The Ministry of Commerce on Friday informed that Qatar has lifted its temporary ban on the import of frozen seafood from India, paving the way for improved bilateral relations and enhanced exports between the two nations.
The ban was imposed in November of last year, just before the FIFA World Cup, following the alleged detection of Vibrio cholera in a few consignments from India.
The Qatari authorities had previously informed India that the ban was temporary and was due to a lack of sufficient testing laboratories in Qatar before the football event.
Since then, the Department of Commerce under the Government of India, along with the Indian embassy in Qatar, has been making constant efforts to resolve the issue, , the ministry said in a statement.
After a series of discussions with Qatar’s Ministry of Public Health, the ban on frozen seafood was lifted on February 16. However, restrictions on the export of chilled seafood remain in place, it noted.
The Chairman of the Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA), Shri D.V. Swami, who is currently in the city in connection with the India International Seafood Show, expressed optimism about the situation.
“This week has been very good for seafood exporters in India, given the similar lifting of suspension by China. We hope that the restrictions on chilled seafood by Qatar will also be cleared soon after a reassessment of the situation,” he said.
Earlier this week, on February 14, Beijing lifted the suspension of 99 Indian seafood-processing exporters after acknowledging India’s assurance over source control. MPEDA, along with other agencies, played a crucial role in getting Beijing to lift the suspension of a total of 110 units since December of 2020.
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