Consumption of live seafood is rising in China’s largest inland metropolis, thanks to a streamlined customs procedure that gets product through in an hour.
Customs authorities at Jiangbei Airport near the giant megalopolis of Chongqing said volumes of live seafood flown into the city increased 213 percent in 2018 to 218 tons.
Survival rates for live seafood arriving at Jiangbei have increased from 60 to 80 percent since Customs streamlined the processing time, according to Ge Chong Wei, head of local seafood importer and distribution firm Fei Lao Si Te Trading Co. Crab and mantis shipments from Thailand make up the bulk of Ge’s imports.
Checks at the Chongqing airport have been shortened since a move to have importers pre-declare the imports and have officers prioritize live shipments to ensure they’re released within an hour of arrival, unless disease is detected, according to Guo Jian, deputy head of customs at the airport, in an interview on local TV.
Always keen to acquire new sources of revenue, China’s local authorities have poured resources into regional airports in recent years as air travel continues to increase. Since cities like Chongqing were given permission to begin handling food imports (which hitherto went through just a handful of ports), in recent years, authorities have sought to clamp down on smuggled or grey trade imports, denuding the official coffers of customs duties.
China’s local governments are also showing a keenness to increase the supply of seafood imports. Recent television news footage has shown hundreds of fishing vessels being decommissioned at Jiu Long Po port in Chongqing as a 10-year ban on fishing in the Yangtze comes into force. Fisheries will be replaced by the Yangtze River Aquatic Biological Reserve. The fleet previously caught an estimated annual total of 100,000 tons of seafood.
