Shrimp exports to China expected to resume soon following discovery of Covid on shipments

Ecuador expects a quick resolution to a trade dispute with China over traces of coronavirus in a container of exported shrimp that led Beijing to suspend imports from three companies, Ecuador’s production and trade minister said on Tuesday.

A worker inspects shrimp in an Ecuadorian processing plant.

Chinese officials last month said they found six positive results in tests for coronavirus in the walls of a container carrying frozen Ecuadorean shrimp, even through the shrimp and inner packaging tested negative.

Although Chinese officials acknowledge that the virus cells were dead, killed in the freezing process, they never-the-less recommended a temporary halt of Ecuadorian shrimp.

China has given the green light for one of the three companies to resume exports after Ecuador agreed to improve shipping protocols, Ivan Ontaneda said in an interview, adding that the other two should be approved soon.

“We are in the final stretch for the other two establishments to also overcome the impasse,” said Ontaneda, who oversees the country’s fishing industry. “The virtual inspections were completed to (their) satisfaction, with positive feedback on quality standards.”

One of the three companies, Industrial Pesquera Santa Priscila SA, sent a letter to clients in which it said it had received authorization from China to resume exports.

An oil-producing nation, Ecuador is also one of the world’s largest shrimp producers, exporting nearly $4 billion of shrimp in 2019, 55% of which went to China, according to official data.

But shrimp sales have dropped in the last two months due to the economic effects of the coronavirus, as have remittances from émigrés, which are historically an important source of foreign exchange for Ecuador. “Today we’re relying on income from non-oil exports, this income must be increased,” said Ontaneda.

Social distancing measures meant to control the pandemic have cost the economy some $7 billion between mid-March and August due to declines in industrial and commercial activity.
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Credit: Merco Press