The New Nation - Internet Edition

Syful Islam

Frozen food export from Bangladesh is being hard hit by its competitor India, Indonesia, Thailand and China and the sector failed to achieve target during the first quarter of the current fiscal year. US$141.77 million worth of frozen food exported during the July-September quarter, which is 8.31 per cent less than the target and 7.35 per cent less than the previous year's export.

The government set an export target worth US$600 million of frozen food for the current fiscal year against last year's US$515.32 million export earnings. Exporters said Bangladesh's frozen food could not vie with the newly invented 'Vhanamei white shrimp' exported to India, Indonesia, Thailand and China in its major markets US and the European Union this year for the Christmas and the new year's day festivals. They said the Vhanamei is a low cost but high yield shrimp with which Bangladesh's shrimps could not compete because of high price of the local spices. President of the Bangladesh Frozen Food Exporters Association (BFFEA) Kazi Belayet Hossain told The New Nation that price rise of oil in the global market, share market collapse in the US, and overall economic recession was also the reasons for fall in the export of shrimp. "Economic recession led people towards low cost shrimps and other sea foods," he said. "Our competitors are selling shrimp at low prices we cannot afford to offer. We are not producing Vhanamei but trying to increase production of traditional shrimp," Belayet said.

At present nearly 200 kilograms of shrimp is produced in per hectares in Bangladesh. Local producers are trying to increase the yield to 40 kg per hectare. Vice president of the BFFEA Maksudur Rahman said there are huge stocks of shrimp in the EU and the US as demand decreased due to economic recession. On the other hand, Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia are producing a lot of shrimp and frozen food at low prices.

"Prices of shrimp in the international market fell by 40 to 45 per cent which is one of the main reasons for fall in export," he said.

Rahman said the strict antibiotic rules of the EU have also put a brake on shrimp export.

Moreover, the government is suspending license of the producers if antibiotics are found in their shrimp.

He said the government should help farmers to increase production and reduce costs to stay competitive in the international market.

"Suspending license is not a solution… government has to help the producers to find out the way of preventing antibiotics," Rahman added.