Japan has lifted the inspection order for Indian Black Tiger shrimps after export consignments were found to be free of any residue of the anti-bacterial drug furazolidone.
The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) has also reduced import sampling frequency for Black Tiger shrimp to 30% from the current 100%.
Welcoming the lifting of the order, Shri K S Srinivas IAS, chairman of the Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA), said it is a validation of the efforts in raising the request at various platforms and through its trade promotion office in Tokyo. He added that MPEDA has been educating farmers on better management practices and the possible ill-effects of antimicrobial substances like furazolidone.
Shri Srinivas said the MPEDA has also been making sustained efforts to revive the production of Black Tiger shrimps by supplying high health seeds from its new multispecies aquaculture complex at Vallarpadam in Kochi. The present decision by Japan will give an impetus to the farming and export of the Black Tiger variety which has been overshadowed by the mass production of the more exotic Whiteleg shrimp during the past 10 years.
Shri Srinivas also mentioned the recently launched antibiotic-free certification system, called Shaphari, which guarantees and authenticates quality shrimp post larvae. He said the rigorous certification would enable farmers to easily validate online that the post larvae shrimp offered by hatcheries across the country are antibiotic-free.
