October 25, 2005

Bangladeshi shrimp exporters upgrade processing plants for EU check

Bangladesh shrimp exporters were upgrading their processing plants ahead of a EU visit in early November for inspections. The team arriving in Dhaka would examine the existing standards of the Bangladeshi shrimp industry.

Areas for inspection would cover factory premises, quality control systems and various infrastructures within the shrimp industry.

The EU team would also visit government laboratories for control of fisheries standards, shrimp processing units, hatcheries, shrimp enclosures and shrimp depots in Dhaka, Chittagong, Cox's Bazar, Khulna, Bagerhat and Satkhira.

In preparation for the visit, the exporters also sought to standardise quality control systems, implement the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points policy, and provide training for stakeholders in the shrimp industry.

Bangladesh Frozen Foods Exporters Association (BFFEA) said the infrastructure upgrading initiatives have not yet started in some areas.  But BFFEA hoped they would be complete before the visit, as future Bangladeshi shrimp exports to the EU depended mainly on the visit's outcome.

The association added that the government's quality control department had not yet installed modern laboratory equipments.

Bangladesh's frozen foods sector currently accounted for 4.86 percent of total domestic export earnings. The country's 2004-05 export earnings from the sector reached US$421 million, up 7.81 percent compared with US$390 million in 2003-04.