Team will visit Brussels to convince EU authority
Sunday, 17 October 2010
Monira Munni
A high-level official team will go to Brussels to convince the EU authority to withdraw the stringent 20 per cent testing requirement for the country's shrimp export by showing the developments of her testing facilities.
Exporters said this is a great opportunity for the country to in form the EU of the recent developments in quality control as the European Union (EU) authority as well as traders, scientists and government officials and media will be present in a symposium in this connection in Brussels on November 24.
Exporters are already suffering from the negative impacts of the stringent testing requirement which will probably continue for a year because the EU will send a team next year to see the improvements in shrimps' quality, an exporter said.
"If we fail to convince them now and the team finds any fault according to their requirement, this may result in a negative impact on our shrimp export," he said.
After the visit, the team will submit report on it and then the EU authority will decide on withdrawal of the testing requirement which is a long process, the exporter said adding: "The government should have been conscious from the very beginning as the matter has already been delayed."
The symposium to be organised by Seafood Importers and Processors Alliance (SIPA) is the outcome of another team's visit to Brussels last month. The team was headed by Commerce Secretary Ghulam Hossain.
Mohammad Shamsul Kibria, joint secretary of Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock, will give a presentation in the symposium on government initiative for improvement of testing capacities and facilities in the country.
Syed Mahmudul Huq, chairman of Bangladesh Shrimp and Fish Foundation, will also give a presentation on public-private joint initiative in the symposium where the Bangladesh ambassador to Brussels, the commerce secretary and the exporters' representative will be present.
"We have developed our laboratories' testing facilities as per the EU regulations and we will focus on it in the symposium," Mr Kibria told the FE.
"We have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Department of Fisheries (DoF), Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (BCSIR), Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission (BAEC) and Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) -- the laboratory service providers and Bangladesh Frozen Foods Exporters Association (BFFEA) -- the laboratory service receivers to combine all the testing sources under one roof," he said.
"For withdrawal of the testing requirement, we will follow two approaches -- one is to follow the EU regulation that we are doing and the other is to raise our voice," Mr Kibria told the FE.
"Last year we got 54 rapid alerts while in 2010 we got only four, which proves that according to their regulation we have improved our testing facilities", he added.
"So they cannot now impose the testing requirement on us and if they do not consider the matter we will raise our voice in the symposium terming it as a non-tariff barrier," he said further.
A high-level official team will go to Brussels to convince the EU authority to withdraw the stringent 20 per cent testing requirement for the country's shrimp export by showing the developments of her testing facilities.
Exporters said this is a great opportunity for the country to in form the EU of the recent developments in quality control as the European Union (EU) authority as well as traders, scientists and government officials and media will be present in a symposium in this connection in Brussels on November 24.
Exporters are already suffering from the negative impacts of the stringent testing requirement which will probably continue for a year because the EU will send a team next year to see the improvements in shrimps' quality, an exporter said.
"If we fail to convince them now and the team finds any fault according to their requirement, this may result in a negative impact on our shrimp export," he said.
After the visit, the team will submit report on it and then the EU authority will decide on withdrawal of the testing requirement which is a long process, the exporter said adding: "The government should have been conscious from the very beginning as the matter has already been delayed."
The symposium to be organised by Seafood Importers and Processors Alliance (SIPA) is the outcome of another team's visit to Brussels last month. The team was headed by Commerce Secretary Ghulam Hossain.
Mohammad Shamsul Kibria, joint secretary of Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock, will give a presentation in the symposium on government initiative for improvement of testing capacities and facilities in the country.
Syed Mahmudul Huq, chairman of Bangladesh Shrimp and Fish Foundation, will also give a presentation on public-private joint initiative in the symposium where the Bangladesh ambassador to Brussels, the commerce secretary and the exporters' representative will be present.
"We have developed our laboratories' testing facilities as per the EU regulations and we will focus on it in the symposium," Mr Kibria told the FE.
"We have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Department of Fisheries (DoF), Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (BCSIR), Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission (BAEC) and Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) -- the laboratory service providers and Bangladesh Frozen Foods Exporters Association (BFFEA) -- the laboratory service receivers to combine all the testing sources under one roof," he said.
"For withdrawal of the testing requirement, we will follow two approaches -- one is to follow the EU regulation that we are doing and the other is to raise our voice," Mr Kibria told the FE.
"Last year we got 54 rapid alerts while in 2010 we got only four, which proves that according to their regulation we have improved our testing facilities", he added.
"So they cannot now impose the testing requirement on us and if they do not consider the matter we will raise our voice in the symposium terming it as a non-tariff barrier," he said further.