Seafood exports to the US face quality issues

UNDER PRESSURE

Among seafood exporters to America, those from India and Vietnam had the highest number of consignment rejections between January and May this year.

The US is the top destination for Indian seafood export. Of 47 rejections of consignments by the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA), those from India and Vietnam were 12 each, according to data compiled by CARE Ratings.

“Export rejections from India have been on the higher side, primarily due to lack of proper infrastructure facilities with regard to adequate quality check at various levels. Shrimp farmers who procure the broodstock for cultivation need to ensure the stock procured is free from viruses/contamination and the level of antibiotic in the water (where shrimps are cultivated) is within the permissible range,” said Puja Jalan, senior manager at CARE.

The second level of quality check takes place before the shrimps enter the processing stage and finally before the consignment is exported. There are lapses at various stages.

Given the growing export demand, a mechanism to reduce the rejection percentage is vital for the industry to consolidate, she added.

China had 11 rejections, Thailand had seven and other countries had five. In 2016, Indian exporters had 39 rejections, about 29 per cent of the global total by the FDA, due to traces of banned antibiotics in the consignments.

“The robust growth of the seafood industry has been marred by several roadblocks, the primary one being absence of adequate infrastructure facilities to comply with stringent quality norms and regulatory approvals required,” the rating agency has stated in its report, ‘Indian shrimp industry — A primer’.

America imported 188,617 tonnes of Indian seafood, accounting for 30 per cent in dollar terms ($5.8 billion or ~37 871 crore). Export to the US had grown by 22.7 per cent, 33 per cent and 29.8 per cent in terms of quantity, value in rupees and dollars, respectively.

The International Trade Commission of the United States earlier this year had unanimously voted to extend the current anti-dumping orders on shrimp coming from China, India, Thailand and Vietnam for an additional five years, to protect the domestic industry.