January 28, 2005

Indonesian to life ban on shrimp imports

The government will revoke a joint ministerial decision banning shrimp imports, Maritime and Fisheries Minister Freddy Numberi said.

Overseas suppliers have shown great interest in improving their production process, and importers in the country have agreed to process their imported shrimp which will then ehad for export markets, he added

Under the previous government, the ministers for trade and maritime and fisheries had temporarily banned imports of shrimp to prevent antibiotic viral cases, found in some countries, from occurring in Indonesia.

The decision, however, drew protests from local shrimp processing businesses, as 80 percent of shrimp breeding ponds in the country use imported vaname type breeders.

Indonesia exported 143,550 tons of shrimp valued at US$1.09 billion in 2004.