USAID, EC to help frozen food exporters address food safety issues

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Doulot Akter Mala
Two leading international agencies---USAID and EC--- have initiated a move to support the frozen food industry to help them address labour rights and food safety issues raised by the international buyers, officials said.
The move came in the backdrop of widespread allegations relating to those issues during the last one year.
The allegations have affected country's image in the frozen food importing countries, they said.
The development partners, including USAID (United States Agency for International Development), International Labour Organisation (ILO), European Commission (EC), Solidarity Centre, last week in a meeting decided to form two committees to address the food safety and labour rights issues.
The ILO team on labour rights issues has decided to provide support to 10 shrimp processing plants under a pilot project.
The committee on food safety issues will sit in a meeting today (Wednesday) to suggest food safety measures.
The countries of the European Community (EC) which import the largest volume of frozen shrimps, last month said an inspection team from the EU will visit the country's shrimp processing plants on November 12 next.
The EC, however, has warned that if the team found any irregularity in food safety issues the EU will impose ban on export of frozen shrimps.
Earlier, the EU had imposed such ban on export of shrimps for non-compliance of food safety issues. But the ban was withdrawn when the government gave assurance that it would ensure full compliance with food safety issues.
Last year, a US labour group -- AFL-CIO -- demanded withdrawal of trade concessions extended to Bangladesh on the ground of employing child labour and violation of labour law in the country's export processing plants. A public hearing will be held in this regard in next month.
In the backdrop, the government and the exporters have been taking preparations to satisfy the team by improving the technical expertise and installing modern machinery for testing the presence of antibiotics in frozen shrimp.
Talking to the FE, Syed Mahmudul Huq president of Bangladesh Shrimp and Fish Foundation (BSFF) said: "As an immediate measure, the country's development partners have taken the step to save one of the most potential export earning sectors."
The move, first of its kind, will help the shrimp sector to remove some constraints by taking short and long term measures, he said.
Exporters said they have to carry additional cost for antibiotic test due to lack of modern and sufficient testing equipment in the government laboratory.
The frozen foods exporters, however, are optimistic about the visit of the EU team as they said not a single container of frozen foods was sent back in the last one year on safety ground.
The EU earlier used to send back export containers of frozen foods frequently due to the existence of nitrofuran and other antibiotics.
Frozen foods exporters said despite drastic fall in prices of frozen foods in the international market and production shortfall due to last year's cyclone, the sector earned $ 534.07 million in the last financial year, which is 3.64 per cent more than that of the previous year.
They said the international buyers have been imposing strict conditions to ensure food safety requirements and country's exporters are trying hard to comply with those.
Exporters said prices of shrimp fell by 40 per cent in the UK which affected overall earning of the frozen foods sector.