Indonesian govt seeks clarification of Chinese ban on seafood imports

Indonesian govt seeks clarification of Chinese ban on seafood imports

	Published : Mon, 06 Aug 2007 08:39 By : Agencies Print this Story

JAKARTA (Thomson Financial) - The government here is seeking an explanation from Beijing of a sudden ban imposed by China on imports of seafood from Indonesia, Fisheries Ministry spokesman Saut Hutagalung said Monday.

'We drafted a letter demanding clarification on Saturday and it should be handed over to the Chinese government by our embassy in Beijing today,' he said.

State-run news media in China reported the ban on Saturday, saying that bacteria and chemicals had been found in excessive amounts in some imports from Indonesia, including salmonella in Indonesian eel.

Hutagalung said the government here had not been told in advance of the ban.

'Usually, a notification of non-compliance is sent whenever there is a product that does not meet their standards. But this time, the announcement of the ban came suddenly, out of the blue,' he said.

Indonesia wanted to see the results of laboratory tests or other evidence used by China to support its decision to impose the ban, he said.

Separately, Fisheries Minister Freddy Numberi told reporters that if the ban was really in effect, Indonesia wished to know which products were affected and which producers or exporters were concerned.

Indonesia exports 150 million US dollars-worth of seafood to China each year, Hutagalung said.

The Chinese move came after Indonesia's Food and Drug Agency said last week that it had found several Chinese products, including cosmetics and medicines, containing dangerous additives.

Hutagalung said representatives of the fisheries, foreign affairs and trade ministries were meeting with the country's association of seafood businesses to discuss what steps to take next.

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