Exporters Term Shrimp Review Positive

While this report was positive for shrimp exporters from India, Ecuador, Vietnam and China, Thailand was given higher duties, Seafood Exporters Association of India (SEAI) sources said here recently.

Shrimp exporters in the US are now expecting results of the review of the International Trade Commission, which is slated to begin this month and that could possibly revoke anti-dumping duties, sources said.

According to The Hindu, sources in the SEAI said there had been a sharp fall in EU rejection of Indian shrimp after changes were brought about in the testing modalities for exports some months ago.

There were fifty rejections last January. There was only one rejection this year, sources said. Exporters had adopted a double-pronged strategy of revising the testing module and ensuring better enforcement and compliance by stakeholders. The testing for antibiotics like nitrofuran was conducted on the edible meat portion and not on the shell after repeated requests by exporters. This had brought down the number of rejections, they said.

The South America-based Southern Shrimp Alliance (SSA), engaged in warm water shrimp fishery had been alleging that the Indian shrimp exports to the EU had been substandard. They had sought more regulations on imports to the EU. The SSA had also demanded the US Food and Drug Administration to issue an alert on all shrimp shipments from India.