frozen), cuttlefish (frozen, dried, salted or in brine) and squid     (frozen, dried, salted or in brine) during 2000-02 Total Thai exports of octopus (live, fresh or chilled) during 2000-02 Total Thai exports of octopus (frozen, dried, salted or in brine) during 2002-02 Export procedure Thailand’s export procedure Laws and regulations for Thai squid (chilled, frozen) export Squid standard: Codex Standard 191-1995