Fish export scam unearthed
Thursday, 14 January 2010
Jasim Uddin Haroon
A government enquiry found a local exporter guilty of shipping a large quantity of fish of Myanmar origin to Italy by submitting false veterinary certificates.
The Directorate of Fisheries (DoF), which formed a three-member enquiry team, submitted its report to the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock Wednesday.
The enquiry committee was formed soon after the publication of a news item on the controversial export in the Financial Express on December 11 issue in 2009.
The probe committee report said: "The exporter (Lockpur Fish Processing Co) has duplicated the numbers of EU certificates issued earlier for an export deal of the company."
"The certificates were not issued by the Fish Inspection and Quality Control Department in Khulna, although the exporter claimed it had obtained the certificates from the office," the probe report mentioned.
Md Abdul Khaleque, chief scientific officer of the DoF, Md Abdur Rashed, Bagerhat fisheries officer and AKM Azizul Hoque Molla, an officer of the fisheries inspection and quality control department are members of the enquiry committee.
The report also reads: "The shipment was not made from any of the Bangladeshi seaports, Chittagong or Mongla."
Earlier, Italy seized a container of sweet water fish on the suspicion that the Khulna-based fish exporter might have shipped fish of Myanmar origin under Bangladeshi certification.
In a letter addressed to the Bangladesh Embassy in Rome recently, the Italian government alleged that the company used veterinary certificates of Bangladesh, though the container might have been loaded in Singapore.
The Italian port seized the container after finding data on the container's movement on the website of Hanjin Shipping which did not conform to the certificates attached.
According to information available on the website, the container, which had been impounded, was not loaded or unloaded in any Bangladesh seaports in the last one year.
A government enquiry found a local exporter guilty of shipping a large quantity of fish of Myanmar origin to Italy by submitting false veterinary certificates.
The Directorate of Fisheries (DoF), which formed a three-member enquiry team, submitted its report to the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock Wednesday.
The enquiry committee was formed soon after the publication of a news item on the controversial export in the Financial Express on December 11 issue in 2009.
The probe committee report said: "The exporter (Lockpur Fish Processing Co) has duplicated the numbers of EU certificates issued earlier for an export deal of the company."
"The certificates were not issued by the Fish Inspection and Quality Control Department in Khulna, although the exporter claimed it had obtained the certificates from the office," the probe report mentioned.
Md Abdul Khaleque, chief scientific officer of the DoF, Md Abdur Rashed, Bagerhat fisheries officer and AKM Azizul Hoque Molla, an officer of the fisheries inspection and quality control department are members of the enquiry committee.
The report also reads: "The shipment was not made from any of the Bangladeshi seaports, Chittagong or Mongla."
Earlier, Italy seized a container of sweet water fish on the suspicion that the Khulna-based fish exporter might have shipped fish of Myanmar origin under Bangladeshi certification.
In a letter addressed to the Bangladesh Embassy in Rome recently, the Italian government alleged that the company used veterinary certificates of Bangladesh, though the container might have been loaded in Singapore.
The Italian port seized the container after finding data on the container's movement on the website of Hanjin Shipping which did not conform to the certificates attached.
According to information available on the website, the container, which had been impounded, was not loaded or unloaded in any Bangladesh seaports in the last one year.