Some of China’s biggest exporters of shrimp and tilapia are seeking to increase exports to the Caribbean, with over a dozen firms getting on the list for exports of frozen seafood to Costa Rica, according to a Chinese export quality watchdog.
Subsidiaries of both Guolian and Guangdong Evergreen were among the firms listed by China’s State Market Regulatory Administration (SMRA), which last year subsumed the AQSIQ and advises and trains exporters on how to meet standards set by potential markets around the world.
Other firms include the three big tilapia players from Hainan province: Qinfu, Xiangtai, and Jiadexin Foodstuffs Co. Also listed is the Hainan arm of state-owned conglomerate China Gong Xiao Industry Development Co. (also known as China Co-op) and the Guangxi Jin Hai Ying (also listed as Gain Ocean Food), a subsidiary of a Taiwanese-owned group.
With a population of five million, Costa Rica has become a distribution point for regional markets like Nicaragua and Panama, where China has a large economic and logistics presence. Costa Rica has also sought to develop its own tilapia farming and processing industry with much emphasis on the island nation’s well recognized sustainability credentials.
SMRA is the new body set up this year to integrate both the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection, and Quarantine (AQSIQ) and the China Food & Drug Administration (CFDA), as well as several other agencies into a more efficient body with powers on product safety and import export inspections.
