March 4, 2008

India's dependency on limited markets could hurt marine exports

Indian marine exports are vulnerable to negative consequences of trade barriers imposed by importing countries due to its limited number of export markets, according to a study conducted by the Centre for Social Research based in Delhi.

India's fish production is about 4 percent of world catch and 5 percent of world volume and value in aquaculture.

Although the export volume of marine products has increased by 4.6 times from 1989 to 2005, the unit value has increased only by 2.5 times, which implies that Indian fishery exports still occupy a low value position in the global fish trade, said the study.

Export volume fell by 21 percent, and 14 percent in value in 1998-1999 when the European Commission issued a ban on Indian marine products in August 1997, citing hygienic conditions, although the ban was lifted four months later.

The study said that exports to the EU showed a steady but disturbed growth in 1997-1998 due to the ban.

The US also imposed anti-dumping duties on Indian marine products in 2003, which cuts down on profits.

The study noted a previous over-dependency on the Japanese market for shrimp exports. In the recent past, Japan imported less Indian shrimps while the US increased its Indian shrimp imports.

As a result, the unit value of Indian exports to Japan fell by 30 percent over 9 years, while the unit value of exports to the US doubled in 1996-2001. However, the growth was not sustained and the unit value of exports to the US has been decreasing since 2002.