Bangladesh resumes shrimp exports to EU

Bangladesh has finally resumed export of frozen shrimps to the EU following a self-imposed ban of eight months, exporters said on Wednesday (Jan 27).

The Bangladesh Frozen Foods Exporters Association (BFFEA) imposed the ban in May last year to remove the antibiotic nitrofuran, detected by European importers.

"Fresh consignments of nitrofuran-free shrimps have already started reaching the EU market," Abul Bashar, a senior BFFEA official said.

The ban was lifted after the BFFEA confirmed that shrimps produced in Bangladesh no longer contained nitrofuran. Its use has been banned completely and the industry will be monitored to ensure that the drug is no longer used by farmers in fish feed to fatten the freshwater prawn, Bashar said.

The EU imports shrimps, mostly whitewater prawns, worth US$250 million annually from Bangladesh. Export earnings from frozen foods, including shrimps, fell 15% to US$454 million in 2008-09 from US$534 million in the previous fiscal year.

The slump in earnings was caused by lower prices due to the global economic downturn.

However, the volume of exports rose 5.45% to 52,660 tonnes including 21,000 tonnes of shrimp in 2008-09 from the previous year, when shrimp exports totalled 19,000 tonnes.

Freshwater prawns are 25% of the total shrimp exports. The EU consumes some 50% of the total and the rest go to the US, Japan and the Middle East.

Frozen seafood is Bangladesh's second largest export after garments and is worth some US$11 billion. About 70% of it is exported as part of prepared foods, ready to cook and eat.