The Southern Shrimp Alliance has publicly released searchable databases of shrimp imports rejected from the European Union, Japan, and U.S. due to the presence of banned antibiotics.
Published on the trade group's website, its “Know Your Supplier” initiative is aimed at publicizing pose risks of contamination from antibiotics in shrimp exported to three of the world's major seafood import markets.
"The Southern Shrimp Alliance is providing this updated information in order to enhance the ability of consumers, importers, wholesalers, retailers, and restaurants to evaluate the risk of exposure to contaminated shrimp from various sources," the group said in a press release. "As these data confirm, antibiotic use in shrimp supply chains is overwhelmingly concentrated in only a small subset of the countries engaged in shrimp aquaculture. Moreover, even within these countries, only a limited number of shrimp exporters have failed to take action to prevent contaminated shrimp from being marketed."
SSA said shrimp exported from India and Vietnam posed the greatest risk of contamination from antibiotics.
"Once again, in 2022, the reporting of three major seafood importing markets continues to demonstrate that shrimp farmed and exported from India and Vietnam present unique risks of antibiotic contamination," it said. "For its part, the European Union has maintained additional, particularized measures to address the enhanced risk presented by shipments of contaminated Indian shrimp. Nevertheless, even with increased testing and greater scrutiny, the European Union continues to report findings of Indian shrimp contaminated by banned antibiotics."
Data from the European Union’s Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) from 2022 indicated five shipments of shrimp were refused entry into the European Union because of banned antibiotics, three of which were of Bangladeshi-origin shrimp, with the remaining shipments originating in India and Vietnam.
Data from U.S. Food and Drug Administration shows 60 entry-line refusals of shrimp due to antibiotic use, with 29 originating from India, 11 were from Thailand, and 10 from Bangladesh.
Japan Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, Imported Foods Insepection Services reported refusal of 18 shipments of shrimp in 2022, with 10 originating from India and eight originating from Vietnam,” SSA said.
Photo courtesy of The Southern Shrimp Alliance
