Japan has lifted its inspection order for Indian black tiger shrimp after export consignments were found free from residues of antibacterial drug furazolidone.
Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) has also reduced import inspection sampling frequency for black tiger shrimp to 30 percent from the current 100 percent.
Japan accounts for nearly 40 percent of India’s black tiger shrimp exports, which are also exported to US and European markets.
Shri Srinivas, chair of India's Marine Product Export Development Authority, said the lifting was "a validation of the relentless efforts undertaken by MPEDA" in educating farmers and highlighting the issue with its Tokyo trade office.
Japan's decision could boost the farming and exports of black tiger shrimp, which has taken a back seat to the huge production of vannamei over the last 10 years.
India recently launched the antibiotic-free certification system, Shaphari, an end-to-end system that enables MPEDA to audit the post larvae shrimps offered by hatcheries across the country. Srinivas said the "rigorous" certification would enable aqua farmers to freely validate online that the post larvae shrimp offered by hatcheries across the country are antibiotic-free.
