The Union Ministry of Commerce in India ahs issued a diktat for sea food exporters and the fish farmers. The government has given last ultimatum for fish farmers to register. It is said that Sea food exporters will not purchase aquaculture produce from farmers who have not registered themselves with the Coastal Aquaculture Authority (CAA), from Wednesday onwards.
The decision has been taken by the Export Inspection Council of India under the Union Ministry of Commerce which has made it mandatory for all farmed shrimp or scampi to be screened for residues of banned antibiotics. In a local news report it is mentioned that these stringent steps have been proposed subsequent to rejection of Indian aquaculture produce by the European Union and other developed countries.
According to the Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA), 36 containers of sea food, each worth Rs. 60 lakh, were rejected by the importing countries in the last financial year and this year 13 containers were rejected in the first quarter itself. In India Andhra Pradesh is the first state to implement this because 50 percent of the Rs. 3,000-crore sea food exported during 2006-07 was from the State. But now there are fears that the State, which stands first in shrimp exports in the country, will be displaced from the coveted spot.
