March 22, 2013
By April, Brazil's Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture (MPA) is planning to release the import of Argentinean frozen shrimp (Pleoticus muelleri).
To initiate the purchase of the crustacean, the statistical monitoring model of the volume to be annually imported must be finished and a report on the Animal Health Import Requirements must be submitted to the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply.
It is expected that what has been stated in the text effectively enables the release of an initial import of 5,000 tonnes of Argentinean shrimp and its entry into "the Brazilian foreign trade system," the ministry reported.
While Brazilian shrimp farmers evaluated the possibility of filing an action in court to try to prevent the entry of the Argentinean product, MPA stressed that it is not willing to reverse its decision to admit the entry of the resource to the country.
"The request is being assessed by the Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture Monitoring and Control regarding animal health issues, and should be accepted by other sectors of the Ministry to respond in relation to trade and economic issues presented by the supply chain," the MPA added.
The Fisheries Ministry said that "non-technically based ban of shrimp imports from Argentina would affect the basic principles of the Agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures of the World Trade Organization (WTO)."
On the other hand, members of the Brazilian shrimp industry are facing another problem which is the limited access to loans and difficulties in increasing production.
Last January, MPA head, Marcelo Crivella, travelled to Argentina to start the local inspection process. The chairman of the Brazilian Association of Shrimp Breeders (ABCC), Itamar Rocha, said they had a meeting at the Ministry and the executive secretary, Ãtila Maia, explained that "the import issue would not be discussed."
"Rocha spoke about increasing production and reducing prices. Two days later, we learned that Crivella was in Argentina," he added.
From the ABCC they recalled that Brazil has not bought shrimp abroad for three years due to disease spread risk.
