EU REQUIRES NEW REGULATIONS FOR INDONESIAN SEAFOOD

EU Requires New Regulations for Indonesian Seafood

EU - The EU requires all fishery imports from Indonesia to be certificated from January 2010 as part of its sustainable fisheries policy, to curb illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.

The Directorate General for Distribution of Fishery Products said in a published statement Sunday that the certification applies to all fishery products except fish from fresh water farming, aquariums, shellfish, seaweed, scallops, oysters and some other specific items.

"The new regulation concerning the EU certification requirement correlates with the EU's reputation as the best in implementing a high quality of fish in relation to sustainable fisheries," said spokesperson for the director general, Soen'an H. Poernomo. He was confirming that there would be a new regulatory framework to ensure certification standards could be met, reports TheJakartaPost.

According to TheJakartaPost, Soen'an said the new certificate must be filled in by local exporters who already had an "approval number" and details should be filed with competent local authorities to complete the validation process.

"This would mean that all exported fishery products are produced from fishing activities that comply with all existing best practices in fishery management and conservation," he said.

The certification would also take account of variables such as the period needed for shipment from Indonesia to Europe and how long the fishery products stayed in cold storage during shipment, Soen'an said.

TheFishSite News Desk