Indian marine product exporters are in dilemma as the European Union — the largest export market for Indian marine products — has also threatened to ban imports from India in the absence of catch certificates. Russian has already announced the banning of imports of seafood products from India. These two developments coupled with the US move to maintain the 0.76 percent anti-dumping duty on shrimp imports from India have put under cloud the country’s target of exporting marine products worth Rs 10,000 crore this year.
According to the news the Russian ban happened due to gross negligence by the top brass of Marine Products Export Development Authority (Mpeda) and the commerce ministry. Indian exporters alleged that a weak follow-up action by MPEDA was the main reason the protocol agreement could not be signed. Concern people of the Indian industry said that this was a serious setback. Though the quantity of marine products India exported to Russia was small, the country could have become a big market for Indian seafood items if timely follow-up was done.
It is fact that due to these India has been losing market share in its traditional strongholds like the EU, the US and Japan for the last four-five years. Record shows that the exports to the US went down by 10.18 percent. In contrast, exports to non-traditional markets showed a remarkable increase. Exports to South Asia registered a 39 percent growth in volume and 33 percent in value (dollar) terms. Exports to West Asia grew 5.5 percent in quantity and 7.3 per cent in value terms.
