Testing time for the frozen food sector

BANGLADESH - Bangladesh government has made testing of the prawn bodies mandatory before their shipment to the European Union (EU) countries.

The decision came following the rejection of nearly 25 shrimp consignments worth about Tk 500 million after the European Commission's (EC) detection of the harmful antibiotic 'Nitro Furan' in prawn bodies over the past seven months.

The country's fishery department is expected to take firm action against the exporters, who are sending shrimp consignments without performing the 'Nitro Furan' test. According to the EU directives, the exporters are required to send their shrimps to Singapore for laboratory test, but some exporters do not follow such guideline.

Allegations have it that some unscrupulous exporters with the support of buyers had been sending shrimp consignments without the prescribed test. Such unscrupulous businessmen are tarnishing the country's image to the EU buyers. The fishery department said the exporters should be more serious about the 'Nitro Furan' test as the EU Food and Veterinary Office is strict about their food safety issues. The government has also decided to initiate some short-term and long-term programmes including testing of 100 per cent prawn before export, activation of district level task force committee, monitoring of hatcheries and speed up tractability.

Source: Financial Express.bd