Shrimp producers in Odisha have a reason to rejoice. Japan has agreed
to consider lifting of the ban on importing prawns from the state,
which it stopped for past over six months citing presence of a
particular toxin beyond the permissible limit, Agricultural and
Processed Food Products Export Development Authority chairman Asit
Tripathy said on Friday.
"The Union government has taken up the matter with Japan, stating that the ban was not based on scientific evidence. The limit of detection (LoD) of the toxin was 0.01 microgram per millilitre, which is permissible in all other countries, except Japan, which imports only those with zero LoD. Japan has agreed to reconsider its decision," Tripathy said.
Tripathy, who is also a joint secretary with the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry, was in Bhubaneswar to attend a national seminar on food safety.
Japan, one of the major buyers of seafood, stopped import after it detected ethoxiquin in the shrimps, a quinoline-based antioxidant used as a preservative, and a pesticide in July-August last year. It had sent back at least 10 shipments from eastern India, which accounts for 25 per cent of the total shrimp exports from Odisha.
Berhampur in southern Odisha is a major seafood export destination.
Odisha exported seafood worth around Rs 800 crore in 2011-12, including those worth over Rs 177 crore, to Japan. Seafood exporters sought the intervention of chief minister Naveen Patnaik in the matter after the ban. They also requested him to take up the issue with the Centre.
Tripathy said food producers and processors have to adhere to very high standards, as importing nations are tracing the food from the originating sources, from production farm, processing units and packaging facilities, till it reaches to the users.
"The Union government has taken up the matter with Japan, stating that the ban was not based on scientific evidence. The limit of detection (LoD) of the toxin was 0.01 microgram per millilitre, which is permissible in all other countries, except Japan, which imports only those with zero LoD. Japan has agreed to reconsider its decision," Tripathy said.
Tripathy, who is also a joint secretary with the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry, was in Bhubaneswar to attend a national seminar on food safety.
Japan, one of the major buyers of seafood, stopped import after it detected ethoxiquin in the shrimps, a quinoline-based antioxidant used as a preservative, and a pesticide in July-August last year. It had sent back at least 10 shipments from eastern India, which accounts for 25 per cent of the total shrimp exports from Odisha.
Berhampur in southern Odisha is a major seafood export destination.
Odisha exported seafood worth around Rs 800 crore in 2011-12, including those worth over Rs 177 crore, to Japan. Seafood exporters sought the intervention of chief minister Naveen Patnaik in the matter after the ban. They also requested him to take up the issue with the Centre.
Tripathy said food producers and processors have to adhere to very high standards, as importing nations are tracing the food from the originating sources, from production farm, processing units and packaging facilities, till it reaches to the users.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete