RI to lobby EU on fish exports

RI to lobby EU on fish exports

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

In a bid to help smooth the way for Indonesian fish and shrimp
exports, Minister of Trade Mari E. Pangestu flew to Europe on
Sunday to promote this and other priority sectors.

"We will meet with several industrial associations on the
ground. They will help us to lobby the European Union (EU) about
various regulations it has issued," Mari said last week.

Aside from dealing with problems arising from export standards
in the two fisheries sub-sectors, Mari will also promote a
number of priority sectors like textiles and garments, footwear,
chemicals, furniture and food processing.

Earlier this year, 16 Indonesian companies exporting shrimps
to the EU were caught transshipping Chinese shrimps containing
antibiotics residue.

The EU is one of Indonesia's major markets for fisheries
products, after Japan and the United States, with some 15 percent
of Indonesian exports going to the region.

It has been applying improved quality control since 2001 based
on a rapid alert system and zero tolerance for antibiotics
residue in shrimp, especially chloroamphenicol and its
derivatives.

Other chemical residues that are unacceptable include
chloroform, chloropromazine, colchinecine, dapsone,
dimetridazole, metronidazole, nitrofurans and ronidazole.

Fish and shrimp exporters use antibiotics to protect their
products from bacteria.

Regional economic cooperation also applies a generalized
system of preference for Indonesian shrimp and fisheries exports.

Shrimp is the country's top maritime export commodity, with
last year's value reaching US$806.86 million, up from $819.14
million in 2003.

Previously, Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Freddy
Numbery had targeted maritime product exports of $4 billion this
year.

Figures from the ministry show that exports from the fisheries
sector reached $1.61 billion as of November 2004, with canned
tuna and frozen shrimp topping the list.