October 5, 2009
Bangladesh shrimp exports to EU resumes in November
The Bangladeshi government has announced that shrimp exports to the EU countries will resume on November 15.
Shrimp exporters imposed a ban on exports to the EU on May 15, after initiatives to eliminate contamination of frozen goods by nitrofuran, a toxic antibiotic, began to take hold.
The ministry officials said the government had fully endorsed the exporters' decision of ceasing export of shrimp as the exacerbating presence of the toxic antibiotic was being detected more frequently.
Between 2005 and June 2009, 60 consignments of frozen shrimp from Bangladesh were rejected by the EU due to nitrofuran contamination.
Bangladesh government then decided to address the situation and identified the actions required as a first step.
A national working committee to address the problems in the shrimp industry has been formed with relevant government and non-government organisations, international development agencies and export-related people and agencies as its members.
