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.