China is blocking marine exports from India using non-tariff barriers amid tensions

Rift between India and China seems to have reached marine exports and may spell trouble for several people in the trade.

A concern for Indian exporters, outbound shipments of marine productsfrom Indiaare facing non-tariff barriers in China, sources said.

This comes as the exporters are already fighting twin challenges of high freight costs and container shortage.

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In the last two months, the Covid testing on the imported seafood consignments at different levels, such as customs and local authority level in China, has worsened the situation.

Resulting in heavy losses for exporters due to dem­urrage charges, conta­iners are being held up at ports in China.

Another issue is that the Chinese importers are also not making payments towards cle­a­red consignments, they said.

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“China has introduced an examination system, which is not present anywhere in the world. Besides, time to test the products has also increased substantially, resulting in delay in clearance of consignments. This has also resulted in damage to the products,” a source said.

After detecting ‘dead nucleic acid remnants’ on the outer packing material of seafood products, Chinese authorities had expressed concern some time back. While the Indian exporters and government officials said that the seafood industry is adhering to all Covid-related protocols.

(With inputs from agencies)