Australia loosens the ban on the import of certain shrimp products

According to the Vietnam Trade Office in Australia, Australia will review the import risk assessments for undercooked shrimp from all countries as well as loosen the temporary ban on some shrimp products.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade still requests Australia to review the ban on shrimp imports. Photo: Nguyen Hue.

A team of scientific experts from Australia's Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources will evaluate all aspects of science and biosafety testing which are applied outside Australia, at border area for Customs post-clearance audits.

Mr. Andrew Cupit, the Minister Assistant for Veterinary Biosecurity said that the import risk assessment was a separate process for changes to the temporary import ban, which was issued in early January 2017 after the first outbreak of WSD in South East Queensland in Australia.

Also, according to the ABC Rural Channel, there were up to 70% of shrimp products tested positive for WSD. The epidemic has damaged the farming industry of the Logan River area, the South of Brisbane and shrimp farmers believed that the cause of the disease came from imported Asian shrimp products.

In addition, Australia will also investigate more about shrimp species, food and heritability in shrimp farms.

In the case where uncooked shrimp has been marinated, it must be certified in accordance with the international standards for confirmation of no white spot virus (WSSV) and yellow head virus (YHV), and passing tests when arriving in Australia.

The decision on reviewing import risk assessments for unprocessed shrimp and lifting the ban on some products, such as marinated shrimp has received the support of importers because the ban has reduced more than $US 550 million in revenues for approximately 40,000 small businesses in Australia, mainly in the catering sector.

Mr. Norm Grant, the Chairman of the Australian Seafood Importers' Association said that the temporary ban would expire in the next few weeks when transactions on imported products must be resumed immediately and the re-examination of shrimp is a good decision.

He also said that the tightening of the testing process was not a remedy to this problem but a need for a regulatory network to protect Australia's industry from the spread of white spot disease.

Earlier, in February 2017, Mr. Tran Tuan Anh, the Minister of Industry and Trade sent a letter to the Minister of Trade and Minister of the Australia’s Agriculture and Water Resources to raise Vietnam's concerns about the negative impact of the Australian Government's suspension of shrimp imports, shrimp exporters and proposed to the Australian Government to soon lift the said import suspension.

At the bilateral meeting with Australia, the Ministry of Industry and Trade repeatedly addressed the case of Australia's temporary suspension of shrimp imports, reporting damage to Vietnamese shrimp farmers and businesses, raising concerns and urging the Australian Government to consider lifting the import ban or to apply a less restrictive measure.

Before the strong reaction of countries, including Vietnam, the Australia's Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources is now focusing on biosafety issues as soon as possible; including reviewing the import conditions and will make the necessary decisions to re-establish safe shrimp trade operations.