February 7, 2007

EU to destroy any shrimp shipments found with antibiotic residues

The European Union has said it would not return shrimp consignments which were contaminated with antibiotic residues, meaning that such future shipments in future would be destroyed if found.

All costs associated with destruction would have to be borne by the importer or his representative.

Before the new legislation, consignments containing residues of antibiotic 'chloramphenicol' or 'nitrofuran' were allowed to be brought back to the country, though with some difficulty.

Although unconfirmed, it was believed such shipments were released into the domestic market for consumption.

Although it is possible to set allowable limits for some antibiotics, for chloramphenicol and nitrofurans, they were considered potentially harmful at any level. This meant only a very small limit is allowed. 

The Marine Products Export Development Authority (Mpeda) said the use of antibiotics in aquaculture farms had been brought down considerably.

A series of awareness campaigns had been undertaken and farmers were being grouped into clusters for implementing good management practices. There were 11 laboratories across the country for undertaking rapid tests and farmers had begun to use these services.

He added that most of the diseases found in the farms were not caused by bacteria but by virus for which anti-biotic treatment was not the answer.

As part of promoting organic shrimp farming, the authority had entered into an agreement recently with Switzerland Import Promotion Organisation and steps to promote organic farming across the country would be undertaken soon.