Qatar partially lifts ban on frozen seafood from India

Qatar partially lifted a ban imposed last year on the import of frozen seafood from India, the Marine Products Exports Development Authority (MPEDA) said on Friday.

Restrictions will continue on the export of chilled seafood which constitutes nearly one-third of total seafood exports to the West Asian country worth Rs 143 crore in 2021-22.

Frozen seafood is stored at minus 20 degrees whereas the storing temperature of chilled seafood is 3-4°c.

The ban was imposed in November last year, just ahead of the FIFA World Cup there, following the alleged detection of Vibrio cholerea – a bacteria that causes cholera infection – from a few consignments from India, MPEDA officials said.

The Qatari authorities had informed India that the ban was temporary owing to a lack of sufficient testing laboratories in their country in the run-up to the football event.

“This week is proving to be very good for the seafood exporters in India, considering a similar lift in the suspension by China. We hope that the restrictions by Qatar on the chilled seafood will also be cleared soon after a reassessment of the situation,” MPEDA Chairman DV Swami said.

Swami is in Kolkata for the India International Seafood Show held in association with the Seafood Exporters Association of India. Friday was the last day of the event.

The Department of Commerce along with the embassy of India in Qatar held a series of discussions with Qatar’s Ministry of Public Health, leading to the issuance of a notification on Thursday lifting the ban partially. In the current fiscal as per provisional figures, seafood exports to the West Asian country were worth nearly Rs 90 crore dominated by shrimps.

China has also lifted the suspension of shipments from 99 Indian seafood processing and exporting units, following which seafood exports are expected to cross USD 8 billion in the current fiscal. In 2021-22, total seafood exports from India were valued at USD 7.76 billion