KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian authorities will have decided to request clarification from the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) about the “import alert” placed on the country’s shrimp and prawns over the alleged presence of banned antibiotics in the seafood.
According to Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek, the export of frozen prawns from Malaysia to the US was a private arrangement, which did not involve approval or monitoring from any authority including his ministry, the Ministry of Health (MOH) or Ministry of International Trade and Industry.
Earlier this week, the FDA’s District Offices announced that it may detain, without physical examination, imports of shrimp and prawns from peninsular Malaysia due to testing that found that approximately one-third of imports from peninsular Malaysia contained residues of nitrofurans and/or chloramphenicol.
FDA testing in fiscal year 2015 has shown an increase in shipments of Malaysian shrimp and prawns containing residues of nitrofurans and chloramphenicol. The shellfish that contain residues of nitrofurans or chloramphenicol are adulterated and not permitted in US commerce.
The US agency requested that the Malaysian government investigate the cause of the residue problem and develop a program of short-term and long-term actions to prevent the export of violative shrimp from Malaysia to the US.
To avoid consumers and importers from panicking over the FDA’s alert, Malaysian Government set up a special committee to control the export of prawns to the US and tightened conditions at processing plants which must be approved by the MOH.
“We will check the report by the U.S. FDA and if we find it to be true, we will take necessary action to make sure exporters comply with the US government rules and standards,” ensured Deputy Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Tajuddin Abdul Rahman tried to reassure importers and the public.
Meanwhile, Singapore’s Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) told The Straits Times that it has not detected veterinary drug residues such as nitrofurans and amphenicols in prawns and shrimps from Malaysia.
“Veterinary drugs are not permitted in food including prawns and shrimps. Affected prawns found to contain veterinary drug residues…would not be allowed to be imported or sold,” an AVA spokesman said.
AVA stressed that as part of its routine surveillance and inspection programme, imported prawns and shrimps are monitored and sampled for food safety and compliance with AVA’s standards and requirements. Food products that fail the authority’s tests are not allowed to be sold here.
In 2015, Singapore imported 16,400 tonnes of prawns and shrimps, with about 56 per cent, or 91,000 tonnes, from Malaysia. Other sources of prawns and shrimp include Indonesia (12 per cent) and Vietnam (11 per cent).
Singaporean supermarket representatives clarified that their suppliers carry out checks on shrimps and prawns imported from Malaysia to ensure food safety.
Malaysia is one of the top exporters of the seafood to the United States, exporting more than 8,000 tons last year, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
