January 15, 2010

Malaysian state pushes to meet international seafood standards

The government is making efforts to improve facilities and provide necessary assistance to the fisheries industry in the eastern Malaysian state of Sabah so that its seafood products can meet international requirements for export.

Sabah Agriculture and Food Industry Minister Yahya Hussin, commenting on the call by seafood processors here for government assistance to tap into the EU market, however said this effort could not be done overnight and would need some time.

Seafood processors in the state had said that they needed to improve their facilities quickly to remain competitive and avoid losing out when the EU started looking at other countries for imports of seafood products.

Hussin said the government had allocated a significant sum of money to improve the industry in Sabah, also assuring that there was enough fish supply in the state for both local consumption and exports to peninsular Malaysia.