April 24, 2017

China agrees to resume live crab imports from Ireland

China is poised to resume importation of live crabs from Ireland following the adoption by both countries of a methodology designed to resolve the issue of certification of Irish live crab exports.

The agreement of an export certificate to accompany Irish live crabs was reached during the recent visit to Ireland by a Chinese delegation from the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ), Chinese news agency Xinhua reported.

Irish Agriculture Minister Michael Creed said the export certificate would permit the resumption of Irish crab exports to the Chinese market.

Based on the Xinhua report, the agreement is built around the implementation of a national monitoring program of live crab intended for export to China. Ireland's Sea Fisheries Protection Authority (SFPA) will implement the monitoring program and will liaise with the Irish industry to apprise seafood exporters of specific requirements to restart live-crab trade with China.

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China's AQSIQ, on the other hand, will monitor consignments arriving in China.

Ireland secured market access in China for live crab through bilateral cooperation in 2010. In 2015, however, China claimed that the levels of the heavy metal cadmium in live crabs coming from Ireland exceeded Chinese limits.