India has raised with the World Trade Organization what it calls “unscientific and unjustified” health standards imposed by Japan on its shrimp exports.
??The move comes as more than 140 containers of frozen Indian shrimps await clearance at Japanese ports. Japan, which has recently lowered the acceptable level of ethoxyquin in shrimps, has since August rejected seven Indian consignments of the seafood. Ethoxyquin is an anti-oxidant widely used in shrimp feed.??
“We have raised the issue with the sanitary & phytosanitary committee of the WTO. We believe the new standards that have been imposed are unscientific and unjustified,” a commerce department official told ET.??
According to industry estimates, export of shrimps from Odisha and West Bengal has fallen by up to 50 percent in the last four to five months due to the Japanese restrictions. In 2011-12, shrimps accounted for half of India's total seafood export of USD 3.5 billion.??
While India is not immediately filing a case against Japan at the WTO, it hopes that discussing it at the SPS committee will generate pressure on Japan to respond positively.??
“There are other countries like Vietnam that are facing similar entry barriers in Japan for their shrimps. We hope to generate enough pressure at the WTO forum to force Japan to reconsider,” the official said. “If this doesn’t work, we could consider a formal case against this restrictive measure.”
