Seafood body to tell EU of steps taken on shipment quality

New EU norms call for testing half the consignment, up from 10% earlier, after discovery of chloramphenicol and other contaminants in export samples

The Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA), an agency for promotion of seafood exports from India, will approach the European Union after the latter tightened its inspection norms for aquaculture products sourced from India.

“We are going to prepare a detailed statement and give it to the European Authority when they come for discussion. It will contain all the steps we have taken and what we intend to take. There is a meeting scheduled in November in Kochi,” said A Jayathilak, chairman, MPEDA. “Secondly, we are intensifying the testing norms to find out what went wrong and where the problem lies.”

MPEDA recently wrote to its sub-offices in Odisha and Tamil Nadu, where the shrimp seed samples tested positive for banned substance such as chloramphenicol and nitrofurans, asking action be taken.

Under the revised norms of EU, the member-states shall, by using appropriate sampling plans, ensure official samples are taken from at least 50 per cent of consignments presented for import at border inspection posts on their territory. Earlier, the testing was done only on 10 per cent of the consignments.

If a consignment consists of aquaculture products from more than one establishment of origin, samples shall be taken for each individual establishment, the EU said in a notification.

The EU is the third largest market for Indian shrimp exporters with a share of 21 per cent in dollar terms after the US (28 per cent) and South East Asia (25 per cent).

Quantity-wise, too, the EU is the third largest destination with a share of 19.7 per cent of the 945,892 tonnes of seafood exported from India (2015-16 figures).

The obligation for mandatory testing should be strengthened to continue to deter producers in India from misusing the relevant substances and to minimise risks to human health in the EU, the notification noted.