Shrimp farming. (Photo: ceniacua.org)

1.2 million shrimp larvae exported to China

COLOMBIA
Tuesday, October 23, 2012, 02:00 (GMT + 9)

Through the Aquaculture Research Centre of Colombia (Ceniacua), the country has already sold 1.2 million shrimp larvae to China.

According to the shrimp manager of the Productive Transformation Programme (PTP), Fernando Bages, Colombia is recovering its white shrimp market.

When asked about the implications of sending larvae to the Chinese market, Bages commented: "The importance of this export of white shrimp larvae to China is that we are selling the genetic material."

"It is an attraction for potential foreign investment or partnerships to produce genetic material in China. A total of 1.2 million shrimp larvae was sent to Hong Kong," he added.

This time, the Colombian Agricultural Institute (ICA) and Proexport collaborated to perform this shipment.

Bages stated that 90 per cent of the production is sold abroad.

"Our main destinations are Spain, which receives between 35 per cent and 40 per cent of production, France (25 per cent) and the United States. We are strongly competing with Ecuador, a major shrimp producer," he added.

Furthermore, he stressed that the export projection for 2012 is 12,000 tonnes.

So far this year, between 5,800 and 6,000 tonnes have been exported, representing USD 4 million. "However, in the second six-month period of the year, production will improve a little, as demand for shrimp in Spain is growing," he predicted.

Currently, there are two major companies working in this sector along the Caribbean coast: CI Océanos and CI Cartagenera, La República reported.

Bages noted that in 2010 they began working with the PTP "drawing a business plan in three ways:"

• Farming reactivation;
• Reduced red tape to encourage investment;
• Profitability improvement.

Meanwhile, María Cristina Torres Villamil, ICA Health Regulatory deputy manager said that Colombia advances in defining the health status with the peer entity from China, AQSIQ.

"This is a very important step for the country to carry out, even without a Free Trade Agreement, their chances of entering the world's largest market," he pointed out.

"We must agree on the domestic producers to know exactly what the tariffs in which there is interest are so as to work with the Chinese authorities in their health requirements, which do not go beyond those set in the agreements of the World Trade Organisation," concluded the ICA deputy manager, Portafolio reported.

By Analia Murias
editorial@fis.com
www.fis.com

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