Japan has agreed to resolve the issue of problems faced by Indian marine exporters regarding the level of Ethoxyquin in shrimps by the year-end.
Ethoxyquin is a quinoline-based antioxidant used as a food preservative and a pesticide.
Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Anand Sharma raised this issue in his meeting with Toshimitsu Motegi, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan yesterday.
Sharma conveyed to the Japanese Minister that 'as the standards in India meet that of other sensitive markets like EU, this matter needs to be expedited by Japan within a specific time frame.'
On this Motegi said: "We have received the request. The concerned agencies are engaged with the same. They have been asked to look into a solution by year end."
Earlier, during his visit to Japan in May, Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh too had raised the issue that the move has severely affected the marine export from India. Singh had also expressed concern over the issue of import of Indian shrimp by Japan and had hoped that the matter would be resolved soon.
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In September 2012, Japan's Food Safety Commission announced new regulations that would impose compulsory testing for Ethoxyquin in shrimp consignments.
The regulations brought out in 2012 introduced health standards tolerate Ethoxyquin levels up to 0.01 ppm, down from the previous 1 pm.
According to MPEDA press release dated June 24, in the year 2012-13 'export of Frozen Shrimp decreased by 11.07% in quantity terms and 21.92 % in dollar terms mainly due to the Ethoxyquin issue with frozen shrimp exports from India'.