August 25, 2008

Dutch fish processing company Esro Food Product will be importing fishery products from Indonesia, starting from September, due to improved seafood trade relations between Indonesia and the Netherlands.

Esro plans to import fishery products from Indonesia's major fish-producing provinces of Jakarta, East Java, and South Sulawesi. The company will initially import about 3 containers of shrimp and kakap fish from Jakarta before calculating shipments from East Java and South Sulawes, according to Saut Hutagalung, director of Foreign Marketing at the Department of Marine Affairs and Fisheries.

The move came after the EU's decision to ease quality requirements for Indonesian fisheries. Seafood trade relations between Indonesia and the Netherlands have improved due to better product quality and Rotterdam was the main entry gate to export Indonesian seafood products to the EU, Saut said.

The two countries have agreed to improve fisheries ties last week. Saut said the Netherlands will assist Indonesia with various training and antibiotics residue monitoring programme, which will be synergised with an EU grant through the trade support programme.

The antibiotics residue monitoring programme will be implemented by this August, Saut said, adding that the Netherlands would also provide training on food security improvement by next year.

Indonesia's export value to the EU is about US$450 million, therefore quality improvement is expected to expand the country's fishery product market share in the region, according to Saut.