April 18, 2007

Indonesia to urge EU to relax strict standards on shrimp

Indonesia says it will urge the EU to relax requirements on shrimp, especially on the issue of antibiotic levels in shrimp.

Processing and Marketing Director General Martani Huseini noted that the EU only allows 1 millilitre of antibiotic per tonne of shrimp. This would be a big burden to farmers in the country and is unrealistic, he said. To illustrate the point, he pointed out that in humans, one dosage of antibiotics alone would have been a thousand times stronger.  

Indonesian farmers are also displeased that the EU requires that shrimp pond areas be free from rats, worms and birds and said it was virtually unenforceable.

Indonesia plans to send a team of negotiators to Europe to request the relaxation of these regulations.