Indian seafood exports to Japan have hit a bump after the foreign country’s food regulator detected pesticide residues in cultured shrimp consignment from India.
The incident has triggered off concerns as Japan is the second largest importer of Indian seafood items after the European Union (EU).
The Japanese Food and Safety Authority (JFSA) has detected Pendimethalin, a pesticide residue, beyond the standard level in a cultured shrimp consignment from a company based in Tamil Nadu’s Tuticorin, according to industry sources.
Any Japanese action will jeopardise India’s performance in exports as this sector is currently reeling from issues such as low international offtake due to the economic slowdown and cancellation of orders from EU and South Africa.
In the wake of the detection, the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare has alerted the Japanese Quarantine Station Directors (QSD) to strengthen monitoring and inspection of shrimps imported from India.
QSD has already enhanced the frequency of quality check and 30 per cent of the Indian consignments would be checked thoroughly by the quarantine stations, sources said.
The ministry also warned that in case of any further non-compliance of safety standard, a complete inspection of consignments of Indian shrimp will be imposed as per the Japanese Food Sanitation Law.
According to sources, this may further lead to a complete ban on the Indian imports.
Meanwhile, the Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) — which acts as a co-ordinating agency with different Central and state government establishments engaged in marine products and allied activities — has alerted the Tuticorin-based company to comply “strictly” with the quality standards.
It has also alerted the Seafood Exporters Association of India (SEAI) to follow stringent quality control measures while procuring and processing cultured shrimp for export to Japan. This is made in order to avoid “100 per cent inspection”.
MPEDA sources said that JFSA had detected pesticide residue only in one consignment that might have happened due to the water used for agricultural purpose.
Of late, the export sector has had some good news as the US had reduced the average anti-dumping duty to 0.79 per cent and withdrawn the customs bond requirement.
