March 9, 2007

Indonesia sees chance for expanded shrimp exports as Japan relax rules
 

Indonesia's National Shrimp Commission (KUN) announced that the country had a chance to increase shrimp exports to Japan after Tokyo said it would relax the strict requirements on imported shrimp it imposed previously.

KUN chairman Shidiq Moeslim said with Japan slackening its import requirements, Indonesia could increase its shrimp exports to that country from 37,000 tonnes in 2005 to 50,000 tonnes in 2007.

Japan previously required shrimp imports to contain antibiotics of not more than 1 part per billion (ppb) or 1 milligram per tonne with the end result that supply of shrimps was affected, Moeslim noted. This resulted in increases in prices in Japan, where seafood makes up an integral part of the diet.

Japan's shrimp imports in 2005 fell 14,000 tonnes to 280,000 tonnes during the period from 2005 to 2006, according to data from the Japanese Fishery Trade Association (JFTA).

During that period, Indonesia's shrimp exports to Japan fell 8,000 tonnes, he said.