The Kanara Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) has urged the Government to establish an Mpeda-approved quality control lab in Mangaluru as it would benefit in boosting the export of fish and fisheries products from coastal Karnataka.
In a letter to the Additional Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), the KCCI President, Isaac Vas, said that the coastal Karnataka districts are a hub for fishing industries across the value chain.
Time delay
Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts export an average of 1.18 lakh tonnes of fish and fisheries products per annum. However, the exporter must get the fish tested at the quality control lab of Mpeda (Marine Product Export Development Authority) for the export of fish and fisheries products.
As the nearest Mpeda-approved lab is located at Kochi in Kerala, the exporters have to send their samples to Kochi to get their product tested. This causes a delay of around six working days. At times the test results are available after 10 working days, he said.
Stating that the fishing industries face several constraints due to these delays, he said there is a block on working capital for the industry as the exporter cannot export the product on a timely basis. The industry has to store the material in cold storage, causing colossal power consumption and blocking of storage space that could otherwise be used for more efficient productions, he said.
Processing park
The Karnataka government is also proposing a fish processing park in Mangaluru. In such a situation, the testing and certification of the export products should be done without much loss of time to maintain the value chain of the products exported.
Vas said that the Mangaluru-based College of Fisheries has given an in-principle approval for allotting space for setting up the lab in the city.
He said DGFT should pursue this matter of setting up an Mpeda-approved quality control lab in Mangaluru with the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry without further delay. Such a move would go a long way in the betterment of fisheries industry and the accelerated economic development of the region, he added.