The Hindu : Shrimp exporters cautioned against non-tariff trade measures

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Mar 06, 2003

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Shrimp exporters cautioned against non-tariff trade measures

By Our Staff Reporter

<167,4.3p,1>CHENNAI, MARCH 5. Cautioning shrimp exporters of more barriers ahead, in the shape of non-tariff trade measures from developed countries, L. V. Saptharishi, Additional Secretary to Ministry of Commerce and Industry, urged the stakeholders to adopt a holistic approach while addressing the issues.

The barriers "in the pipeline would be mind-boggling" and required the stakeholders to look at the challenges as opportunities, he said inaugurating the national workshop on `shrimp disease control and coastal management' here today.

The two-day workshop, organised by the Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) with the Ministry of Agriculture and the Network of Aquaculture Centres in Asia-Pacific (NACA), Bangkok, marks the culmination of the first phase of the MPEDA-NACA technical assistance programme. The project involved a detailed study of the shrimp farming areas to identify the major risk involved in disease outbreaks in the country. On the occasion, the shrimp health management extension manual was released. With the Rs. 3,600 crore shrimp exports accounting for around 60 per cent of the marine exports, the `thrust' sector could not be ignored. Hence, the issue of shrimp disease control `called for very close attention and understanding' on the part of all those concerned, Mr. Saptharishi said.

Advising the stakeholders against resorting to a `blame game', he said a collaborative and systematic method, involving everyone from the shrimp farmers to the exporters, was the need of the hour in tackling the impact of non-tariff trade measures.

The Chairman, Aquaculture Authority, G. Ramanujam, said shrimp health management and various issues pertaining to sustainable use of the coastal resources needed to be looked at `more carefully'. The annual losses due to the diseases ranged from 10,000 to 15,000 tonnes of shrimp worth Rs. 450 crores.

The sector, he added, would be benefited if the coastal zone management plans of the States and Union Territories took an integrated view in terms of the development of aquaculture, agriculture and social forestry.

The NACA Director General, Pedro B. Bueno, said the second phase of the technical assistance programme would involve location specific studies and deeper investigation on the nature of the virus. The objective was not only to disseminate information on curbing the disease, but also to spread awareness on good pond practices among the farmers.

The Commissioner of Fisheries, M. P. Nirmala, urged the NACA to conduct research programme in the State to improve shrimp farming. The State, she added, had decided to bring about 800 hectares annually under shrimp farming in five years.

Senior leaders in the marine products industry, led by the MPEDA President, K. Jose Cyriac, and including the President of Seafood Exporters Association of India, Elias Sait, and the President of the All India Shrimp Hatchery Association, M. Sudarsan Swamy, were among those who traced the growth of the sector and highlighted the issues faced by it.

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