EU lifts bans on RI fish exporters

Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Minister of Fisheries and Maritime Affairs Rokhmin Dahuri announced on Wednesday that the European Union (EU) had lifted bans on 13 of the 16 tuna exporter companies previously forbidden to export fish to the region.

"We have sent an explanatory letter to the EU that most of the companies have complied with the standards set by the EU, including those regarding storage and quality control

"Just recently, I received a letter from the President of EU stating that there would be no more problems with most of the companies," Rokhmin said.

He acknowledged that three companies were still banned from exporting fish to the EU as they still could not meet the standards set by the grouping, but he declined to name them.

The EU imposed the ban following the discovery of Indonesian tuna in the EU market that failed to meet the EU standards. Representatives from the EU were in Indonesia to inspect tuna exporting companies from April 15 to April 22 this year.

Rokhmin said that the bans had had little impact on Indonesian fish exports as a whole as Indonesia and the EU had cooperated to quickly resolve the problem.

Indonesia is the fifth largest fish producer in the world with a total production of 6 million tons in 2003. The country exported 696,290 ton of fish, worth over US$2 billion, in 2003, an increase of 11 percent over 2002.