Indian shrimp encounters much less EU rejection

The rejections of Indian shrimp by the EU have decreased sharply after India modified its testing for the banned antibiotic nitrofuran last September.

Data provided by the EU revealed only one rejection through a notificiation by the EU Secretariat on January 11. There were over 50 rejections last year by the EU, mainly before the introduction of the revised testing formula in September.

Until September, nitrofuran testing was conducted on the shrimp shell and not the edible meat portion. After testing was conducted on the meat, the number of EU notifications and rejections fell sharply.

The EU Commission required all shrimp imports from India to be tested for nitrofuran prior to shipment as of September 30, 2009, and the shipments must be accompanied with a test certificate. Those without the certificate would be detained and sampled for nitrofuran.