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CHENNAI, March 5

NON-TARIFF trade measures restricting market access are a reality that the seafood sector has to tackle using tools of modern technology, according to Mr L.V. Saptharishi, Chairman, Export Inspection Council.

The marine sector faces major challenges in terms of various restrictions imposed by the importing countries, particularly the developed ones. These severely affect market access and are barriers to trade. Earlier, restrictions on Indian seafood were imposed on grounds of microbial contamination and more recently anti-microbial chemical residues were cited for rejecting consignments from India to Europe, he said.

However, there were bound to be scientific justifications for imposing these measures. The demands for quality by importing countries will become increasingly tougher but the industry will have to gear up to face the challenges. Exporters will have to adopt modern technologies available in processing to meet with such stringent standards, he said.

Mr Saptharishi was addressing a two-day workshop organised here on Wednesday, at the conclusion of the first phase of a joint study on shrimp health management by the Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) and the Network of Aquaculture Centres in Asia Pacific (NACA).

Mr Jose Cyriac, Chairman, MPEDA, said the second phase of the NACA study has been approved and this will involve location-specific studies. The objective would be to develop standardised culture practices for a given region. MPEDA has evolved voluntary codes of conduct for shrimp hatcheries. Over 30-40 hatcheries out of the 250 units have joined and volunteered to adhere to these codes. Healthy shrimp seeds are crucial to healthy shrimps in farms.

The Aquaculture Authority, a statutory body under the Environment (Protection) Act, which was concerned with setting up guidelines for healthy shrimp farming practices, was handicapped by the lack of a field level set up. The Authority had to work through the State fisheries departments and the bonding between the two establishments was not always strong. This led to delays in implementing procedures. Strong coordination was needed to tackle the various issues that challenged seafood exports. When the EU had banned imports of shrimps in 1997, the country lost over Rs 500 crore in just a few months, he said.

Mr G. Ramanujam, Chairman, Aquaculture Authority, said the authority has initiated action for preparing guidelines for shrimp culture following precautionary principle, the concept of polluter pays and good management practices. In association with research institutes it is preparing a compendium of aquaculture medicine and health management, which will serve as a basis for any legislation on the subject. The Aquaculture Authority has integrated into the licensing procedure a ban on the use of over 20 antibiotics. This will help regulate use of pharmaceutical substances in culture practices, he said.

Mr Elias Sait, President, Seafood Exporters Association of India, highlighted the need for information sharing in shrimp culture practices by countries involved in production. NACA could coordinate the process of information sharing. Aquaculture production accounted for 60 per cent of the seafood exports (Rs 6,000 crore). With the diversification into freshwater shrimp culture more area could be exploited inland.

The standards of antibiotic residues fixed by the EU for shrimp consignments needed to be scientifically assessed and realistic standards fixed, he said.

Though use of antibiotics could be avoided to a large extent, their use was inevitable at the hatchery level, he said.

Mr Sudarshan Swamy, President, All India Shrimp Hatcheries Association, called for development of quality brood stock in shrimps to ensure disease free shrimp seeds.

While there are a number of laboratories available to check for viral infection in shrimp seeds, the procedures needed to be standardised.

The results in each laboratory were different and farmers were at a loss in the absence of authentic diagnostic results.

The projects to develop quality brood stock to raise disease free shrimp seeds need to be expedited, he said.

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