China’s sanction does not affect all Ecuador’s shrimp exports

China announced this Friday, July 10, 2020 that it discovered traces of coronavirus in shrimp packaging from Ecuador and prohibited the importation of food from three Ecuadorian establishments .

China’s sanction does not affect all Ecuador’s shrimp exports

The Minister of Foreign Trade and Investments , Iván Ontaneda , confirmed that the traces of covid-19 were found on the walls of the container that carried the Ecuadorian product , but clarified that China’s position “does not mean a sanction for the product, nor for the country, or that Ecuadorian shrimp exports are suspended . “

At the Chinese ports of Dalian (northeast) and Xiamen (east), the General Administration of Customs conducted tests on samples from a container and packages of Pacific white shrimp that tested positive for the new coronavirus. However, the samples taken inside the packages and in the shrimp themselves were negative . The presence of the virus in the shrimp packages does not necessarily mean that this food is contagious, the Chinese agency said.

The Health Minister , Juan Carlos Zevallos , pointed out that ” there is no worldwide evidence that the coronavirus can be transmitted by food, even less in shrimp that have traveled 50 days at -20 degrees Celsius .”

He reiterated that Ecuador is doing things well from a health point of view and proof of this is that of the 227,000 tests that were carried out on these containers that traveled to China, there is only one positive and it was determined that the virus was not in the product .

The authority indicated that China has to rectify its position for which it is working .

The Foreign Trade Minister also reported that controls already in place at shrimp processing plants will be further maximized to comply with all protocols . In the afternoon of today, new actions will be announced to strengthen security protocols.

Ontaneda clarified that Ecuadorian exports are guaranteed and that the markets can be sure that the products comply with all protocols and sanitary measures .

China has been concerned about food security since an outbreak was discovered last month in a giant southern Beijing wholesale market , after traces of the virus were detected on an imported salmon cutting board.

According to the customs of that country, more than 220,000 samples taken from food products and their packaging have been tested since then , but he assures that no other product had tested positive. (I)