June 26, 2006

Pakistan's seafood exporters caught between a rock and a hard place

Pakistan's seafood exporters are now worried that failure by the government to bring the country's seafood standards up to EU requirement would result in the country's seafood being banned from the EU come September, when an EU inspection is due.

The government broke the promise it made last year during EU inspections to undertake measures to bring standards up to par, Hanif Khan, President of the Pakistan Seafood Industries Association, charged. 

Now, there are fears that Pakistan may ban exports itself to hide its inefficiencies before the EU team¡¯s visit, Khan said. If not, the EU team would have to ban the products anyway, he added.

The fishery sector has pointed out the problems to the government for the last 8 years with no improvement in sight, Khan said adding that the issues are not complicated ones for the government to solve. Proper coordination and will is all that is required to solve them, he claimed.

The indifference of the authorities, such as the the Sindh Fisheries Department and the Karachi Fisheries Harbour Authority is pushing the seafood industry crisis, Khan said.

Upgrading of processing plants to EU standards have gone on mostly without government financing. Even as the government promised to uplift the industry, no financing has been forthcoming.

Even though the industry did not receive subsidies, it needs basic infrastructure. Khan pointed out that even potable water at the fish harbour is lacking and the frequent power outages cause disruptions to operations and damage to equipment. To add insult to injury, the high cost of electricity has an added-on 15 percent tax, Khan said.

Although the association sent a proposal to the ministries for the development of marine aquaculture in Pakistan, no action has yet been taken.