Union Minister of State for Food Processing Industries Rameshwar Teli said here on Sunday that the new microbiology laboratory established by the Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPDA) in Kochi would help seafood exporters across the country handle the stiff competition in global market, especially on the quality front.
Inaugurating the lab, the Minister said the new facility would help ensure that exporters were not faced with rejection of consignments. He was accompanied by MPEDA Chairman K.S. Srinivas, who said seafood would be tested at the lab at different stages.
The inauguration of the facility was organised on the sidelines of the India International Seafood Show which concluded in Kochi on Sunday. The show is the showpiece event of seafood industry in the country.
Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Som Parkash visited the multi-species aquaculture complex under the MPEDA on Vallarpadam island on Saturday. He also gave away the 22nd Seafood Export awards on the occasion.
Mr. Parkash was accompanied by MPEDA Chairman Srinivas and secretary B. Sreekumar, according to a press release.
Addressing seafood show participants, he said, “There was an urgent need to make India the prime producer of seafood, going up from the fourth position it occupies now.”
The Minister acknowledged that the sector faced problems in its endeavour to achieve production and export targets without compromising on quality.
Fisheries Minister J. Mercykutty Amma gave away MPEDA awards to 60 companies and individuals for excellence in exports. The newly-instituted MPEDA Chairman’s Award for the Most Responsible Exporter of the Year 2018-19 was won by Gadre Marine Products, Ratnagiri, Maharashtra. The Lifetime Achievement Award went to Abraham J. Tharakan, chairman and managing director, Kerala’s Amalgam Group, the release added.
