Aquaculture farms must meet international standards to permit Indian marine food import in European Union countries, says EU team
The European Union (EU) has rejected several shipments of Indian shrimp and marine product exports on grounds of poor hygiene. Seafood and shrimp exports from India are already under threat from the United States which has banned imports from countries that do not use turtle extruder devices.
A European Union team, which recently concluded a visit to aquaculture farms, has found the conditions on these farms very poor. The team stipulated that the farms must meet international standards if they are to export their products to the EU countries.
The team indicated that it would not be able to permit import of marine food from India unless the units are able to meet the strict European Union standards for general hygiene.
The move has sent alarm bells ringing in the commerce ministry since a failure to meet the stringent norms will affect exports of close to Rs 1,200 crore a year. The ministry has ordered reinspection of the units which is to be completed by August 15. Almost 30 per cent of the total Indian seafood exports are to the countries of the EU.
Several seafood units were examined by the team which decided to visit the country for an inspection after four-five cargoes of seafood from India were rejected.
Officials pointed out that seafood and shrimp exports from India have already been under threat from the United States which in early May, 1995, imposed a ban on shrimps import from countries that do not require their fishermen to protect endangered sea turtles using turtle extruder devices.
The US said that it would allow continued imports from embargoed countries under certain conditions that leave turtles unharmed.
These include shrimp harvested by aquaculture, those captured by vehicles that have turtle extruder device (TED), those caught by manual rather than mechanical means, or in cold water.
The issue has, in fact, been taken by India to the WTO dispute panel on the grounds that there exists no direct nexus between the use of TEDs and a ban on shrimp imports. A panel in the case was set up on April 14 this year.
The target for marine and agriculture products has been set at US $4.4 billion for the year 1997-98.
