EU asks shrimp exporters to ensure quality or face restriction

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The European Union (EU) has warned local shrimp exporters of possible restriction on exports unless they strictly ensure quality, reports UNB.

The warning came following a negative report by an EC delegation that visited Bangladesh recently.

European Commission conveyed their concern of health hazard to Chief Adviser's Special Assistant for Fisheries and Livestock Manik Lal Samaddar in a letter on July 23 this year and asked for preventive measures against harmful elements in shrimp.

EC said they would launch a new system of testing shrimp to detect presence of chloramphenicol, nitro-furans, tetracycline and malachite.

They threatened to stop importing shrimp from Bangladesh if more than the permissible level of any harmful chemical and medicine was detected.

EU sent back 300 containers of shrimp in the last few months following detection of harmful antibiotics. Licenses of four shrimp processing factories have also been cancelled as a consequence.

To remedy the fault, Bangladesh officials met EU deputy assistant director MS Testori Coki in April this year to assure that Bangladesh would go through every necessary test to ensure the quality of shrimp for the EU countries.

Export of frozen food, mainly the shrimp, earned for the country US$534 million during the last fiscal year, registering a slight increase of about 4.0 per cent as compared to the previous fiscal year. But earnings fell 11 per cent short of the target for 2007-08, apparently due to shortcomings in quality, officials said.

Khulna District Fisheries Officer M Abdur Rashed was not aware of the EU warning, but told the news agency that they were monitoring the shrimp processing units round the clock to ensure their quality.