KARACHI: A delegation of United States (US) thoroughly inspected the Pakistani fishing boats at Karachi Fisheries Harbour Authorities (KFHA) to reopen its shrimp import from Pakistan, which had been suspended by the US government in May 2017.
Pakistani traders annually export $ 25 million to $ 30 million worth of shrimps to US buyers, but it shrimp imports was suspended by the US government on the complaints regarding the condition of the fishing boats as per US standards.
“The member of the team visited the KFHA last Friday and inspected the conditions of the fishing boats and the tags etc marked on the boats, said a spokesman of the KFHA. He further added that initially the members of the delegation expressed their satisfaction over the fishing boats but he remained cautious about the final report that is to be submitted to the US authorities for final approval.
The KFHA informed the delegation that the government is working on hygienic seafood and the authority is trying to maintain international standards in line with those of the US and European Union. Pakistan is already exporting fish to the European Union (EU) and other countries since 2013.
Pakistani food exports are growing rapidly in the current fiscal year, but the quality of exports is not such that it can make enough and immediate impact on the stubbornly high food trade deficit.
According to the Federal Bureau of Statistic (FBS), the food trade deficit is still $ 1.31 billion in the first half of this fiscal year compared to $ 1.21 billion a year ago, as food imports jumped to $ 3.24 billion from $ 2.86 billion but exports rose somewhat slower to $ 1.93 billion from $ 1.65 billion.
One of the biggest beneficiaries of the Pakistani seafood is China, which is imports 30-35 per cent of the total fish exports from Pakistan. Pakistan’s seafood exports stood at $ 394 million last year.
China has emerged to become the single biggest market for Pakistani shrimp, oyster, lobster and crab, and the second largest market for fish, with a combined market of six GCC countries on the top.
The sources in the fishing industry said that the EU is not satisfied with the Pakistani seafood export due to Karachi fish harbour’s unhygienic conditions, adding that the condition of the processing plants is better but the Karachi fish harbour’s condition is not according to the EU standards.
However, it is worth mentioning that Chinese seafood importers buy raw material like fish and shrimp from Pakistani seafood exporters and then re-export it to EU after processing the raw material. This allows the Chinese exporters to benefit from better rates offered in the EU market.
Sources further said that EU is a good market for Pakistani fish and shrimps and fetch 3 times the original rate but now the Chinese seafood importers are taking benefit of the Pakistani seafood. The EU markets prefer processed seafood items and pay more for it meanwhile Chinese buyers do not pay well to Pakistani exporters for raw material.
Exporters say Pakistan can easily boost seafood exports to $ 1 billion in 3-5 years if production is constantly augmented by implementing an effective ban on hauling of juvenile fish from designated breeding areas, promoting modern inland fishing methods, and incentivising fish farming across the country.
