March 3, 2007

Australia frets about its own shrimp ban

Australians may have to pay for more expensive shrimp if proposed quarantine laws on foreign shrimps are approved, seafood importers said.

Importers warned prices could soar to AUS$80kg (US$62.6) as the strict proposals would affect at least half of Australia's prawn supply, which averages 40,000 tonnes a year. 

The Federal Government's quarantine watchdog, Biosecurity Australia, is revising its import risk assessment on prawns from countries including Vietnam, China and Thailand.

The draft changes, released last November, bans whole green prawns from being imported and require all prawns with the head and shells removed to be tested for viruses and bacteria.

Tough quarantine controls would also apply to imported cooked prawns.

Prawn shortages would mean prices for raw prawns to AUS$60/kg (US$46.9), said Seafood Importers Association of Australia chairman Harry Peters. Last December, people are already paying AUS$45/kg (US$35.4) for cooked prawns, he added.

Public submissions on the issue closed last week.

Australian Prawn Farmers Association CEO, Scott Walter, said consumers should spare a thought for Australia's prawn and seafood industries. He rubbished claims that prices would rise exorbitantly, estimating prices would rise AUS$3kg at most.

He said testing would cost less than AUS$1/kg. Unless a huge quantities of imported shrimp carry the disease, prices are unlikely to be hugely affected, he said. Moreover, if prawns are priced too high, local prawn farmers would only be pricing themselves out of the market, he said.