November 2, 2005

Thailand sets up food-traceability project for shrimp

Thailand has set up a food-traceability project for domestic shrimp, to raise their food safety standards for consumers worldwide.

The Agriculture and Cooperatives Ministry and the Science and Technology Ministry set up the project, with support from related organisations including the Fishery Department and the National Electronics and Computer Technology Centre (Nectec).

Thai shrimp giants Chanthaburi Frozen Food Co. Ltd. and Charoen Pokphand Foods have also joined in the collaboration by working on a pilot project, to allow consumers to check where shrimp products originated from using traceability software together with radio frequency identification (RFID) technology.

The government hoped the project would raise safety standards and instil greater confidence in foreign consumers, especially in the US, Japan and the EU. This would also help the industry when exporting aquatic products to countries with very strict food safety laws.

Thailand reportedly exports about 350,000 tonnes of shrimp annually at the moment, with the industry contributing a significant portion to the domestic economy.