Apr. 4 – China is to ban imports of seafood from India after the South Asian country failed to obtain certification from China’s General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ). India exported some 159,000 tons of seafood to China last year.
China introduced the AQSIQ requirements from May last year, and is apparently adhering to them quite strictly. From June 1 this year, China will only import seafood from countries that have obtained AQSIQ certification, which currently extends to just 27 countries.
The ban will hit India’s seafood industry hard as China currently accounts for some 20 percent of the country’s exports of aquatic products and 15 percent of total export earnings.
Seven Asian countries – Vietnam, Thailand, Pakistan, Japan, the Philippines, Myanmar and South Korea – have obtained AQSIQ status, with a further ten from Europe, seven from the Americas, as well as Australia and New Zealand all complying. The ban will hit the Indian state of Gujarat particularly hard as much of India’s seafood is processed there.
