BRUSSELS: The European Union has eased the rules for the entry of shrimp from Bangladesh into the EU due to a significant decrease in the number of non-compliant consignments from the Asian nation.
Exporters have been exempted from attaching analytical test reports with shrimp consignments. Analytical tests are carried out at government labs to make sure that the shrimp are free from antibiotic and chemical hazards and safe for human consumption.
The tests will continue as before, though. The EU carried out an audit in Bangladesh in April to evaluate the country’s control mechanisms against residues and contaminants in shrimp. The EU team also examined controls on veterinary medicinal products.
The audit report concluded that the system in place for aquaculture offers guaranteed compliance with the requirements laid down in EU legislation, the EU said in a notice on December 3.
The relaxation came seven years after the EU slapped a condition that export consignments from Bangladesh must be accompanied by analytical test results to ensure that the consignments did not present a danger to human health. It had detected residues of veterinary medicinal products and unauthorised substances in shrimp consignments.
Analytical reports necessary Exporters had to give various analytical tests reports related to the presence of antibiotics such as chloramphenicol, metabolites of nitrofurans and tetracycline with the shipped consignments to EU. Nearly 70 per cent of Bangladesh’s shrimp exports go to the EU.
SM Amzad Hossain, president of Bangladesh Frozen Foods Exporters Association, said although test certificates no longer need to be attached to exports, government inspections would continue to ensure that only shrimps safe for human consumption was sent to European markets.
“We are happy that they have put faith in us. This will improve our image,” Hossain said, adding that the price of shrimp and overall exports would now rise. Over the last year, shrimp growers and processors have suffered losses as a result of sluggish global demand for the country’s black tiger shrimp amid ample supply of the vannamei variety.
Between July and November, shrimp exports from Bangladesh slumped 25 per cent year-on-year to US$206 million (Bt7.5 billion), according to data from the Export Promotion Bureau.
