The Hindu Business Line : Fears over fish imports from Thailand allayed

THE Seafood Exporters Association of India (SEAI) on Tuesday said importing fish from Thailand would not affect the local fishermen, as the import is only meant for reprocessing and exports.

"The SEAI would like to make it clear that the imported raw material is only for reprocessing, value-addition and export. It is not in anyway going to affect the fishing industry of our country, as it is not economically viable for domestic distribution," the association said in a statement here.

Fishermen in Kerala are protesting the reported move by India to import fish from Thailand. They took out a march to the Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) office here on Monday, saying the imports would severely affect their livelihood.

SEAI, however, said fish imports from Thailand would go a long way towards helping the seafood-exporting sector, as it would address the issue of shortage of raw materials in the country. The peak fishing-landing season in India was of four months and during the rest of the period, processing units were left idling, SEAI said.

"Even the fishing boats are kept idle, since it is not viable due to poor catch. Same is the case with the processing units... " it said, adding that the units were operating at less than 20 per cent of the installed capacity due to non-availability of raw materials.

SEAI said marine products come under the items being examined for inclusion in the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between India and Thailand, which proposes to phase out tariffs for 82 items by September 2006.

"If we can best utilise the opportunity announced by the Government of India, our processing facility may be able to utilise its capacity fully so that 1.5 lakh workers directly employed by the industry may get work throughout the year," SEAI said.

Thailand, with marine products exports of $5 billion annually, is one of the major buyers of Indian fish and fish products. SEAI said India stands to benefit from the FTA, as there would not be any duty in Thailand for the country's products, which may ultimately lead to a situation wherein Indian exporters would be in a better position to compete with others for doing business in Thailand. "In turn, we will be able to offer a better price for our raw material," the association said.

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