Thai frozen food business operators have denied allegations by the Agriculture and Cooperatives Ministry that they have been illegally importing fresh shrimp from Indonesia.
The ministry told media last week that members of the Thai Frozen Foods Association (TFFA) have solved their raw material shortage by importing shrimp from Indonesia even though the government ban the import because of the outbreak of early mortality syndrome (EMS) in some countries.
"Our members did not import shrimp from Indonesia despite the shortage. The government allows chilled shrimp imports, so we still have a source of material for shrimp processing," said Poj Aramwattananont, president of TFFA. The government used ministerial regulations announced in 2010 to temporarily prohibit the import of fresh shrimp during an EMS outbreak, but will allow imports during normal conditions.
Mr Poj admitted some shrimp processing companies had requested the government allow imports from Indonesia despite the EMS outbreak there.
"We heard some companies requested the government allow shrimp imports from Indonesia, but we can't disclose the name otherwise they might sue us," he said.
Mr Poj said the spread of EMS had halved the shrimp output of Thailand from an average of 500,000 tonnes per year over the past decade. This year the market expects little improvement from around 250,000 tonnes.
"TFFA members need around 300,000-350,000 tonnes a year to serve demand of our frozen shrimp factories," he said. They have solved the problem by importing from India, Vietnam and Ecuador.
For the first nine months, Thailand imported 9,318 tonnes of fresh, chilled and frozen shrimp worth 2.5 billion baht, down from 9,474 tonnes year-on-year worth 2.6 billion. The local shrimp supply was 159,358 tonnes during the period. "Shrimp imports do not hurt local farmers. If we don't have the raw material to keep our factories running, we can't survive either," said Mr Poj. He said to cope with declining shrimp prices, TFFA agreed to set up a public and private panel to work on a proper structure for the long term.
"The public and private committee should have three senior government officials, the key farmers association, exporters and manufacturers to collaborate on the same panel," said Mr Poj.
The government should also select the shrimp industry for its business clustering measures to clear the path for the frozen food business and shrimp farmers to access government aid, he said.
Preerasak Boonmechote, assistant managing director of Thai Union Group Plc, said the business sector agreed with the association about a shrimp business cluster because it would help Thailand improve the industry and could solve future fisheries problems. "If the Thai shrimp industry could be part of the government cluster scheme it would be able to clear up a mess of issues the fisheries business are waiting for the government to address," said Mr Preerasak. Fisheries need the government to reset the industry, identifying a clear direction the private sector can follow to ensure it grows to its full potential, he said.