India’s Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) has called for a major clampdown on the use of antibiotics by shrimp farmers. This is in response to heightened inspection of imports in the European Union following the identification of chloramphenicol and other chemicals in samples.
According to a report in the Business Standard newspaper on November 1, a notification issued by the EU calls for strengthened mandatory testing to continue to deter shrimp producers in India from misusing substances and to minimize risks to health of consumers.
In advance of a meeting with EU officials scheduled to take place later this month, Dr. A. Jayathilak, chairman of Kochi-headquartered MPEDA, a statutory body under the Indian government’s Ministry of Commerce & Industry, commented: “We are going to prepare a detailed statement and give it to the European authorities when they come for discussion. It will contain all the steps we have taken and what we intend to take. Secondly, we are intensifying the testing norms to find out what went wrong and where the problem lies.”
MPEDA recently contacted its sub-offices in Odisha and Tamil Nadu, where the shrimp seed samples tested positive for banned substance such as chloramphenicol and nitrofurans, instructing that action be taken to correct the problem as soon as possible.
While EU inspectors previously tested about 10% of consignments entering the continent, they are now scrutinizing 50% of all shrimp imports from India. This is slowing down commerce among exporters and importers doing business in India’s third largest shrimp market, which accounted for 21% in total sales last year after the USA (28%) and Southeast Asia (25%).
In volume terms, the EU absorbed 945,892 tons of Indian seafood products last year, accounting for 19.7% of fishery product exports. Total sales value around the world topped $5.5 billion, of which frozen shrimp accounted for more than 67% of receipts.
According to some Indian exporters, the added costs of laboratory testing is putting pressure on their bottom line to the point where the profit margin is becoming very thin in Europe.
“Despite all restrictions, the EU buying rates are not on par with the rates given by USA or any other market,” said Ajay Dash, president of the Seafood Exporters Association of India (SEAI) in the Odisha region. “It is a sheer hindrance as the rates from EU are lesser than US and China markets.”
