China not to ban seafood imports from India

The Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) on Tuesday said it had successfully resolved a certification row with Chinese authorities over seafood exports from India, which had threatened to halt New Delhi’s seafood trade with its neighbouring country from June 1.

MPEDA said the format of the inspection and quarantine certification issued with respect to marine product exports to China had been accepted by Chinese authorities.

The controversy dates back to May 2011, when the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) of China issued a notification which made it mandatory for all seafood exports to China to carry an inspection and quarantine certification.

 

Recently Business Standard reported that Chinese authorities had banned seafood imports from India from June 1 as they don’t have the certification

Now, with the issue settled between the two countries, seafood exports will not be affected, MPEDA said.

The Export Inspection Council of India (EIC) would issue the required certificates to seafood exporters, it said. MPEDA and EIC had approached the Chinese authorities through the Indian embassy in Beijing and resolved the issue in favour of India, it added.

Exporters, fearing the ban, had stopped sending consignments to China from April last week as it takes three to four weeks for these to reach China. The average annual exports to China is 90,000 tonnes (11 per cent of total exports) valued at Rs 1,151 crore, which mainly includes low-value fish items.