The US Food and Drug Administration has refused the entry of certain consignments of shrimp exported from India, Malaysia and Vietnam, since the shrimp was found contaminated with banned antibiotics. The main reason cited by the US regulator was related to nitrofuran or other veterinary drug residues found in the shrimp.

A report from the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) showed that shrimp entry lines from three different countries – Malaysia, India, and Vietnam, were refused in May. The refusals involved six different companies from the three countries. Two Indian companies feature in the list – Sharat Industries and Sandhya Aqua Exports from Andhra Pradesh. Both had one consignment each that was refused entry.

Abraham J Tharakan, President of the Seafood Exporters Association of India, told BusinessLine that exhaustive testing of shrimps was conducted at various levels before exporting from India.

“Though some farmers in aquaculture farms use antibiotics, exporters tend to test for antibiotic residue before they buy shrimps and pack them. After it is processed and packed, again it is tested by independent laboratories,” he said.

Stating that India exports 30,000-40,000 tonnes of shrimps to the US annually, Tharakan said 97 per cent of the consignments are regularly tested and approved. “Our shipments to the US are $2 billion. Stray cases do tend to go unnoticed, but these are very rare and the numbers (rejection) have fallen considerably,” he added.

The USFDA figures reveal that shrimp import refusals in May have reduced significantly, for reasons related to banned antibiotics, as compared to the first four months of 2015.

However, over the last five months, the USFDA has refused 203 entry lines of shrimp products for banned antibiotics, whereas in 2014 calendar year, 208 shrimp entry lines were refused. The data suggests that figures are at a record high.

Even as the USFDA has been cracking down on antibiotics in shrimp shipments to the US over the last many years, Tharakan said the Association has been educating exporters against the continued use of antibiotics in shrimp aquaculture.

High number

Malaysia and India have recorded more refusals of shrimp imports in the first five months of 2015, due to banned antibiotics, than in any prior year reported by the FDA.

When contacted, an official from Sharat Industries said that around 40 containers from different Indian exporting companies are regularly rejected by the USFDA. “Around 5 per cent of exports tend to get rejected. Though we have testing that is conducted in-house as well as by government agencies, minute testing facility is not available in India,” he said.

Stating that the Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) guidelines were rather stringent, the official pointed out that the banned consignment would be brought back to India. “We check the code under which is has been rejected, we reprocess the cargo, and if the residual level is acceptable, we re-export it. Usually, if one grade has failed, we test for other grades,” he added.

Each container has around 18-20 tonnes, he said, valued at $2.2 lakh or $1.76 lakh, depending on the grade of the shrimp.

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