June 11, 2008

EU mulls ban on Malaysian seafood imports
  
  

The EU could ban seafood imports from Malaysia after six out of nine seafood companies failed the union's health standards.

EU health inspectors visited processing facilities of the nine firms in April, inspecting landing ports, fishing vessels and seafood farms.

The inspection results prompted the EU to draw up a draft proposing the suspension of Malaysian seafood imports. The draft highlighted the lack of traceability and counter-measures to check the spread of diseases in the six companies, which have already been blacklisted from exporting their products to the EU.

However, senior official at the European Commission Geert Anckaert said the outcome is still under consideration and that a decision would be finalised by June 18, 2008.

Anckaert said EU officials had discovered shortfalls in the safety of Malaysian seafood exports in 2005 but had launched a programme to educate Malaysian officials about EU's health regulations.

Noraini Mohamad Othman, the Malaysian Health Ministry official in charge of food safety, said authorities are investigating the issues but declined to give further details.

Last year, Malaysia exported seafood products worth US$161 million to the EU, according to EU statistics.

About 40-50 Malaysian companies export seafood to the EU.