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China lifts export suspension to Songa shrimp company
Posted On 29 Mar 2021
The Government and the shrimp sector maintain the commitment to fine-tune every detail of the production chain.
China lifts export suspension to Songa shrimp company
China lifted the suspension of export permits that was imposed on the Ecuadorian shrimp company Sociedad Nacional de Galapagos (Songa).
Ecuador’s ambassador in Beijing, Carlos Larrea, said that this announcement came after an active exchange of technical information between the parties, which allowed for a constructive diplomatic negotiation based on bilateral dialogue.
“Ecuador has reinforced each biosecurity measure to build trust and guarantee the health of its final consumers, since Ecuadorian shrimp must reach the table safely,” said Larrea.
He added that the Ecuadorian government and its shrimp sector maintain the commitment to “fine-tune every detail of the production chain, increase inspections, as well as disinfection and preserve the integral traceability of shrimp, an issue in which the country exercises world leadership.”
Although it did not specify the reason why Beijing suspended the purchase of shrimp from the Songa company, the media reported last January that the Chinese customs authority had detected traces of the so-called white spot in a shipment of the Ecuadorian product, the EFE agency details .
The white spot syndrome is a disease that affects shrimp and causes the almost total death of larvae and juveniles in crustacean production pools.
In the second half of last year, China lifted the import suspension of an Ecuadorian shrimp company for suspecting COVID-19 contamination on the walls of the container in which the product had arrived in the Asian country.
At least three Ecuadorian shrimp companies were suspended last year by the Chinese authorities due to the alleged presence of traces of coronavirus, although the measures were finally lifted.
This commercial impasse occurred at a time when Ecuador had reached a record in the export of its shrimp to China, since last May the Ecuadorian export to the Asian market represented 62% of its total supply.
With about $ 4 billion in sales a year, shrimp is one of Ecuador’s main non-oil export products, an industry that is more than 50 years old.
