Rejections of Indian seafood imports by European Union (EU) inspectors have been decreasing steadily, according to a report in the Financial Times. What is significant, said the dispatch, is that the rejection rate has “refused to slip from its low plateau, despite the EU raising its rejection benchmarks by as much as five times.”
Dr. A. Jayathilak, chairman of MPEDA“After the recent revision in EU’s export quality bar, the rejections of seafood exports could have been as high as 50%, compared to the earlier standards that had effected 10% rejections,” said Dr. A. Jayathilak, chairman of India’s Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA). “However, the Indian seafood industry proved its mettle and managed to withstand the new restrictions by maintaining a low rejection rate.”
The value of India’s shrimp exports in 2015-16 was over $3 billion, of which the European Union accounted for $970 million. In terms of quantity, the EU took 19.7% of the 945,892 tons exported from India last year.
The European Union has recently been inspecting 50% of all Indian seafood imports, compared to 10% of consignments in the past. As far as many exporters are concerned, this amounts to a non-tariff barrier.
“There is no justifiable reason for increasing the EU import-surveillance norms. Normally, such measures are taken when frequency of rejections is on the rise. However, there are no such reports,” stated Norbert Karikkassery, Kerala region president, of the Seafood Exporters Association of India (SEAI).
Producers, who have been saddled with extra costs to install new quality testing systems, feel that the measures adopted by the EU on Indian shrimp exports are a pressure tactic to obtain trade accommodations.
According to Abraham Tharakan, former president of SEAI, “We are a competing country and our rejections are much lower than (those of) China, Indonesia and Thailand. It seems to be a trade negotiation tactic to receive some concessions.”
It should be pointed out all seafood exports bound for the EU are tested in Indian government-sanctioned labs and issued clearance certificates prior to shipment. Furthermore, MPEDA has geared up campaigns among shrimp and fish farmers, fishermen and suppliers of value-added products to improve safety and management practices along all links of the production chain.
