Pakistan is eager to resume shrimp exports to the US. Masood Khan, Pakistan’s Ambassador to the US revealed the news to the media.
Earlier, a delegation of the American Pakistan Business Development Forum met with Ambassador Masood Khan at the Embassy of Pakistan in Washington DC. The delegation showed keen interest in expanding trade and investment ties with the US and taking advantage of the available business opportunities.
While talking to the media, Ambassador Masood Khan said Pakistan is trying to remove the misunderstandings that have led to the suspension of shrimp exports to the US.
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Seafood export is Pakistan’s 5th largest foreign exchange earner and shrimps are an important part of this trade. Pakistan earns about $400 million from shrimps, which are now mostly exported to China.
Last month, reports emerged that a Chinese entrepreneur will make an initial investment of $50 million in Gwadar for the setting up of an end-to-end supply chain facility for the export of seafood to China.
Why did US ban shrimp from Pakistan?
To clarify, in 2018, Washington suspended shrimp imports from Pakistan because fishermen were not using the Turtle Extruder Device (TED). The device allows turtles to escape a fishing net. The US, like other countries around the globe, considers turtles an endangered species.
Therefore, when it found out that Pakistani fishermen were not using TED, it banned shrimp imports from Pakistan. However, Pakistani fishermen did install TED but US inspectors concluded that the devices were only installed for the purposes of the inspection and were not in regular use.
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In 2017, Saudi Arabia also placed a ban on Pakistani shrimp exports on the same grounds. Nevertheless, reopening the US market is important for Pakistan as the US is the world’s largest market for shrimps, and US buyers pay better than others.