October 24, 2006

 

Pakistan bans harbour from exporting seafood to EU

 

 

Pakistan's Marine Fisheries Department MFD is pointing its finger at its provincial Sindh government for crippling the country's seafood export to the EU due to lax monitoring of rules. 

 

The MFD earlier this month suspended fish and shrimp supplies from the Karachi Fish Harbour for export to the EU and said it would keep the ban in place until conditions at its fish auction hall were improved by the Sindh government's Karachi Fish Harbour Authority (KFHA).

 

MFD said it is holding the KFHA responsible for the ban.

 

The KFHA did not fulfill its role of maintaining harbour facilities and had been remiss in the handling of fish and fishery products under hygienic conditions, MFD charged in the letter to the provincial government.

 

Meanwhile, KFHA has hit back and appealed to higher federal authorities, calling the ban illegal, immoral and illogical

 

MFD argued that had the food been exported, the EU would have banned it in any case.

 

MFD said that significant changes have been made in food security in the international market, forcing policy changes in exporting countries.

 

MFD urged the KFHA to go through experts' reports in facility design, which faulted the provincial institutions for the unsatisfactory conditions.

 

Exporters say the suspension is expected to have a devastating effect on the country's seafood exports, as more than 60 percent has to go through the fish harbour auction hall.

 

Some exporters however have direct landing of seafood to their processing units from approved fishing boats under the Vendor Assurance Programme (VAP) which bypasses such auction halls. In order to ensure exports are not interrupted, companies exporting to the EU were advised to implement VAP by buying supplies directly from the approved boats, until the auction halls pass muster.

 

The latest ban from the MFD is the second in less than two years. The last ban was in March 2005 on the same quality grounds.

 

An EU team from its Food and Veterinary Office (FVO) is likely to visit Karachi Fish Harbour soon to check its seafood quality. The same team visited Karachi in February last year and concluded its visit with a warning to Pakistani authorities to adhere to the EU's standards or risk losing the market.