The two-day workshop titled 'Shrimp Export from Bangladesh: Potentials & Challenges' organised by the Market Development Forum kicked off at Sheraton Hotel to bring the industry stakeholders together to draw up the opportunities and challenges faced by the sector, organisers said.
According to BD News 24, the workshop came as the Bangladeshi shrimp industry saw a six-month voluntary ban on exports from last May, after almost 100 shipments, over a four-year period, were subject to a 'Rapid Alert' notice, which circulates information on food safety problems among European nations.
Between 2005 and June 2009, sixty consignments of frozen shrimp from Bangladesh were rejected by the EU due to nitrofuran contamination, a banned antibiotic.
Speaking at the opening session, commerce minister, Faruk Khan, said that the government hopes that the problem of nitrofuran will be solved by the year-end.
Earlier, Bangladesh Frozen Food Exporters' Association president, Musa Mia, urged the government and development agencies for immediate support to the industry, "or within a year, there would be no industry".
"I am sorry, you can't be saved that way; the only way is to comply with the global standards," the minister replied in his speech.
BD Shrimp Industry Must Meet Environmental Standards
BANGLADESH - The growth of shrimp farming should not come at the cost of environment and the industry must comply with international standards to survive.
