STAFF REPORT KHI: Pakistan is set to resume its seafood export to the European Union, banned since 2007, as negotiations with the union have entered the final stage close to lifting the ban, fisheries officials said on Sunday.
The 27-country bloc had banned Pakistan’s seafood exports in 2007 for its failure to meet its specifications regarding traceability and cold-chain maintenance.
According to sources, the Marine Fisheries Department (MFD) has selected two seafood firms certified by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (Unido) for EU export.
Initially, the two companies – Akhlaq Enterprises and AG Fisheries – have been cleared for seafood export and a dossier had been forwarded by the MFD to the EU for approval, the sources said.
Pakistan suffered a loss of $28.695 million during 2004-05 when the EU imposed a temporary ban on the country’s seafood export, with a clear warning to improve the key hygienic conditions. This was the first ever ban imposed on the country’s exports.
The country’s seafood export jumped to $50.059 million a year after the EU lifted its ban in 2005-06. The total seafood export during that year touched $194 million. Till the EU ban in April 2007, Pakistan’s seafood export had reached $31.666 million.

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